I once came across some “Baguio Cherries” in the market at the end of Session Road; I was curious, took a photo, but didn’t buy any. Then a year or two 
ago someone pointed out a hardy storm resistant tree and said it was “Palawan Cherry” and it had fantastic pinkish blossoms somewhat reminiscent of western Cherry trees. Then today, I spied these fruit at the FTI AANI Market and I asked someone who was carefully picking over the container and she said “Hindi ko alam ano ito, pero masarap” which roughly translated means “I don’t know what they’re called, but they are good.” The vendor butt in and said “Sir, those are Batangas Cherries!!!” with the authority of a Phd in Botany, and I asked, “they must be good cooked,” to which he shook his head and said NOBODY cooks them, better yet, they CANNOT be cooked. So there. How’s that for being sure of yourself. I was curious, had never seen them before, had never eaten them before and at PHP40 a kilo, it was certainly worth exploring. I bought about 300 grams worth.
Turns out they are relatively common in the provinces. Our crew calls them “champoy” and if you eat too many of them your lips and tongue apparently turn black! Yipes. I washed two handsfull that I purchased, rolled them in good salt and bit into them…they 
were surprisingly good…sweetish sour they were a bit like a cherry but had multiple seeds. The pulp was almost grapelike and it had a pleasant flavor. I can see how folks would pick them straight from the tree and eat them with salt. But my reference books drew a blank… I couldn’t figure them out. Until I checked the list of more obscure Filipino fruits and figured out these were called Kalumpit. The list of Rare and Vanishing Fruit Trees, compiled by Domingo A Madulid at the back of a book by Doreen G. Fernandez, lists Kalumpit as a “Vulnerable” tree. There was a lot of information on the tree/fruit here.
Kalumpit (Terminalia edulis BLANCO) come from a large tree that can group up to 75+ feet. The fruit when fully ripe turn a nice burgundy red. And besides being eaten raw, often with salt, they are used to flavor and age lambanog, according to this terrific site. The fruit bruise incredibly easily and while very similar in many aspects to the “real” cherries I know, they are from different families of fruits. At any rate, if I figured out the right proportion, I suspect these would make a neat jam or preserve and I wish there was someone out there trying to preserve some of these more obscure (at least to city dwellers) fruits and to use them in our dishes so that folks would be encouraged to either cultivate or gather them…
P.S. Now I am not sure, are these mansanitas (Indian jujube) or Kalumpit (Terminalia edulis)??? I don’t know enough to be certain, readers chime in if you know the difference…
82 Responses
hi MM first time to leave a comment here and a frequent visitor of this site
well am from batangas and we call that cherries here and when i was a kid growing up I have an aunt who has a cherry tree it bears tons of fruits ( we when i was a kid it looks that much to me) anyway my mom used to make sweet preservatives with this cherry fruit somewhat like the santol preservative you posted
only unlike the santol fruits where you peeled and seeded it the cherries are just pressed flat
this post brings back lots ofm emories back then when fruits are just picked right from the trees
;-)
I haven’t seen them in a long, long time but it was a favorite as a child. Can’t even remember what we used to call them.
Your entry brings me back to my childhood days. I can stil remember its taste and your description made it more real. I can’t remember though if we used to buy or pick the fruit from a neighborhood’s tree. Hehe! Thanks for the info. I never knew they’re called Kalumpit.
oh wow…never seen those but we’ve all heard of Calumpit town in Bulacan – I had no idea it referred to a fruit or a tree. they might even be good for a tart or a pie.
In Sta. Rosa, Laguna we called these manzanitas (tiny apples), they have the taste and consistency of plums. Yeah, we used to pick them straight from the tree and eat them.
i remember those from childhood! we call them “manzanitas”.
Hello Oggie, I’m from Sta. Rosa too but living in Los Angeles. Yes we call them manzanitas. I love it chilled. I’ll be home in our beloved Sta. Rosa from Oct 18 till Dec.
