South Asian Cucurbitaceae @ Malaysia

With the massive influx of foreign workers from South Asia into Malaysia, it is increasingly convenience to find South Asian vegetables in locally.

First we have the Bangladeshis in plantation and construction sectors, then the Nepalis as security guards, now we even have Indian nationals

I first seen a patol and kakrol in 2013 at a pasar malam of Taman Universiti Indah.  Today sundry shops operated by Bangladeshis are everywhere.  Even the Mydin Hypermarket in Seremban2 selliing patol and kakrol.

Another security guard in Seremban2 have a vegetable garden behind the guard house where he stationed.

Momordica dioica is an common vegetable in South Asia.  The fruits are cooked with spices, or fried and sometimes eaten with meat or fish.

As diverse as the Southern Asian languages, M. dioica is known in many names.  It is called karkotaki (कर्कोटकी) or karkoti (कर्कोटी) in Sanskrit ; kakoda (ककोड़ा) in Hindi ; mezhuku-pakal ( மெழுகுபாகல் ) orpazhu-pakal ( பழுபாகல் )  in Tamil ; Kankada in Oriya ;  bhat-kerela (ভাত কেৰেলা) in Assamese ; Karot in Manipuri ;  kakrol or ghi korola in Bengali ; boda kakara in Telugu ; Kankoda in Gujarati ; Thumba or Thumba Karavila  (තුඹ කරවිල ) in Sinhalese ; Phagil/Phagala in Nepalese ;  etc.

Trichosanthes dioica is another fruit vegetable in commonly found in Southern Asia.  It is used as an ingredient for soup, stew, curry, sweet, or eaten fried and cooked with fish, roe or meat stuffing.

T. dioica too is called in different languages : parwal or parval in Nepali, Hindi, and Gujarati ; kambupudalai in Tamil ; potals in Telugu ; Kāttu Padavalam ( കാട്ടുപടവലം ) in Malayalam ; potol in Bengali and Assamese ; potala in Odia ; paror in Maithili ; parol in Magahi ; parora in Bhojpuri, Urdu, and Awadhi  Tondule ( तोंडूळे ) in Marathi ; etc.

Seremban : Terung Telunjuk

There are numerous varieties of terung.  Different varieties have different size, shape, and colour.   larger varieties weighing up to 1 kg.   Colours vary from white to yellow, green to dark purple, or with a colour gradient or strips.  Shapes come in round, oval, elongated, cylindrical etc.

Terung telunjuk, or also called terung kuning is a variety of S. melongena found in Malesia.  It is about 10cm in length, with ±3cm diameter.  Colour is light green with white stripes at bottom   when immature, turn to yellow upon ripening.   Nevertheless, the flower is brilliantly purple in colour, same as flowers of other varieties.    

Seremban : Kerdas

Kerdas atau genuak iaitu nama saintifiknya ialah Archidendron bubalinum merupakan sejenis buah dari pokok Kerdas yang sering dijadikan sebagai ulam serta dimakan bersama nasi. Ianya mengeluarkan bau yang agak kuat sama seperti ulam petai atau jering. Pokok Kerdas merupakan sejenis pokok berkayu, saka dan malar hijau.

 Kulit kerdas agak keras dan liat serta mempunyai saiz memanjang dan isi di dalamnya berulas-ulas. Ulas isinya agak kecil di antara (10mm-15mm) dan ianya berkulit nipis sama seperti kulit isi jering. Warna isinya bergantung kepada ketuaan buah ini jika sudah tua atau disimpan lama warnanya akan menjadi kehitaman dan jika isinya masih muda atau baru dipetik ianya bewarna kuning pucat (keputih-putihan). Daun pokok kerdas ini bertekstur nipis dan lembut daun mudanya pula bewarna ungu.

Kerdas dijadikan sebagai ulam bagi menambah selera makan. Baunya agak kuat hingga melekat pada bau nafas selepas memakan ulam ini. Kerdas ini boleh bertahan lama jika disimpan bersama kulitnya. 

sumber : Wikipedia Bahasa Melayu

Timun or not Timun

Coccinia grandis

Coccinia grandis, the ivy gourd, also known as scarlet gourd, tindora, and kowai timun padang, or timun tikus, is a tropical vine.

It grows primarily in tropical climates and is commonly found in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where it forms a part of the local cuisine.

Coccinia grandis fruit is often consumed raw or cooked.  The young shoots are cooked as a vegetable.

Melothria pendula

Melothria pendula, also known as the creeping cucumber or the Guadeloupe cucumber, is a plant in the Cucurbiteae tribe.

The plant resembles the cultivated cucumber, possessing miniature yellow flowers, similar leaf shape, same leaf patterns, as well as similar growth patterns. The unripe berries strongly resemble minuscule watermelons.

