LOCQUATS or loquat, recipes and preservation tips needed

[abdullah]

please post recipe and preservation tips here, right now there is dozens of trees full of fruit in my neighbourhood, most people i dont think even eat them, or know they are edible, so that means more for me!

but what to do with them, i guess i could raise possums on them, fatten them and make a nice purse or hand warmer for my wife from their fur, and a lean stew also!

seriously though, i read a cough syrup can be made from them, they can be made into various things, can they be dried?

the best for me is the easy things, i cant afford a canner, i dont like adding kilos of sugar to make jam (post jam recipe any way!).

so lets fill this thread starting 3.. 2.. 1.. POST >

[abdullah]

ok so i found a bit of info, below are the useful produce bits:

Food Uses

The skin of the loquat is easily removed. Peeled and seeded fruits are eaten fresh, sometimes combined with sliced banana, orange sections and grated coconut. They are delicious simply stewed with a little sugar added. The fruits are also used in gelatin desserts or as pie-filling, or are chopped and cooked as a sauce. Loquats canned in sirup are exported from Taiwan. Some people prepare spiced loquats (with cloves, cinnamon, lemon and vinegar) in glass jars. The fruit is also made into jam and, when slightly underripe, has enough pectin to make jelly. The jelly was formerly manufactured commercially in California on a small scale.

Food Value Per 100 g of Edible Portion*
Calories --------------------------- 168
Protein -------------------------- 1.4 g
Fat ----------------------------------- 0.7 g
Carbohydrates --------------------- 43.3 g
Calcium -------------------------- 70 mg
Phosphorus ------------------------- 126 mg
Iron ----------------------------------- 1.4 mg
Potassium ------------------------ 1,216 mg
Vitamin A --------------------- 2,340 I.U.
Ascorbic Acid --------------------- 3 mg
*Analyses reported by the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The fruit contains laevulose, sucrose and malic acid and lesser amounts of citric, tartaric and succinic acid. The pulp contains the carotenoids B-carotene (33%); y-carotene (6%); cryptoxanthin (22%), lutein, violaxanthin, neoxanthin (3-4% each). The peel is 5 times richer than the pulp in carotenoids which are similar to those in apricots.

Toxicity

A 5-year-old girl in Florida ate 4 unripe loquats, fell asleep and was difficult to awaken and seemed dazed. After about 2 hours, she was back to normal. There have been instances of poisoning in poultry from ingestion of loquat seeds. The seeds contain amygdalin (which is converted into HCN); also the lipids, sterol, b-sitosterol, triglyceride, sterolester, diglyceride and compound lipids; and fatty acids, mainly linoleic, palmitic, linolenic and oleic. There is amygdalin also in the fruit peel. The leaves possess a mixture of triterpenes, also tannin, vitamin B and ascorbic acid; in addition, there are traces of arsenic. Young leaves contain saponin. Some individuals suffer headache when too close to a loquat tree in bloom, The emanation from the flowers is sweet and penetrating.

Other Uses

Wood: The wood is pink, hard, close-grained, medium-heavy. It has been used instead of pear wood in making rulers and other drawing instruments.

Animal feed: The young branches have been lopped for fodder.

Perfume: In the 1950's, the flowers attracted the interest of the perfume industry in France and Spain and some experimental work was done in extraction of the essential oil from the flowers or leaves. The product was appealing but the yield was very small.

Medicinal Uses: The fruit is said to act as a sedative and is eaten to halt vomiting and thirst.

The flowers are regarded as having expectorant properties. An infusion of the leaves, or the dried, powdered leaves, may be taken to relieve diarrhea and depression and to counteract intoxication from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Leaf poultices are applied on swellings.

source: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/loquat.html

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Abdullah

My brother has a huge tree growing in his back yard in Northern Victoria (a legacy of the former owner, who judging by the bizarre range of fruit trees in the back yard, the concrete in the front yard, and the decor in the kitchen, was of European-Australian descent). Two weeks ago when I last visited, nephew and moi had a gutful of the fruit each. I don't know about the efficacy of claims that loquat fruit are mildly sedative when ripe, but I do remember sleeping extremely well that night.

Now, what to do with your 'opportunistic yield'. I am led to believe (by another European-Australian friend) that loquat fruit makes an excellent wine! And I have even found you a recipe, from Texas no less (see: http://www.defalcos.com/wine-recipes/loquat_wine.htm). While we are checking out links for this amazing, multi-cultural plant, you may want to have a look at the next webpage as it contains a dearth of information, particularly with regards to its medicinal qualities (see: http://middlepath.com.au/plant/Loquat_E ... etrile.php).

Cheers Mate, and happy loquatting, Mark.

[abdullah]

LOL appreciate your post mark, its funny though that the first recipe so far is something that i cant consume!

the medicinal info is interesting though, ill have to look into that down the track, apparently it has anti cancer properties also.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Abdulla

LOL, yes that thought did enter my mind, but I did not wish to be presumptuous by not posting the recipe.

Every recipe for loquat preserves I have come across seems to have a lot of sugar in it. I wonder if you could substitute something else for the sugar? Chutney and pickle recipes seem to have much less sugar, but I have nothing in particular for loquats. Perhaps you could adapt a chutney/pickle recipe from another, similar fruit.

What about drying? Good weather for that right now. I have used an old aluminium window frame with attached flywire screen. I simply 'lifted' the window out, and placed the pitted and sliced fruit onto the flywire, replaced the window and hey presto, 48-hours later I had very dry fruit.

Cheers Mate, Markus.

[abdullah]

i will try to dry them, i picked a bunch yesterday and peeled them and ate them, apparently they have some thirst inhibiting ability also, today if i can mak a drier i will pick heaps and dry them, well try to.

do you blanch before drying?

also has anybody eaten the seeds? some say its great health food, have one in the morn one in the eve, others say it contains cyanide so do not eat it!

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Abdullah

I have dried lots of different stone fruit using the above method. I never peel, nor blanch.

As for the seeds of the loquat, there are many papers published on the subject. However it seems that no consensus thus far has been reached as to their affect on humans. As such, I intend to adhere to the precautionary principle, and not eat them. Others should decide for themselves what they wish to do.

Cheerio, Mark.

[abdullah]

do you take the seed out before drying?

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Abdullah

Always. See the earlier links about the reputed positive and negative traits of certain stone fruit seeds.

Cheerio Mate, Marko.