The Philippines should propagate and increase its production and make it into something worthwhile like wine, maraschino type cherries or candies .
I wanna try some of those kalumpit. looks like sineguelas from the outside as what the picture looks like.
I had these so-called cherries when I was in grade school. Dominant among food peddlers by the school entrances. They were usually kept in a recycled typewriting paper folded in a cone shape and sprinkled with salt then.
MM, my father used it to prepare his grilled porkcops. Crush a handful of ripe fruits with your hands (my dad told me it was not a good idea to pound or chop it, and why? beats me ;> ). Rub sea salt and coarsely cracked black pepper on the meat, throw in a plastic bag or covered container, rub the crushed fruit over the meat, drizzle with a bit of olive oil (or vegetable oil), and let it sit for 30 min – 1 hour. Grill over hot coals. Yum! – I tweaked the old recipe a bit by using plums, or red grapes whenever I have the urge to cook like old man Tommy! Try it, and let me know if you like the results.
my mom calls them mansanitas as well but i remember her soaking them in vinegar with a little salt and would just eat them after maybe soaking for 10mins.. she would just pick from the bowl and take off the stem.. i never liked it before so am interested to try them now..
I am from Lian, Batangas and the kalumpit fruit we have there do not look like the photos above. Kalumpit looks like a bigger version of blueberry. You can eat them fresh with salt or preserved champoy style which I always ask my sisters to send to me here in Pennsylvania.
When I was young we call them “tsiris”. Of course that’s how we pronounce cherries in Bisaya (no pun intended). MM, this really brings childhood memories. I still remember (vividly) whenever I picked the fruits straight from the tree I always made sure to select the ripest one and ate them right away. I just didn’t want to bruise the fruits because it’s not gonna taste good – umaasim once nabugbog. This may sound funny but when I was young I seldom brush my teeth so whenever I eat mansanitas nagkakaroon ng stain ang mga tartar ko. Hehehe.
Yeah, that’s right they were called manzanitas.
Sam, that sounds like an interesting pork chop marinade.Will have to try it.
we call that mansanitas too and what i remember is that pinagugulong namin sa desk and when it is soft you make a little bite and squeeze the fruit. just like victoria the kalumpit we know is parang champoy pag niluto and the syrup has the same color as the blueberries and its seed has a woody texture like the siniguelas. i remember eating kalumpit during summer only april-may after that gone….
I remember, manzanitas can give your shirt some serious stain, yung mantsa na di kayang tanggalin ng clorox… it can even stain your hands, and nails… and yes, your tongue!
Uh oh, COULD I HAVE MISIDENTIFIED THESE FRUIT? Most of the readers seem to be identifying it as Manzanitas of Mansanitas which seems to be Indian jujube, a different tree from the one I identified above… see more information on it here… but the key difference from an identifying perspective is the leaves which differ a lot for the two trees…so which is it? I actually am not sure and I hope some of you can shed some light on this… Many thanks!!! To confuse things more…this site states Indian jujube and terminalia are two different fruit but everyone seems to be interchanging the names… I may just have this totally wrong…and the photos on the net don’t seem to help me identify them more accurately…
i remember having calupit ice candy when i spent childhood summers in nueva ecija….
that is not manzanitas at all in davao. i think it’s called “cerales” or “siralis”…does anyone know it by these names?
millet, cerales or siralis is closer to ceriza (Spanish) and cerises (French?)or similar words that mean cherries… Hmmm, now I am confounded more…the names change so much from north to south…
I would catergorically state that THAT IS NOT MANSANITAS. Mansanitas look like small apples. Mansanas is apple in Spanish or Mexican. Mansanitas or “little apples” are shaped like little green crabapples (green apples). When you bite into them (especially when they are green), you can hear and feel the crunch which reminds you of biting into a little apple. Those are not manzanitas.
