Page 286 - FRUTAS DEL TRÓPICO

286 Frutas del trópico

to bear adequate crops of fruit. The trees bear distylous flowers, all flowers on a single tree
having long pistils and short stamens or, conversely, short pistils and long stamens. It is ne-

cessary to have trees of both floral types growing in a field planting to ensure adequate fruit

production, although some cultivars, e.g. ‘Golden Star’, set fruit from self- polllnation (Knight

1982). Fruit of the carambola is rich in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and phosphorus, and contains

smaller amounts of iron and numerous vitamins (Morton 1989).

Economic importance: Long appreciated in Asia, the carambola was little known outside that

area until some 40 years ago when improved cultivars were introduced and evaluated in the

U.S., Australia and other places where the fruit had not been well known earlier. Since that

time small commercial industries have developed in new areas of culture, and export of the
fruit from its place of origin to metropolitan markets has become common.

Expansion of metropolitan markets in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan suggests that

there may be a potential for expansion of carambola production in Mexico and nearby Central

America. Carambola juice is popular in Surinam where oranges are not widely cultivated but

the carambola grows well. The first carambolas imported to North America from Asia bore

sour fruit that was not widely appreciated, but improved cultivars brought in since 1950 have

permitted the expansion of commercial production. Cultivars now grown to some extent in
the U.S., Australia and elsewhere include ‘Arkin’, ‘B-10’, B-17’, ‘Fwang Tung’, ‘Kari’, ‘Sri Kem-

bangan’ and numerous others.

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas