name: Rambutan

flavor_db_name_variants: rambutan

source: foodb

status: draft

food_db_id: Rambutan

id: 234

name_scientific: Nephelium lappaceum

description: The rambutan (taxonomic name: Nephelium lappaceum) is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The fruit produced by the tree is also known as rambutan. According to popular belief and the origin of its name, rambutan is native to Indonesia and Malaysia. The earliest record of rambutan trees show that they were cultivated by the Malayan jungle tribes around their temporary settlements, a practice followed to date. Rambutan trees grow naturally in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, although its precise natural distribution is unknown. It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits including the lychee, longan, and mamoncillo. It is native to the Indonesian Archipelago, from where it spread westwards to Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka and India; northwards to Vietnam, and the Philippines. The fruit is a round to oval single seeded berry, 3?6 cm (rarely to 8 cm) tall and 3?4 cm broad, borne in a loose pendant cluster of 10?20 together. The leathery skin is reddish (rarely orange or yellow), and covered with fleshy pliable spines, hence the name rambutan, derived from the Malay word rambut, which means hairs. The fruit flesh, which is actually the aril, is translucent, whitish or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavor very reminiscent of grapes.

itis_id: 506073

wikipedia_id: Rambutan

picture_file_name: 234.jpg

picture_content_type: image/jpeg

picture_file_size: 71055

picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:43:04.000Z

legacy_id: 249

food_group: Fruits

food_subgroup: Tropical fruits

food_type: Type 1

created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:27.000Z

updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:04:20.000Z

creator_id: null

updater_id: null

export_to_afcdb: false

category: specific

ncbi_taxonomy_id: 151071

export_to_foodb: true

public_id: FOOD00234