Having read this entry I’m compelled to reach for my key taxonomic books to identify this fruit, that is after 3 years of alienating myself from my vast treasured science books after deciding to climb up the corporate ladder. Hehehe. I don’t have a PhD in Botany but I took Biology as my major in college and being overwhelmed with the diversity of plant species in the country, I chose my final thesis topic as taxonomic identification of plant species at a certain quadrats in hopes of finding a treasured endangered species that I have to propose to undergo conservation and further propagation.
As to your confusion between the two genus Terminalia and Zyziphus, I can only help you further more if I can possible see a close up picture of a leaf that fruit you have purchased. I have never encountered or up close seen both species during my quest of taxonomic diversity so I can’t give 100 % accuracy identification; I have only read and heard of it during my college days. Identifying plants is quite tedious-checking out the fruit, leaves, branch, roots, flower,seed etc. I checked out few of Madulid’s books which are the best local taxonomic identification tools and I can only assume 75 % that you have identified it correctly, the whole blog entry as a primary basis for my assumption of course since I didn’t see it up close.
Terminalia edulis or also known as Terminalia microcarpa which is locally known as Kalumpit can be well associated with a more familiar plant to most of us, the Talisay, Terminalia catappa which I think is used for making furniture but its fruit is of almond shape. They belong to the same family and genus. Kalumpit trees leaves are usually found at the tips of its shoots, thus it is called “terminalâ€. It is also called DALISON in the US. Maybe some of your readers might have encountered it abroad and may shed light to this matter as well. If the vendor called this as Batangas Cherries, I can assume that it is again correct to call the fruit as Kalumpit. Kalumpit and Talisay is quite abundant in the province of Batangas but I believe Kalumpit at some point in time had ebbed for awhile, and undergone conservation in the province of Batangas. If they have been finally selling its fruits they were probably been successful for propagating it again.
As for the Zyziphus jujube or Mansanitas , the fruit seems to be like of Kalumpit as well. The fruit is a drupe, usually green, yellow or red in color and some called it Chinese dates. That is probably one of your staff calls it champoy. It is indeed champoy when it dries out. The leaves are oval to oblong, quite shiny and are thorny.
MM, since the fruits are quite identical, if you have seen the leaf of that fruit up close I can assume you’ll be able to identify it correctly. If I have encountered and seen both I could have help you furthermore. My comment is too lengthy and I hope I have helped you somehow.
manzanitas from our childhood, yes. there was a giant tree in fron tof our house that bore the delectable fruits. now if i can just find them in the market, maybe i can help tell you whether they’re manzanitas or not. never heard of kalumpit though.
Omigod, tulip THAT WAS AMAZING. I never thought folks would have that much incredible info on a particular plant. But now I am even moe pleaasantly beffudled. My crew says the leaves of their champoy or fruit has razor edges, which would make it more of a Mansanitas as you describe or chinese dates that dry out, though they only eat it fresh. But the Batangas cherrie nomenclture and my own research points to descriptions, flavors, etc. that make it kalumpit…oh well…its nice to know we have so many different and yet similar fruit. For now, I will think of it as kalumpit until I get better information and the LEAVES as the indentifying factor… Many thanks tulip and I will look for you in future when I can’t figure a fruit out…Salamat!
