From the book
Fruits of Warm Climates
by Julia F. Morton
Akee
Blighia
sapida K.
Konig
Cupania sapida Voigt.
SAPINDACEAE
More widely known for its poisonous properties than as an edible fruit,
the akee, Blighia sapida
K. Konig (syn. Cupania
sapida
Voigt.), of the family Sapindaceae, is sometimes called ackee, akee
apple, or vegetable brain (seso vegetal in Spanish). Other Spanish
names are arbol de seso, palo de seso (Cuba); huevo vegetal and fruto
de huevo (Guatemala and Panama); arbor del huevo and pera roja
(Mexico); merey del diablo (Venezuela); bien me sabe or pan y quesito
(Colombia); akí (Costa Rica). In Portuguese, it is castanha or
castanheiro de Africa. In French, it is arbre fricassé or arbre a
fricasser (Haiti); yeux de crabe or ris de veau (Martinique). In
Surinam it is known as akie. On the Ivory Coast of West Africa, it is
called kaka or finzan; in the Sudan, finza. Elsewhere in Africa it is
generally known as akye, akyen or ishin, though it has many other
dialectal names. In the timber trade, the wood is marketed as achin.
It
should be noted that the name "akee" may refer to the mamoncillo, q.v.,
in Barbados. As a colloquial term for the mamoncillo it may be a
corruption of the Mayan "acche" which was applied to several plants
whose flowers attract honeybees.
Fig. 76: The akee (Blighia
sapida) from Africa is a favorite
in Jamaica but the fleshy arils are poisonous until fully
exposed to light. The seeds are always poisonous.
Description
The
tree, reaching 33 to 40 ft (10-12 m), is rather handsome, usually with
a short trunk to 6 ft ( 1.8 m) in circumference, and a dense crown of
spreading branches. Its bark is gray and nearly smooth. The evergreen
(rarely deciduous), alternate leaves are compound with 3 to 5 pairs of
oblong, obovate-oblong, or elliptic leaflets, 6 to 12 in (15-30 cm)
long, rounded at the base, short-pointed at the apex; bright-green and
glossy on the upper surface, dull and paler and finely hairy on the
veins on the under side. Bisexual and male flowers, borne together in
simple racemes 3 to 7 in (7.5-17.5 cm) long, are fragrant, 5 petalled,
white and hairy. The fruit is a leathery, pear shaped, more or less
distinctly 3-lobed capsule 2 3/4 to 4 in (7-10 cm) long; basically
yellow, more or less flushed with bright-scarlet. When it is fully
mature, it splits open revealing 3 cream-colored, fleshy, glossy arils,
crisp, somewhat nutty-flavored, attached to the large, black, nearly
round, smooth, hard, shining seeds–nonnally 3; often 1 or 2 may be
aborted. The base of each aril is attached to the inside of the
stem-end of the "jacket" by pink or orange-red membranes.
Origin and
Distribution
The
akee is indigenous to the forests of the Ivory Coast and Gold Coast of
West tropical Africa where it is little eaten but various parts have
domestic uses. In Ghana, the fruiting tree is admired as an ornamental
and is planted in villages and along streets for shade. The akee was
brought to Jamaica in 1793 by the renowned Captain Bligh to furnish
food for the slaves. It was readily adopted and became commonly grown
in dooryards and along roadsides and, to some extent, naturalized. The
arils still constitute a favorite food of the island and the fruit is
featured in a calypso despite the health hazards associated with it.
Canned arils are exported to the United Kingdom where they are welcomed
by Jamaican immigrants. Importation has been banned by the United
States Food and Drug Administration.
The akee was planted also
in Trinidad and Haiti and some other islands of the West Indies and the
Bahamas and apparently was carried by Jamaican slaves to Panama and the
Atlantic Coast of Guatemala and Costa Rica. In 1900 it was outlawed in
Trinidad after it had caused some fatalities. There are scattered trees
in Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, quite a number
maintained as curiosities in southern Florida; and some planted around
Calcutta, India. The tree has been tried in the warm, moist climate of
Guyana and Malaya but has never survived. At Lamao in the Philippines
it first bore fruit in 1919.
Climate
The
akee tree is tropical to subtropical; flourishes from sea-level to an
elevation of 3,000 ft (900 m) in Jamaica. It does not bear fruit in
Guatemala City; fruits heavily in southern Florida where young trees
have been killed by winter cold but mature trees have escaped serious
injury during brief periods of 26° F (-3.33° C).
Soil
The
tree does very well on oolitic limestone and on sand in southern
Florida and the Bahamas, though it grows faster in more fertile soils.
Propagation
and Culture
Akee
trees are grown from seeds or by shield-budding, and show very little
variation. In European greenhouses, cuttings of ripe shoots are rooted
in sand and raised in a mixture of peat and loam. In warm climates, the
tree grows fast and requires little cultural attention.
