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Averrhoa bilimbi
Also called Cucumber Tree, Tree Sorrel, Bilimbi Tree, Belimbing
In Singapore: Bilimbi, Belimbing Buloh, Cucumber Tree, Belimbing, 木胡瓜 (Naturalised in Singapore)
Bilimbi is a small, often multi-trunked tropical fruit tree grown mainly for its very sour, crisp fruit used in cooking and preserves. It needs warm, frost-free conditions and rich, well-drained soil.
Averrhoa bilimbi (commonly known as bilimbi, orkkaappuli, cucumber tree, or tree sorrel) is a fruit-bearing tree in the family Oxalidaceae. It is native to the Maluku Islands and Sulawesi in Indonesia, and has become naturalised and is common throughout Southeast Asia. It is cultivated in parts of tropical South Asia and the Americas. It bears edible but extremely sour fruit. It is a close relative of the carambola tree.
The fruit contains high levels of oxalate. Acute kidney injury due to tubular necrosis caused by oxalate has been recorded in several people who drank the concentrated juice on continuous days as treatment for high cholesterol.
The fruit also contains the neurotoxin caramboxin. The combination of both substances can also cause acute kidney injury when the fruit is consumed in excess, akin to the case with carambola. Even for those with prior normal renal function, this can result in neurotoxic as well as nephrotoxic effects.
Averrhoa bilimbi is believed to be originally native to the Moluccas of Indonesia. The species is now cultivated and found throughout Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Myanmar (Burma), and Malaysia. It is also common in other Southeast Asian countries. In India, where it is usually found in gardens, the bilimbi has gone wild in the warmest regions of the country. It is also seen in coastal regions of South India.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Averrhoa bilimbi by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