Doddie, yes, there is an added confusion in that say Californian or temperate region Manzanitas are a completely different plant altogether so now we have three choices in the mix but i think the one you refer to as crab apple like are not available in the tropics…rather in more temperate regions…cool, I so love the discussions on this blog…
Marketman, I am glad to have helped you identify it but I have better news for you! I think we can now assume 99.9% about the identity of this fruit! hehehe
My mom happens to hail from Batangas so I asked her about it. I described the Kalumpit fruit to her just like how you described it in your entry and boom….she said she never remembered anyone calling it Kalumpit in Batangas, they call it Siniguelas Americano and used to be abundant during her childhood days. She’ve been actually searching for it during our frequent weekend visits in the province when I was young but to no avail. I guess it’s true that it had ebbed for awhile. She said it tastes good, and indeed look like cherries or small plums and the seeds are comparable to that of a grape. Well, I showed her your blog entry and she said it is definitely the “Siniguelas Americano†they used to eat when she was young and not Mansanitas. She said the fruit must be called Kalumpit in other Tagalog provinces. And to her description of some trees she had seen to bear Siniguelas Americano it is of Kalumpit trees characteristics. Whew! Talk about diversity of plants, language and even region! LOL
Now, I think I have to find these fruit at FTI Market since my mom is bugging me! hehehe
I grew up in Batangas City and our neighbor used to have a big, tall tree in their backyard with fruits exactly the same as in the picture. We simply called them cherry. I have seen mansanitas trees and they do not grow very tall. Mansanitas as we know them in Batangas are really like small green mansanas – very different from the ‘cherries’ you’ve got in the picture. There used to be a mansanitas tree near my father’s tomb in the Batangas City Catholic Cemetery; it was always ‘hitik sa bunga’ when we go visit on Nov. 1. I wonder why.
Hi,
These belong to a number of subtropical and tropical fruits of the genus Flacourtiaceae native to the Indian subcontinent, but disseminated throughout the pantropics, including the Philippines. A common name is also Indian cherry. Your particular species is most likely Flacourtia jangomas. The fruits are sometimes stewed into jams and preserves too.
I am from Lemery Batangas and we simply call it berries.
We have a kalumpit tree at home. I know the difference between the two.
I agree with you Millet they call that fruit “ceralis” in Mindanao.
yeah, my lola used to have a big tree of that in her backyard back in Antique province – it is also called “cerali”
Just one more note, in your cross-section of the fruit it clearly shows several seeds. Mansanitas have only a single seed or pit in each fruit.
I’m from bicol and we call it cheralee or cherilee something like that.
we also call that Mansanitas and to make it taste sweet, pinapagulong din namin para medyo lumambot, it taste nice.. i like that fruit. I think kalumpit is a different one.
Those are definitely not manzanitas (not in Leyte, at least). Saw these at the market last Sunday as well, but I can’t remember what the vendor said they were (will have to ask again). Manzanitas do not grow up to 75 feet, and the fruits are small and quite tender when ripe, with that mushy/sandy texture.
They’re not sineguelas either. We used to have a big tree out back and the sineguelas fruit has a single pit.
i could send you some leaves of the calumpit tree that our neighbor has so you could identify it correctly, i will be in the phils on oct. 23 onwards, just tell me where to mail it.
In Nueva Ecija, what they call ceriza is the aratiles fruit. They look similar but the aritiles fruit is sweeter and has a lot of juice and very tiny seeds whereas the manzanita has a touch of sourness and bigger seeds.
In Kerala we have something that looks very similar which we call Lovi Lovi or Loovika. the taste is more sour than sweet. We eat it with salt or make spicy pickles with it.
MM, this Batangas Cherries keep on popping on my mind since the weekend, so I again researched about it. If you want a thorough description of the 3 species:Mansanitas, Cerales and Kalumpit for your readers enlightenment I am very much willing to make an article con research and send it to you.
tulip, that would be brilliant, I will post your results for everyone to see…it is interesting that there is so much confusion…it’s rare that you see this degree of overlapping species, names, etc. and I think your professional input would be greatly appreciated… Anupama, will have to add that information to this growing thread on a somewhat enigma of a fruit! Thanks.
We call that fruit “serali” here in iloilo. The fruit we call “seresa” is another fruit which is the same as “aratiles”. I looked it up at the book “Fruits of the Philippines” by Doreen Fernandez and her description and the drawings of the manzanitas and kalumpit are not the same as the “serali” from my childhood. She should have known their Ilonggo names for since I believe she was from Negros Occidental. The pictures of manzanitas and kalumpit from the links you provided confirmed (for me) that those are not the same fruit featured here. We from the Visayas and Mindanao seem to call it by the same name, “serali”.
