Carambola is the star fruit. Exotic carambola tree - what is it? Fruit use, benefits and care

Dangerous properties of carambola

The harm of fruit is a speculative concept, incomparable in scale with beneficial properties.
The only thing that should alert people with stomach or intestinal problems is the high content of oxalic acid. It can aggravate the following pathologies:

• gastritis;
• stomach ulcer;
• duodenal ulcer;
• colitis;
• kidney diseases.

Excessive consumption can disrupt the body's salt balance, causing the formation of kidney stones or kidney failure.
Hiccups, vomiting, insomnia, muscle weakness, and numbness are not excluded. These are markers of carom intoxication. They may appear half an hour later or within half a day after tasting.
As with any exotic, individual intolerance is possible. Therefore, for the first tasting, one fruit is enough.

Conclusion

Thai housewives polish copper and brass home accessories with the pulp of unripe fruits and remove stains from clothes. For us, this is a monstrous wastefulness (considering the price of the fruit in supermarkets).

If you are lucky enough to visit his “homeland”, do not forget to grab a few copies.

And unripe purchased fruits will turn an ordinary fish or meat dish into an exotic dish.

Extreme sensitivity to low temperatures makes zinnias annual plants, which are usually grown through seedlings. But there is nothing complicated about sowing and growing young zinnias. They are hardy and low-maintenance plants that are easy to grow from seed. And if you also collect your own seeds, you will get one of the most “economical” summer seeds in your collection. Bright baskets of inflorescences color the garden with a special cheerful canvas.

Eggplants - tall, erect plants with wide, dark green leaves and large fruits - create a special mood in the garden beds. And in the kitchen they - popular product for a wide variety of different dishes: Eggplants are fried, stewed and canned. Of course, growing a decent harvest in the middle zone and further north is not an easy task. But subject to agrotechnical cultivation rules, it is quite accessible even to beginners. Especially if you grow eggplants in a greenhouse.

Noble lush greenery, unpretentiousness, and the ability to purify the air from dust and pathogens make nephrolepis one of the most popular indoor ferns. There are many types of nephrolepis, but any of them can become a real decoration for a room, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s an apartment, a country house or an office. But only healthy, well-groomed plants can decorate a room, so creating suitable conditions and proper care is the main task of flower growers.

Experienced gardeners always have crystalline iron sulfate, or ferrous sulfate, in their garden medicine cabinet. Like many others chemicals, it has properties that protect garden and berry crops from numerous diseases and insect pests. In this article we will talk about the features of using iron sulfate to treat garden plants against diseases and pests and about other options for its use on the site.

Many people cannot imagine their diet without ripe delicious tomatoes. Moreover, the variety of varieties allows you to choose the one that suits your taste the most. There are varieties that are called salad varieties, that is, they are best consumed in fresh. These include the Honey tomato, whose name speaks for itself. In 2007, the Honey variety was included in the State Register of the Russian Federation. “Agrosuccess” offers seeds from the best breeders in the world that have undergone additional testing

Retaining walls are the main tool for working with complex terrain on a site. With their help, they not only create terraces or play with planes and alignment, but also emphasize the beauty of the rock garden landscape, the change in height, the style of the garden, and its character. Retaining walls allow play with raised and lowered areas and hidden areas. Modern dry or more solid walls help turn the disadvantages of the garden into its main advantages.

Salad with chicken breast and vegetables without mayonnaise can be light snack For festive table, and the main dish for those who are watching their figure or have decided to part with extra pounds. To chicken breast It turned out tender and juicy, first marinate it in spices and oil, and then quickly fry it in a very hot frying pan in vegetable oil. If you have a wok, great, if not, then a regular frying pan with a non-stick coating will do.

There were times when the concepts of “garden tree”, “family tree”, “collection tree”, “multi tree” simply did not exist. And it was possible to see such a miracle only on the farm of the “Michurintsy” - people who were amazed by their neighbors, looking at their gardens. There, on one apple, pear or plum tree, not only varieties of different ripening dates, but also various colors and sizes ripened. Not many people despaired of such experiments, but only those who were not afraid of numerous trials and errors.

On the balcony, in the apartment, on summer cottage– enthusiastic people everywhere find a place for their favorites. It turns out that growing flowers is a very troublesome task and requires only endless patience, hard work and, of course, knowledge. Providing a variety of colors and healthy nutrition- only one, not the biggest, but a problem on the difficult, exciting path of a florist. One of the most responsible and difficult care jobs indoor plants- this is their transplant.

A unique combination of chrysanthemum-like flowers with fleshy original leaves and thus draws attention to aptenia. But its ability to grow tirelessly and vigorously, the dazzling colors of both greenery and flowers are its main advantages. And although the plant was long ago transferred to mesembryanthemums, apthenia still remains a special star. Hardy and unpretentious, but at the same time resembling a beautifully blooming star, it is rapidly gaining popularity.

Fish soup from pollock - light, low-calorie and very healthy, it is suitable for vegetarian menu(pescatarianism) and non-strict fasting. Pollock is one of the most common and available fish, which can be found on the shelves of almost any store. This fish is from the cod family, the meat is dense and white. Pollock does not fall apart when cooked, there are not many bones in this fish, in a word, it is a suitable fish for both novice home cooks and experienced thrifty housewives.

The front garden is the face of the garden and its owner. Therefore, for these flower beds it is customary to choose plants that are decorative throughout the season. And, in my opinion, front garden perennials that bloom in spring deserve special attention. Like primroses, they bring us special joy, because after a dull winter, more than ever, we want bright colors and flowers. In this article, we suggest getting acquainted with the best ornamental perennials that bloom in spring and do not require special care.