The berries, when unripe and light green can be eaten raw.

Banana Cultivars in SEA

The first scientific term given to banana is Musa paradisiaca Linn., published in  1753 by Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum.

Later, Linneaus published Musa sapientum Linn. in Systema Naturae in 1759 to describe a dessert banana which bear sweet fruits that are eaten fresh upon ripening.

To cope with the wealth in germplasm diversity in its center of origin, subsequent banana taxonomists applied such descriptive names as Musa nana Lour. for the  Dwarf Cavendish, Musa rubra Firming. von Wall. for the Red banana, Musa corniculata Lour. for the horn plantain, and many others.

Cheesman (1948)  recognized three groups of morphologically distinct cultivars. The first group shows predominantly the botanical characters of Musa acuminate while the second group of cultivars primarily exhibit the morphological features of Musa balbisiana. The third group possesses characteristics that combine the morphological characters of the two wild species and are considered as their natural hybrids.

Simmonds and Shepherd (1955) concluded that the edible bananas originated from two wild and seedy species, Musa acuminate Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla which are endemic to Southeast Asia.

According to rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), hybrids can also be given a scientific name. However, the epithet must carry the prefix ‘x’ to indicate the hybrid nature of the species. In the case of hybrid banana cultivars, Musa x paradisiaca Linn. should be adopted as this binomial was

published ahead of Musa sapientum.

To cope with the problem, the authors agreed to adopt the three tiers system namely – species, genome group, and cultivar, in classifying bananas and identifying cultivar names and synonyms of the region.

The taxonomic scorecard suggested by Silayoi and Chomchalow (1987),  was found very useful in segregating the numerous banana varieties into six genome groups.

Table 1 presents the 15 diagnostic characters used to differentiate Musa acuminata clones from Musa balbisiana cultivars and their hybrids. The cultivars are classified by inspecting the expression of each of the 15 characters shown in Figure 2 and assigning a score of 1 for each character that adheres closely with wild acuminata and 5 for characters with extreme balbisiana expression.

This scoring technique provides for a range of 15 (15 x 1) for wild acuminata and 75 (15 x 5) for wild balbisiana species. Intermediate expressions of the characters are assigned scores ranging from 2, 3, or 4 depending on intensity. The hybrid cultivars, therefore, should have total scores between 15 and 75. In actual practice, slight deviations are allowed.

Table 2 shows the six genome groups and the expected range of scores the cultivars under study will generate. Pure acuminata varieties should have scores between 15 to 25 while pure balbisiana cultivars should range between 70 to 75. The hybrids are expected to score between 26 to 69 points.

Table 3 presents the list of banana cultivar names and synonyms of Southeast Asia. 

 Table 4 presents the list of cultivars unique to each country of the region. 

Banana Cultivar Names & Synonyms in Southeast Asia, Valmayor et. al., INIBAP 

https://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/_migrated/uploads/tx_news/Banana_cultivar_names_and_synonyms_in_Southeast_Asia_713.pdf

Go Bananas

Banana are native to Southeast Asia.  The edible cultivars are derived from two wild species : M. acuminata and M. balbisiana.   The derived cultivars are  grouped into : AAA/AA, AB AAB, ABB, ABBB, BB/BBB, depending on whether the clones are pure acuminate or balbisiana; diploid, tripoid or tetraploid hybrids of the two species, with A representing the acuminata genome (set of genes) and B representing the balbisiana genome. 

Musa acuminata AA

Musa acuminata  AA

Musa acuminata  AAA

Musa acuminata  AAA

Musa acuminata  AAA

Musa x paradisiaca AAB 

 

Musa x paradisiaca AAB

Musa balbisiana BBB

Source :  Commercial Banana Cultivars in ASEAN, in Banana – Fruit Development, Postharvest Physiology, Handling and Marketing in ASEAN, 1990, Valmayor et al, ASEAN-COFAF, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Seremban : Rambai

Baccaurea is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae. The genus comprises over 100 species, distributed from Indomalesia to the West Pacific.

  

Bauccarea motleyana is known as rambai in Malaysia.  It is a medium sized tree, growing up to 9 to 12 meters in height with short trunk and a broad crown. 

The evergreen leaves are shiny green on the upper surface and greenish-brown and hairy underneath.

The flowers are dioecius, with male and female flowers growing on separate trees. 

Fruits are 2 to 5 cm long, with velvety pinkish, yellow, or brown skin, containing  3-5 seeds.  The pulp is sweet to acid in taste.

The specific name motleyana is for James Motley ( 1781-1863 ), who collected the specimen in Borneo prior to his murder.  His name also provides the basic for the generic name Motleyia for several other Malesian plants.