The Kalumpit I knew in Batangas is a dark tiny fruit, no bigger than a 1/2 inch in diameter, that had one pit surrounded by fiber reminiscent of the mango. It is more sour than sweet when eaten raw, and so they are preserved in syrup that makes them true delicacies. They stain colothes like duhat does. I would think it belongs to the same family of the plum. The chinese dry them into champuy.
The fruits you have in the picture is a totally different fruit. We called them Ceriales in Nasugbu, Batangas. The family Juan Oliva had them. We used to squeeze them with our fingers before we ate them to make them softer and juicier when we bite them. They indeed have small flat seeds. And as you said, the tree is pretty hardy but they are no more than 20 feet tall.
I grew up in Nueva Ecija and over there we called them mansanitas. They were kinda mapakla (it’s been a while) but if you roll them between your palms they magically become sweeter with just the right tartness! The closest taste and texture for me would be fresh plums. I would venture to guess that these fruits are somewhat related.
regarding nette’s posting about santol jam…ehmmm don’t you mean preserve/s? not preservatives? just asking…
we have a couple of these in our backyard. they have prickly leaves and are a couple of feet tall. my dad says they’re local cherries. they are different from the mansanitas fruit/tree. the mansanitas grow taller than these “cherries”. they taste different too.
Hi, regading the said cherry, if its Kalumpit or Manzanitas. I think the said cherry is neither the two fruit species. First looking at Marketmans pictures, the cherry has plenty of seeds inside the fruit when cut in half. So already Kalumpit and Manzanitas are out of the contention as possible identified fruits of this cherry. First, Manzanitas, has one so called big hard seed but the real seeds are inside it. And Kalumpit being relative of Talisay, should have a nut looking seed like Talisay.
So my best guess is that this cherry is the so called “CAPULIN CHERRY” of North California and is being grown in the valley of Mexico which is its native habitat. Capulin Cherry (Prunus salicifolia) is a true cherry is a close relative of the cherries in the temperate regions. Capulin Cherry is native to subtropical regions or semi-temperate areas. So the question is, how did it get in the Philippines and how did it fruit in a tropical area. My best guess is that it was again introduced by the Spaniards because from the comments of the other posters that they have this fruit planted in other parts of the country especially in Batangas, and again Capulin cherry is native in Mexico like fruits sugar apple and sapote negro.
And how did it fruit in a tropical climate, my assumption is that this Capulin Cherry is adapted in tropical areas but was never been given attention that there were too little research on it whether it can be grown in the tropical climate or acclimatize in our country.
But anyway, I maybe wrong on this ID on this cherry but check this link to compare Capulin cherry and to the cherries Marketman took.
Link: Capulin Cherry
https://www.tradewindsfruit.com/capulin_cherry_pictures.htm
If you think this are trully Capulin cherries then do you have spare seeds? Lol Haha I’ve been looking for this fruits a long time ago.
Me and my siblings call this black berry/black berries.
I am very interested on the picture and the topic which our readers were discussing.
I am from CEBU, PHILIPPINE ISLAND, an engineer in profession and my hobby is WINE MAKING.
I still remember during my elementary & H.S. DAYS when we used to ate those berries. (actually in our dialect we call it ceres or ceriales in CEBUANO.)My mom used to detect me when
I ate those berries because of the evidence of stained teeth.
When, i experimented it in my wine making experiment(after i passed the board exam), i can proudly say that if EUROPE & AMERICA HAS ITS GREAT VARIETY OF GRAPES FOR THE BEST WINE IN THE WEST, I CAN COMMIT THAT THIS CERES IS THE COUNTERPART IN THE EAST OR EAST ASIA TO BE ONE OF THE BEST WINE INGREDIENTS IN THE WORLD.
I already made several gallons of wine out of this ceres fruits and offer this to our visitors during the fiesta celebration and they commented that the wine is comparable to red wine offered in FRANCE Cabernet Sauvignon variety.
