Limonia acidissima – Wood Apple, Elephant Apple

Description

Limonia acidissima is the only species within the monotypic genus Limonia. Common names for the species in English include wood-apple and elephant-apple.
Limonia acidissima is a large tree growing to 9 metres (30 ft) tall, with rough, spiny bark. The leaves are pinnate, with 5-7 leaflets, each leaflet 25–35 mm long and 10–20 mm broad, with a citrus-scent when crushed. The flowers are white and have five petals. The fruit is a berry 5–9 cm diameter, and may be sweet or sour. It has a very hard rind which can be difficult to crack open, it appears greenish-brown in colour from outside and contains sticky brown pulp and small white seeds. The fruit looks similar in appearance to the Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos). It contains considerable amount of protein, carbohydrate, ferus, fat, calcium, Vit-B & C etc. 100 g of ripe fruit pulp contains up to 49 KCal.

It is a local favorite among young and old alike. The fruits are available throughout the year. . Named “Woodapple” due to its hard wooden shell . The woodapple is native to the Indian sub-continent.

The sweet and sour juice of the woodapple is a perfect thirst quencher on a warm day. One of the best loved recipes made with the fruit is the wood apple sherbet