Pangium edule

Pangium edule

The football fruit (Pangium edule Reinw. 1828) is an arboreal species belonging to the Flacourtiaceae family.

Systematic –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Subkingdom Tracheobionta,
Spermatophyta Superdivision,
Division Magnoliophyta,
Class Magnoliopsida,
Violales Order,
Family Flacourtiaceae,
Genus Pangium,
Species P. edule.
The terms are synonymous:
– Hydnocarpus edulis (Reinw.) Peterm.;
– Hydnocarpus polyandrus Blanco;
– Pangium ceramense Teijsm. & Binn.;
– Pangium ceramense Teijsm. & Binn. ex Slooten;
– Pangium naumannii Warb.;
– Pangium rumphii Voigt.

Etymology –
The term Pangium comes from one of the local names, “pangi”, which is used in Malaysia.
The specific edible epithet comes from the Latin “edulis, e”, i.e. edible, in reference to the seeds.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Pangium edule is a plant widespread in Indonesia and New Guinea and is the only known species of the Pangium genus.
The plant is native to the mangrove swamps of south-east Asia, in an area that includes: the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Micronesia (Yap), Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Its habitat is that of rainforests and along the banks of watercourses, from sea level, close to the mangroves, up to around 1000 m above sea level.

Description –
The Pangium edule is an evergreen tree that grows up to about 40 m in height, in the oldest specimens in nature and with a large, open and enlarged foliage that can reach 50 meters in diameter.
The trunk is up to 1 m in diameter; It has grey-brown bark, slightly fissured longitudinally.
The leaves are borne by a 15 cm long petiole; they are arranged in a spiral, chordate-ovate or sub-round with a pointed apex and entire margin, 15-40 cm long and 10-25 cm wide, of a shiny intense green colour.
It is a polygamous-dioecious plant, with male and female inflorescences on different individuals, but with male inflorescences which can have one or two hermaphroditic flowers.
The male flowers are gathered in axillary racemes with a calyx made up of 2-3 concave sepals, leathery and covered with reddish down, a corolla with 5-7 oblong-ovate petals, about 2 cm long, greenish in colour, and 20-25 stamens .
The female flowers are located on a 7-8 cm long peduncle, usually solitary, axillary, almost the same as the male ones, but with sterile stamens.
The fruits are indehiscent capsules with an ovoid to pyriform shape, 15-28 cm long, covered with dense brown hair containing numerous almost ovoid seeds, about 5 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter, covered by a fleshy aril creamy white, highly poisonous.

Cultivation –
The Pangium edule is a large multipurpose evergreen tree that is very important in the local economy of more traditional peoples, although less used in many modern societies. Although toxic raw, the seeds of this plant are commonly collected in the wild and used as food by local populations.
The tree is also often planted in villages while the seeds are sold in local markets.
It is a plant that can be cultivated exclusively in tropical and subtropical regions with high annual rainfall, it requires full sun, except in the initial stages of growth when it is sensitive to excessive sunlight, and draining soils, from slightly acidic to neutral, kept almost constantly humid. Elsewhere it can be grown in large containers, to be sheltered in particularly bright greenhouses or winter gardens, with minimum winter temperatures not lower than 16 °C and high environmental humidity.
The use of the tree for food purposes has become less widespread with the increase in the availability of other foods, but it is still used as a staple food in most areas; it is a plant that grows, naturally, in primary and secondary rainforests; often in deforested, wild or semi-cultivated areas; banks; teak forests; both in arid areas and temporarily flooded places; on stony or clayey soil; at altitudes up to 300 meters but occasionally up to 1,200 meters.
The plant grows best in areas where the average annual temperature is between 22 and 28 °C, but can tolerate 18-32 °C.
It prefers an average annual rainfall of between 2,000 and 5,000 mm, but can tolerate 1,000 – 8,000 mm.
From a pedological point of view it prefers rich, moist, fertile soil and a position in full sun.
In Indonesia it prefers slightly acidic and slightly shaded soils and generally prefers a pH between 5.5 and 6.5, but can tolerate a pH between 5 and 7.
Young plants grow rapidly in their first few years, but can take 10-15 years before they begin to bear fruit.
The flowers are quite fragrant and are produced soon after each new leaf bloom. Fruits can be produced 1 to 4 times a year.
The seeds disperse easily in water and have excellent buoyancy; they are frequently found drifting on the beach.
It is a predominantly dioecious species, so both the male and female forms must be present if fruits and seeds are needed.
The plant reproduces by seed, previously kept in warm water for a day, in draining organic soil kept humid at a temperature of 26-28 °C, with germination times of 20-40 days and first fruiting starting from the tenth year of age .

