Achacha Fruit Tree

[Donna]

Well I'd never heard of this so I googled it when Lissa mentioned it on one of the babaco photos. 

 

Donna:  Never heard of them, googled it just now - can you buy the plants yet?  Or do they grow from seed I wonder, worth a try certainly.

 

Lissa:  I keep looking for plants for sale - Daley have them in production by the looks.

Apparently the Achacha Fruit Group hold rights to growing of the plant (from what I've read). There's some discussions going in Daley's http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/forum/acha-cha-fruit-seeds/?PHPSESSID... at least one guy seems to have grown them from seed.

 

Ali:  Ooo I love achacha... I had one at the Powerhouse Markets a few years ago... I wish I had kept some seeds, but I wasn't gardening at the time. I've never seen them for sale as a tree though.

 

 

  

http://www.achacha.com.au/faq.html

The Achacha is from the same family and is similar in taste to the mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), known as “the queen of tropical fruit”, which is grown throughout tropical Asia particularly in Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia. Local and imported mangosteen are available in Australia from time to time.

However the Achacha has a thinner golden skin, compared to the mangosteen’s thicker dark purple skin, it has about 25% more flesh per kilogram than the mangosteen, and it is not as sweet as the mangosteen. The Achacha has a wonderful balance between sweet and tart, with a delicate sorbet finish which makes it quite different to all other fruit and very refreshing.

 

 

[Lissa]

Here's another link with info about Garcinias in general and a pic of each.

http://www.cixel.com/rarefruit/letsfigureoutthegarcinias.htm

The Achacha garcinia humilis is on this list as garcinia laterifolia.

The skin of the fruit can be blended, mixed with water and some honey, sugar or mint...leave in the fridge overnight, strain and served chilled as a refreshing drink.

Apparently the seeds are used medicinally and have a slight narcotic effect.

How to grow from seed:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7528688_grow-garcinia-laterifolia.html

Garcinia Laterifolia in fruit:

[Lissa]

Another good link with growing info (will grow sub-tropical):

http://www.skyfieldtropical.com/encyclopedia/achachair/

Flowering/Pollination: Small, white flowers can be hermaphroditic, but will often require cross-pollination.

Oh dear. Hope we don't get trees growing, wait 4 to 6 years and find they need a mate.

[Elaine de Saxe]

As it turns out, the fruit is pronounced Uh-cha-cha like the dance not Uh-chak-ka. The plantation is out of Townsville and by the looks they are planting from seeds so any real improvement in the fruit will come slowly as selections are made for different qualities and those seedling bear fruit in however-many years. If you've got some spare space and some spare time, there's nothing to lose by planting the seeds and seeing what happens.

[Lissa]

I'll certainly be planting all the seeds from the fruit I bought recently. Lets see what comes up. Most of the big fruit seed that I plant are disappointing.....maybe I don't give them enough time!

Any suggestions anyone for how to handle them?

[Elaine de Saxe]

Look into the plant a little more and see if it is a Rainforest plant. I suspect it is in which case, the seeds need to be planted fresh and on top of leaf litter and kept damp as though they are on the Rainforest floor. Mango is like that, no point in drying the seeds, the embryo dies. Just I don't know what climate in Bolivia is their original home although I recall the guy on TV saying 'forest'.

[Lissa]

Thanks Elaine, that's as good advice as any. I'll do it.

They're supposed to grow in sub tropical as well, so I might put some in a pot the regular way and see which comes up (if any).

[Linda Brennan]

Hi Donna

I bought achacha fruit at the Mt Gravatt markets last Sunday morning. So Cheap at $1 each (NOT) It was the first time I had tried them too. I have kept the seeds to try growing them (of course) I met the lady who owns the achacha farm in north qld when I did an organic agriculture qualification last year. She was lovely and is keen to grow them organically.

They are delicious I will agree, even though they don't have much flesh - About the same amount as a loquat I estimate. Hope my picture loads. You can see they look a little dry but were quite juicy consideringt he small amount of flesh.

[Scarlett]

those markets are really good for rare and unusual fruit and veg - including things you can propagate from! I bought purple yam there (and planted it!). I also spotted taro

[Lissa]

The ones I bought from North Lakes were storm damanged on the outside and about $7/8 a kg. Normally $10kg I understand.

They were ok. The flesh is sort of like sorbet and melts in your mouth. The seeds were large, but as the article said, this is due to the current weather conditions.

I'm prepared to be more impressed by future fruit.

Nice looking tree and it gets heaps of thick skinned fruit which can only be a good thing when it comes to fruit fly.

[Elaine de Saxe]

Instead of crying poor-mouth ("it's cost us millions and 8 years") the owners should be rigorously selecting for thick fruit and smaller pips and over time they will achieve that. What they did was plant millions of seeds and expect the public to pay them back when what they are producing is sub-standard fruit at top-of-the-range prices. The fruit was delicious, a bit like that Soursop ... but no value for money at the present time. The early Lychees were a bit like that - huge seed, little fruit. With selective breeding over time, we now have Lychees with a lot of fruit and a much smaller seed.

[Lissa]

There's a guy called Scott at the Caboolture Mkts who sells Achacha or Abiu Pouteria caimito plants for $8.50 His phone number is 5494 8159. He tells me they do need two to pollinate.

[Shirley]

I would still love to try some of this fruit has anyone seen any in the shops around lately?