Also, the sugar and tannic acid content of the fruit is comparable or can exceed grape variety component which is best in wine or brandy making.(the stained of the teeth when eating this is due to tannic acid content which is rich in these fruits – meaning the wine out of this fruit can be best during aging process to release the best tannic aroma of the wine. Aging of this wine may vary from 8 month to a year for bottling.
PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT (ESPECIAL AT D.A.) should look into this very important crops to be propagated in the entire PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
I CONTACTED REGIONAL OFFICE OF THE D.A. at CEBU CITY and they were very much happy to hear my report regarding my wine making from this CERES FRUITS.
Presently they provide me a seedlings for these crops for my
plantation project at southern CEBU where I reside.
INQUIRIES and INPUTS from your end will be VERY MUCH appreciated.
REGARDS,
ENGR. SANSIN G. DIO
SANSIN ENTERPRISES
BALABAGON, MOALBOAL, CEBU
EMAIL ADDRESS : sansindio@yahoo.com
I think the jury is in on this…. definitely not kalumpit. I just got a bunch of the latter and it isn’t what is in the photo above… thanks everyone for chipping in all of your thoughts on this!
“ARATILES” is the name of the fruit.I am sure of this, In Visayas they might call it Cerali,Ceres or Ceriales but in my mom’s place Tuy,Batangas they called it ARATILES.
cerealis is what they are called here in Davao. Mansanitas has a smaller tree and its fruits turns squishy and the flesh is mainly consists of tiny seeds. We have a masanitas tree on our backyard. Cerealis are tall tress ans its seeds are bigger than that of mansanitas.
cool article.
i wish i’d be able to taste some of those. but i haven’t seen one in the local markets, not even the wet markets. (or maybe i’m just not searching thoroughly. lol)
i agree to what mr Doddie say,this is not mansanitas,we used to have a mansanitas tree its like a little apple.how i wished we still have that tree…
just stumbled upon this post. i don’t think this is aratiles. its also not masanitas but maybe there are differences in how this is called within dialects? my curiosity is piqued. does it have a distinct taste? who sells it here in manila?
I am from Tuy, Batangas and I am familiar with both fruits.Kalumpit when ripe is reddish violet not more than 3 cm in its widest diameter , elliptical in shape with hairy seeds like a mango. it is single seeded.
The picture you showed is called in our place serwel and some even called it mansanitas. Mansanitas with an s not z. It is round ,multiseeded with inside flesh grapelike and small flat seeds .
Both tastes sweet sour in its unique way.
Kalumpit grows into a big tree spreading like an acacia. You lay down a mat and somebody climbs up and make luglug the branches . The fruits you gather from the mat.
The serwel or the fruit you pictured here doesnt grow into a big tree. it is just bigger than a shrub . It was not as popular as kalumpit kasi more sour than sweet, dami buto . Pinagtitiyagaan lng ng mga bata.
Mansanitas is different to cherries or Kalumpit. The seeds are different too, the mansanitas seeds is too tiny while the kalumpit is bigger. The taste is different too. Masanitas is sweet while kalumpita little sweet and sour. Absolutely this are different fruits.
for me, dili ni mansanitas, this is ceres tingali medyo aplod in taste..and i think you cant cut a mansanitas like that picture above…
Hi, I wrote you earlier inquiring about this tree. Yup,it’s what is called ceralis in Cagayan de Oro. Manzanitas is a totally different tree with smaller fruit. Thank you for your site. Keep up the good work!
Hi,
This is a very interesting article especially with all the wrong information attributed to it. I am from batangas and the fruit pictured is definitely not Calumpit. The fruit in question is what is called in southwestern Batangas as Serewel or Cerwel depending from what town you are comming.
The fruit comes from a medium sized shrub of about 5 to 8 meters in height. Very seldome have I seen trees of the fruit reaching more than that height. It is fairly common in the provinces where there is abundant rainfall. In Bicol from where my father came from, it is called seriales.
