Plant family: Anacardiaceae
Plant origin: Pacific Islands, Melanesia, Polynesia
Fruit description: Ambarella can be eaten either fresh or green. Ambarella have 60-90mm sized oval fruits, on long stalks, in bunches of 12 or more. The green fruit can be picked from the tree and ripen to a golden ambar color. The fruit has a golden flesh and a fibrous seed.
Flowers:
Growing conditions: The tree grows well in coastal, warm temperate, sub tropical and tropical areas. The Ambarella tree prefers full sun but will fruit in some shade, and can tolerate dry periods. It is deciduous, or in warm climates is semi-deciduous. It is best to protect young trees from severe frost.
Uses: Ambarella fruit is sweet/sour in flavor. Unripe green skinned fruit can be eaten raw, then it is crunchy like an apple. Green fruit can be eaten with salt, lime juice, shrimp or tamarind paste, chilli, or palm sugar. It can be cooked into preserves or added to cooked vegetables or curries. The juice can be enjoyed with sugar and ginger. Ripe fruit is crisp, slightly sweet and delicious. The leaves can be eaten raw or steamed, and eaten like a vegetable.
Medicinal uses: The fruit is used in Ayurvedic Medicine and is a good source of vitamin C. It is very refreshing in hot weather when it has the affect of cooling the body temperature.
Pollination requirements: Self - Pollinating. The Flowers of the Ambarella are small and white with both male and female flowers occurring in large bunches.
Harvest time The plant starts to fruit after three years of planting. The Ambarella gives very big crops of fruit every year. The harvest season for green unripe fruit is summer, and for ripe fruit is autumn.
Plant relatives Other edible plants in the Anacardiaceae family include cashew nuts, mango, burdekin plum, and sumac.
Special features: The Ambarella is very fast growing, hardy, and is an attractive shade tree. It reaches an average height of 9-12 metres. It has soft large leaves which turn yellow and fall in the cool months.
Grown by method: Cutting Grown Pot size: 140mm
Plant growing Height and Width for pots or in the ground planting: Grows to 3 metres high by 1.5 metres wide if Planted in a Pot. Grows 8 to 12 metres high by 6 metres wide if Planted in the Ground.
Shipping plant pot or planter bag size: 140mm