Customs and Traditions –
Pangium edule is a plant known by various common names; among these we report: football fruit (English); pukung, pakem (Java); buah keluak (Indonesia); kepayang, pangi (Malaysia); ariaml (Palauan); rumrum, suete (Papua New Guinea); peyang, kapayang, kapekong, simuang (Sumatra); nalake, vangge (Vanuatu).
The tree takes many years to mature and the seeds so it is more common to harvest the fruit from wild specimens. Furthermore, the seeds are poisonous to humans but for the babirusa they are part of its diet.
The edible parts of the plant are an excellent source of vitamin C and rich in iron.
Pangio seeds are a highly prized ingredient in Nonya and Eurasian cuisine. They are toxic if not treated properly. The outer peel must be cleaned by rubbing it vigorously, then soaking it for at least 3 days, changing the water often and throwing it away at the end. The simplest method to open them is to use a short-handled screwdriver, a hammer and pound on the shell, although tradition dictates the use of a cleaver. Using tweezers, extract the pulp which must not be hard, green or have an unpleasant smell; to be used it must be soft, black or dark brown and fragrant. The Peranakans usually open the seeds, empty them and then fill the shell again. Eurasian chefs use them naturally, leaving the diner to open them and enjoy them with the dish itself.
The leaves, seeds and most other parts of the tree contain a high percentage of gynocardin, a glycoside that readily produces the toxin hydrogen cyanide. This is volatile and, before consumption, can be eliminated from the seeds in various ways such as washing, soaking, roasting or underground storage. The seed is therefore perfectly safe to eat when boiled or roasted.
Raw seeds are especially toxic to poultry.
Its seeds, however, have played a great role in the nutrition of local populations, and are still an important ingredient of some characteristic dishes, for this reason the species has often been cultivated near villages.
The treatment to eliminate the toxic substance involves the removal of the membrane surrounding the seed and repeated washing and cooking; one of the most used consists of repeated washing in running water, prolonged boiling, fermentation for 40 days in a pit full of ash and covered with earth and banana leaves and subsequent further cooking. Inadequate preparation can be fatal.
Due to their antiseptic properties, the crushed leaves and seeds are still used by some isolated populations for the preservation of meat and fish; seeds and bark are locally used to stun fish and catch them easily. The oil obtained from the seeds, used in the past for cooking and lighting, finally has promising characteristics as a biofuel.
Other uses include the seed oil, which is used as a lightener and to make soap.
Shells are used as rattles on dancing masks.
The heartwood is light yellow in color; it is not clearly delimited from the yellowish to orange sapwood; It has an unpleasant odor.
The wood is hard but not very durable and is, however, a good source of lumber for local use in the construction of traditional houses, tools, etc.

Preparation Method –
Pangium edule is a plant used mainly for both food and medicinal purposes.
The seeds are used as a spice in Indonesian cuisine (raw beef stew).
The fresh fruit and seeds contain hydrogen cyanide and are fatally poisonous if consumed without prior preparation. The seeds are first boiled and then buried in ash, banana leaves and earth for forty days, during which they turn from creamy white to dark brown or black. The method is based on the fact that the hydrocyanic acid released by boiling and fermentation is soluble in water and easily washable.
The kernels can be ground to form a thick black sauce called rawon. Popular dishes include nasi rawon, beef stew in keluwak paste, popular in East and Central Java, and sambal rawon, rawon stew made from beef or chicken, also made in East Java. In West Java and Jakarta, gabus pucung, snakehead fish in pucung noodle soup, is a traditional dish popular in Betawi cuisine. The Toraja dish pammarrasan (black spice with fish or meat, sometimes also with vegetables) uses black keluwak powder. In Singapore and Malaysia, the seeds are best known as an essential ingredient in ayam (chicken) or babi (pork). Buah keluwak is a mainstay of Peranakan cuisine. The Dusun tribe of Borneo uses this pounded grain as the main ingredient to prepare a typical local dish called bosou, a fermented sour fish.
The people of the Minahasa tribe in North Sulawesi use the young leaves as a vegetable, slicing them small and then cooking them with herbs and pork fat or meat inside bamboo. Many vendors in the Tomohon traditional market sell the leaves.
The immature seeds are used to prepare ‘sayor lodeh’, a spicy Indonesian side dish.
The mature seeds are fermented in pits to produce keluwak”, which has a distinctive, slightly bitter flavor and is used in the preparation of soups, stews and seasonings. Another fermentation produces “dageh peechong”, which is similar to “dageh peechong”. keluwak” but with a sweeter and more slippery consistency.
An oil obtained from the seed is sometimes used for culinary purposes when coconut oil is in short supply and is a good quality oil. Toxins are removed by heating the oil. The oil has a high olein content and goes rancid quickly.
The fruits are eaten raw; They have a sweet and aromatic pulp and are normally consumed when the skin is soft to the touch.
In the medicinal field, the glycosides contained in the plant, although toxic, also have various applications in folk medicine.
In particular, they have antiseptic properties and the crushed fresh seeds can be used to sterilize wounds.
They can also be applied externally as a poultice on pimples.
The leaves are antiseptic; they are crushed and used externally to sterilize wounds, treat skin in parasites, etc.
They are heated on the fire then placed around the head and covered with a cloth as a remedy against lice.
The juice of the fruit is applied topically to sores and cuts.
The crushed bark of a mature tree is cooked into a soup and then given to nursing mothers. Their breast milk is therefore believed to help the baby become stronger and more resistant to disease.
The inner bark is heated on a hot stone and the steam produced is used as a steam bath to provide relief to swollen and painful joints.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Photo source:
– https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63889941

Attention: Pharmaceutical applications and food uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; we therefore decline any responsibility for their use for healing, aesthetic or food purposes.