In Lipa and Cuenca Batangas the fruit is called Cherry and can be bought along the zigzagging road of Cuenca when it is in season. It is usually sold pickled in salt and water. When ripe its color ranges from deep brown to brownish purple. It is sweet and has a tarty taste when not fully ripe.
When we were children we will mash the fruit to remove the “mapakla” taste. Normally, the fruit is no bigger than a jackstone ball.
On the other hand, the fruit being referred to as mansanitas is what is called in Bicol as Datiles or Aratiles here in manila. This is an entiely different fruit resembling miniature apples, which small birds adore. mansanitas are small spherical fruits containing hundreds of seeds just a little bit bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. The fruit itself is smaller than a cherry tomato.
The kalumpit however is totally different from the Seriwel. kalumpit trees reach heights of upto 100 feet. The fruit is very similar to a plum in color and appearance except for its size. Kalumpit fruits ranges in size from about the size of an average pinky finger nail to a thumb nail. Hybrid varieties are bigger and may be the size of hersheys football shaped chocolates.
I have been to many places in the Philippines and I have asked about the Kalumpit but it seems that the fruit is relatively unknown outside of Batangas except of course for the Town of Kalumpit in Bulacan. (those who know of the kalumpit growing and bearing fruit outside of Batangas, please let me know)
The kalumpit bears fruit during summer and is picked by shaking the tree to make the ripe fruits fall to the ground. It has a sweet, sour and tangy taste due to the high tannin content. It is an excellent fruit for making wine and vinegar. In Batangas it is usually eaten fresh or as preserves, which taste better as it ages. The fruit has a single and hairy stone with no known use. If you are not careful in eating the fruit, the stone can cut your palate.
You will know when it is flowering season of the Calumpit as the air is usually saturated in the afternoon with a fowl odor comparable to the smell of rotten earwax (luga). This, I think is to attract insects to aid it in pollination.
For those who are interested to taste Calumpit during its off season, you can buy bottled preserves in the markets of Tuy, Balayan, Calaca, Nasugbu, Lian, Calatagan and somtimes even in Tagaytay.
This is just my one cent opinion, I hope that it was able to help. I love fruits and I am an amateur farmer and have made some informal studies about Philippine fruits.
For those who have hybrid Jujube seedlings for sale, I would greatly appreciate if you could PM me.
Thanks.
Hi,
About the Jujube you are referring to, you are right. in some parts of the country jujube is sometimes called mansinitas because they resmble small apples. But aratiles are also called mansanitas in some parts. Jujube, by the way is called Butulan in batangas due to its hard solitary stone inside. It is also called as Chinese dates for the resemblnce to dates when fully ripe, as they are picked in china when they are already wrinkled. In Batngas though, children prefer to eat them when they a little bit crisp and slightly red or orange.
mansanitas is jujube, or as far as i know that is, so yeah, i think chinese dates and mansanitas are the same… as for the picture of the fruit that has been halved, i see a lot of seeds so it won’t be jujube since jujube’s have a pit, more like that of an olive… i don’t know what that fruit is but i think it’s good… have to taste it to know where it goes good with… ^_^
here in lian, the one you posted is called ceriales also, or my grade school friends used to call it sherwells.it is different from kalumpit
hi there…firts time to psot a comment here…i just stumbled on your website when i was browsing on the web looking for interesting stuff…i read your post…and you are right, they are frequent in provinces…i grew up in Pampanga and one of my friends have a “cherry” tree in their backyard…its a hardy tree and very shady…and you were not sure if this is the Indian Jujube? well, the cherry that you are referring to is our local cherry, i believe, there is another one which is the “Aratiles (Muntingia)” or “Jamaican Cherry.” then, the indian jujube is the “Mansanitas” which can be cooked as preserves, you know the “dikiam” or what we call “prunes” here, those are one. hope this figures out your dilemma.
