Marang, a Delicious Fruit from Mindanao, Philippines

Marang (artocarpus odoratissimus) is an exotic tropical fruit from Mindanao, Philippine that is less known to the westerners., The tree of the fruit also grows in other South-East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. Marang is related to the bread fruit and jack fruit. And in fact the size and shape of a marang is very much similar to that of the bread fruit. A mature marang tree can grow as high as 25 meters long. A typical leaf of the tree usually measures 16 centimeters long and 11 centimeters wide.

Marang is a fruit with spiny shell similar to durian, jackfruit, and guyabano. But its spines are not as shart as the durian's whose spines can prick a careless hand. The Marang fruit is not left alone to fall off a tree when ripe because it can break open when it hits the ground. It is usually harvested when it shows early sign of ripeness.

The fruit is spherical in shape, weighs about a kilogram and has a greenish yellow shell when ripe. A typical fruit is about 15-20 centimeter long and 13 centimeter in diameter. The fruit is covered with thick soft rind with soft and harmless spines all over it. The fruit can be opened with a bare hand. There is no need for a sharp tool like a knife to remove the rind. When ripe the rind is soft so that it can be easily torn with a gentle press of the fingers and pulling it outward. the opened fruit will show many milky white seeds that cover a large core. Each seed is like the size and shape of a grape. They can be taken off by picking them up with the hand. A fork can also be used to eat the flesh for those people who do not want to mess their hands with the juice and flesh of the fruit.

Unlike the durian and the jackfruit which have overwhelming odor, the scent of the marang is mildly pleasant. Sometimes the odor is not significant at all. The flesh of the marang is succulent with a sweetish taste. The fruit should be immediately eaten once opened because it rapidly losses taste and oxidizes when the flesh is exposed to the air. Another good thing about the marang is that is is easy to eat unlike apples and pineapples which need kitchen tool to peel off the skin before eating them.

Aside from being a table fruit, marang can be served in various ways. The flesh can be processed and turned into jelly, jam, puree, ice cream, and syrup. Marang is good of the health because it is nutritious. It contains iron, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, retinol, beta carotene, Vitamin A, thiamine and niacin.

Commercial viability and exporting of the fruit is hampered because of its short shelf life. It is also the reason why marang is not well known in countries with temperate climate. An effective method of storing the fruit should be developed by the government to prolong its shelf life so that farmers can sell it to other parts of the Philippines or export it to other countries.