Season
There
is some flowering and fruiting all year in Jamaica. In Florida, flowers
appear in spring and the fruits in mid summer and there may be a light
blooming period in the fall. In the Bahamas, there are 2 distinct crops
a year, one from February through April and the second from July to
October.
Food Uses
The
akee must be allowed to open fully or at least partly before it is
detached from the tree. When it has "yawned", the seeds are discarded
and the arils, while still fresh and firm, are best parboiled in salted
water or milk and then lightly fried in butter. Then they are really
delicious. In Jamaica, they are often cooked with codfish, onions and
tomatoes. After parboiling, they are added to a stew of beef, salt-pork
and scallions, thyme and other seasonings. Sometimes they are curried
and eaten with rice. They are served, not only in the home, but also in
hotel dining rooms and other restaurants. In Africa, they may be eaten
raw or in soup, or after frying in oil.
| Food Value Per 100 g of Raw Arils* |
| Moisture
|
57.60 g |
| Protein |
8.75 g |
| Fat
|
18.78 g |
| Fiber |
3.45 g |
| Carbohydrates |
9.55 g |
| Ash |
1.87 g |
Calcium
|
83
mg |
| Phosphorus |
98 mg
|
| Iron |
5.52 mg |
| Carotine |
-- |
| Thiamine |
0.10
mg |
| Riboflavin |
0.18
mg |
| Niacin |
3.74
mg |
| *Analyses
made in Mexico. |
|
Toxicity
The toxicity of the
akee was long misunderstood and believed to reside in the membranes
attaching the arils to the jacket, or only in the overripe and
decomposing arils. There have been intensive clinical and chemical
studies of the akee and its effects since 1940, and it is now known
that the unripe arils contain hypoglycin,
a-amino-B-(2-methylenecyclopropyl) propionic acid, formerly called hy
poglycin A. This toxic property is largely dispelled by light as the
jacket opens. When fully ripe, the arils still possess 1/12 of the
amount in the unripe. The seeds are always poisonous. They contain
hypoglycin and its y-glutamyl derivative, y-L-glutamyl
a-amino-B-(2-methylene cyclopropyl) propionic acid, formerly called
hypoglycin B. The latter is 1/2 as toxic as the former.
In
feeding experiments at the University of Miami, Dr. Edward Larson found
that the membrane of open fruits was harmless; rabbits were readily
killed by the unripe arils; rats were resistant and had to be force fed
to be fatally poisoned. I have found that squirrels will make holes in
the unopened fruits on the tree to consume the unripe arils but they
leave the seeds untouched.
Akee poisoning in humans is evidenced
by acute vomiting, sometimes repeated, without diarrhea (called
"vomiting sickness" in Jamaica), followed by drowsiness, convulsions,
coma and, too often, death. Because of hypoglycaemic effects,
administration of sugar solutions have been found helpful. Most cases
occur in winter in Jamaica when 30% to 50% of the arils have small,
underdeveloped seeds, often not apparent externally. Ingestion of such
arils, raw or cooked, is hazardous. For more information on the
toxicity of the akee, one may consult Kean, Hypoglycin (1975), and
Morton, Forensic Medicine, Vol. III, Chap. 71 (1977).
Other Uses
Fruit:
In West Africa, the
green fruits, which produce lather in water, are used for laundering.
Crushed fruits are employed as fish poison. The seeds, because of their
oil content, and the jacket because of its potash content, are burned
and the ashes used in making soap.
Flowers:
In Cuba an extract of the flowers is appreciated as cologne.
Bark:
On the Gold Coast, a mixture of the pulverized bark and ground hot
peppers is rubbed on the body as a stimulant.
Wood:
The sapwood is white or light greenish-brown. The heartwood is
reddish-brown, hard, coarse-grained, durable, immune to termites. It is
used locally for construction and pilings and has been recommended for
railway sleepers. It is also fashioned into oars, paddles and casks.
Medicinal Uses:
In Brazil, repeated small doses of an aqueous extract of the seed has
been administered to expel parasites. The treatment is followed by a
saline or oily purative. Cubans blend the ripe arils with sugar and
cinnamon and give the mixture as a febrifuge and as a treatment for
dysentery. On the Ivory Coast, the bark is mixed with pungent spices in
an ointment applied to relieve pain. The crushed new foliage is applied
on the forehead to relieve severe headache. The leaves, crushed with
salt, are poulticed on ulcers. The leaf juice is employed as eye drops
in ophthalmia and conjunctivitis. In Colombia, the leaves and bark are
considered stomachic. Various preparations are made for treatment of
epilepsy and yellow fever.
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