oh, by the way…i never knew until now that the cherry we have is also known as “kalumpit”
:-)
we called it here as bitungol,coz mansanitas is green and small than that u posted in the picture and look like apple.We rolled it with the used of our palm to soften coz bitungol is taste good if is soften.
what i’ve seen in the pix are not kalumpit fruit. i’m from batangas and we call the fruit serwel.it is red when ripe and you have to roll the fruit in ur palm to make it soft and when it’s osft then that the time you can eat it otherwise if u eat the fruit without rolling it on ur palm it is sour. the kalumpit is different. when the kalupit fruit is not yet ripe it is green in color and will turn to red and you will know if its ripe when its color turn into gray. we still have the kalumpit tree in our yard as of today but the serwel is now long gone. the serwel tree is somewhat thorny while the kalumpit tree is not.
in Capiz we call this Ceriales and yes, we used to soften it a bit before eating. the last time I ate this fruit was when I was 9 or 10, now I’m 42. hmmm…
In our province, Pampanga, we call them CHERRY. Me and my friends used to climb its tree and eat the fruits right there and then. The MANSANITAS that we call resembles a small apple (mansanitas = maliit na mansanas)and usually have a sweet and/or sour taste. And as posted by GIO, usually the overriped fruits are made into what we call “DIKIAM”, which is good as a dessert.
Whatever we call them in our own provinces, i think we are speaking of the same fruit.
we call this sineguelas.
hello folks,
iam from balayan,batangas ang nsa pix is we called it serwel ksi cherry sa english siguro sabi ng amerikano noong kelan sa pinoy pag tinatanong is cherry well? ang sabi ng batangenyo opo serwel msarap.
So ang tama talaga ay mga batangenyo.. ang calumpit ay iba.
kahit na ano pa ang tawag nyo. ang kailangan ko ay buto ng calumpit.kailangan namin ang buto para ma propagate at ng maitanim namin.may project kami ng seedling production sa DENR, R-III.City of San Fernando Pampanga.you can e-mail me so i can pick-up. Kung mabait naman kayo paki LBC na lang. sa LMS,DENR, R-III,
Cleofer’s Bldg.
Gen. Hizon St.,Sta. Lucia
City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
I have more than a hundred seeds in my position. I am from Cebu city.
Some of my friends at haribon foundation bought seedlings from me.
The one in the picture you showed is definitely Not kalumpit.It is common here in Batangas and we call it ceruel.One has to roll or soften the fruit first before eating to make them taste sweet. When it is ripe it is dark brown or burgundy and the fruit holds strong to their stalk unlike the kalumpit which is bloody red when ripe and falls off easily.That is why the best way to harvest Kalumpit is to put native “banig” or “sako” below the tree and gather the fruits in the morning.Kalumpit also has oval shaped single hairy seed that can make your gum sore when you eat too much
One of my friends at Haribon Foundation informed me that the exact botanical name on that fruit tree is Flacourtia rukam or common tagalog name is bitongol. He just bought seedlings from me last summer when he visited Cebu and Bohol Island. Yes it is native in the Philippines and Malaysia.
“sarali” yan…bisayan term…..kaloka ka ha….iba ang mansanitas…
im eating the same fruit right now, and I got curious on its english name. but in batangas we call it “SORALES”.
hahah definitely not siniguelas [jamaican plum] or aratiles.
“Sarili or Sarali” this fruit is sweet when its soften. We used to soften this fruit with our palm, before eating them.
I bought that fruit yesterday.When I was a kid we called it mansanitas.
I am from Balayan Batangas. Kalumpit is totally different from Mansanitas. The texture of Mansanitas is similar to apples. Kalumpit is like berries. When it’s not ripe it’s black and turns to purple when ripe. Our family preserves Kalumpit and bottles them for market mostly to balikbayans. It is abundant during the month of May only. Preserves will last for over a year in the refrigerator.