Star fruit

Home Insects & Spiders Fruits & Vegetables Genealogy Proverbs & Quotes Wine making Modern art Other

Bookmark and Share

Starfruit

Star fruits get their name from their shape, which is like a 5-pointed star. This page provides some basic information on starfruit and some photos of starfruit (carambola).

Star fruits

Basic information on starfruit

Scientific name Averrhoa carambola
English Carambola
English Starfruit
Dutch Carambola
Dutch Stervrucht
Spanish Carambolo
French Carambolier
French Carambole
German Sternfrucht
German Karambole
German Karambola
Italian Carambola
   
Family: Oxalidaceae
Order: Oxalidales
   
Origin: Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia
Distribution: Southeast Asia and Malaysia, Caribbean islands, Central America, tropical South America, tropical West Africa, Zanzibar, southern China, Taiwan, India, Philippines, Australia, Tahiti, Hawaii, etc.
Evergreen or deciduous: Deciduous
Flowers: The fragrant flowers have a pink color and are about 1 cm in diameter. Flowers are borne in clusters in axils of leaves on young branches, or they grow on older branches without leaves. The trees bloom several times throughout the year.
Leaves: The leaves are spirally arranged and 15 to 25 cm long. Leaves have 5 to 11 nearly opposite, ovate-oblong leaflets. These leaflets are 4 to 8 centimeter long. The leaves are soft, medium-green, and smooth on the upper surface. The underside is faintly hairy with a whitish color. The leaflets are sensitive to light and usually fold together at night or when the tree is disturbed.
Fruits: Carambola fruits are ovate to ellipsoid in shape. They are 6 to 13 cm long and the fruits have 5 (sometimes 4 or 6) longitudinal ribs. The fruit has a golden-yellow to green color. When cut across it shows a 5-pointed star shape, which is why it is also called "star fruit". The crunchy fruits have a slightly tart, acidic, sweet taste. The fruit starts out with a green color. As it ripens the color turns to yellow. The fruit cab be eaten in both the green and yellow stages.
Climate and weather: Tropical and sub-tropical climates
Height: 5 - 9 meter
Crwon: The carambola tree has a much-branched, bushy, broad, rounded crown.
Type of soil: Prefers rich loam, but also grows well on sand, heavy clay or limestone. It cannot stand flooding and needs good drainage.
Growth rate: Slow growing tree.
Spacing (close range) 6 meter
Spacing (wide range) 9 meter
Propagation: Grown from seed.
Insect pests: Fruit flies, Fruit moths, Fruit spotting bugs
Diseases: No major diseases
Harvesting: Fruits fall to the ground when fully ripe. Hand pick the fruits when mature (pale green with a touch of yellow).
Uses: Fruits are eaten fresh or are used to make juice.

Proverbs

  • Please send me a message if you know a carambola proverb.

Recipes

Starfruit juice

Ingredients:
40 grams slices of star fruit, 30 grams syrup, 1 gram salt(or 1/5 teaspoon), 200 ml water.

Instructions how to make the juice:
Clean and slice the star fruits, take seed off. Blend in the blender with water then pour through a sieve. Add salt and sugar in the juice as you like. When making a big amount, boil juice for 3-5 minutes before storing it in a sterilized bottle and then keep it in the refrigerator.

What's your favorite recipe with star fruit? Please send me a message.

 

Home  Insects & Spiders  Fruits & Vegetables  Genealogy  Proverbs & Quotes  Wine making  Modern art  Other