The climatic conditions of our country, unfortunately, are not suitable for growing many crops without seedlings. Healthy and strong seedlings are the key to a high-quality harvest, in turn, the quality of seedlings depends on several factors: Even healthy-looking seeds can be infected with pathogens that long time remain on the surface of the seed, and after sowing, getting into favorable conditions, are activated and affect young and immature plants

Our family loves tomatoes very much, so most of the garden beds are devoted to this particular crop. Every year we try to try new ones interesting varieties, and some of them take root and become loved. At the same time, over many years of gardening, we have already developed a set of favorite varieties that are required to be planted every season. We jokingly call such tomatoes “special purpose” varieties - for fresh salads, juice, pickling and storage.

Coconut pie with cream - "kuchen", or German coconut cake(Butter milch shnitten - soaked in milk). Without exaggeration I will say that this is incredible tasty pie- sweet, juicy and tender. It can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time; cakes with cream are prepared on the basis of this sponge cake in Germany. The recipe is from the “Guests on the doorstep!” category, since usually all the ingredients are in the refrigerator, and it takes less than an hour to prepare the dough and bake.

The snow has not yet completely melted, and restless owners of suburban areas are already rushing to assess the work ahead in the garden. And there really is something to do here. And, perhaps, the most important thing you need to think about in early spring is how to protect your garden from diseases and pests. Experienced gardeners know that these processes cannot be left to chance, and procrastination and postponing processing can significantly reduce the yield and quality of the fruit.

The exotic fruit carambola is common in countries with hot, humid climates. It is a common product for residents of Southeast Asia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and India. From there the fruit arrives on the shelves of our stores. It has a spectacular appearance, resembling a star in cross-section, and is therefore often used to decorate desserts and cocktails.

Carambola tastes like a mixture of apple, orange and cucumber, although it may differ among different varieties and at the same time resemble the taste of plum and apple or the symbiosis of gooseberry and plum. Depending on the degree of ripeness, the fruits can be sweet and sour or sweet. They are crispy and very juicy. They are eaten raw or used to prepare various dishes. Unripe carambola is consumed as a vegetable, it is salted, pickled, stewed with other vegetables, and cooked fish. Delicious sweet dishes, salads or juices are prepared from ripe fruits.

The exotic carabola fruit grows on large evergreen trees covered with pink flowers the most delicate aroma. He has oval shape and massive ribbed growths, thanks to which, after cutting, it resembles a star. The color of the fruit can vary from pale yellow to yellow-brown.

Composition of carambola

The carambola fruit, like many other fruits, is distinguished by its vitamin and mineral content. It contains a lot of vitamin C, B vitamins, beta-carotene, sodium, iron, potassium phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and many other useful substances.

What are the benefits of carambola?

Thanks to such a rich composition, carambola will be useful for vitamin deficiency. The vitamin C it contains will increase the body's defenses, and magnesium will remove excess fluid from the tissues. will give a boost of energy and normalize the activity of the nervous system. will ensure healthy nails, hair and skin, and pantothenic acid will serve as a good prevention of arthritis, colitis and heart disease.

In places where carambola grows, it is often used in medicinal purposes. In Brazil, antiemetics and diuretics are prepared from the leaves and fruits of the plant. With the help of crushed shoots they also fight chickenpox. Carambola flowers are used to get rid of worms. An antidote is made from its roots, combined with sugar, to help with serious poisoning.

How can carambola harm you?

Carambola is a fruit with high content oxalic acid, so it should be used with caution by people suffering from ulcers, enterocolitis and, especially during periods of exacerbations.

How to choose carambola

In Asian countries, they like to eat unripe carambola fruits, which have a sour taste. They are distinguished by narrow and separated ribs. The ripe, sweet fruit has a light yellow color and fleshy ribs with a dark brown stripe, and its scent is reminiscent of jasmine flowers.

It’s hard to believe, but the exotic beauty of carambola has a completely Russian sister - sorrel, a modest wild berry that grows almost everywhere. It is no coincidence that carambola, which recently appeared on Russian shelves, is already loved by our housewives: the elegant fruit is decorated with cocktails, added to stews, and on Victory Day, craftswomen prepare patriotic desserts with five-pointed carambola stars. But carambola is famous not only for its beauty: this fruit is the real pride of Asia.

Originally from the land of spices

Carom, tropical star, starfruit and just carambola - Wikipedia has collected the most popular names for this eastern guest. The lands where these fruits first appeared are Sri Lanka, India and the Spice Islands in Indonesia - the Moluccas, where the most beloved aromatic additives by Europeans were traditionally grown -, ...

Now amazing carom trees grow in many warm corners of the planet - in Brazil, Florida, Hawaii, Israel and the tourist Mecca - Thailand. If you search online for what carambola looks like, the photo will show charming elongated fruits with 5-6 ribs, often with a green or brown stripe along the entire length. But experienced tourists assure: photographs are not able to convey all the charm of this plant. Fruit trees are very tall, from 3 to 10 meters, bloom almost all year round delicate pink-lavender flowers. Ripe carom fruits are translucent and seem to glow in the sun, turning into small lanterns 5-12 centimeters in size...

When cut crosswise into slices, oriental lanterns become small pointed stars - it is for this natural beauty that carambola is valued all over the world.

How to grow a star tree at home

Good news for exotic gardeners: it’s quite easy to grow elegant carambola at home, in harsh Russian conditions. And for this you need nothing at all: fresh seed carambola, bought in the capital's supermarket or brought from vacation.

Even if you know nothing about the carambola plant, growing it at home will not bring any difficulties. It is better to plant starfruit seeds in February, in an apartment mini-greenhouse. After 2-3 weeks, the first shoots appear, and soon the carom needs to be replanted - it grows very quickly. Asian beauty loves warmth Fresh air and moderate watering - provide the new tree with good drainage so as not to ruin the plant. Direct bright sun can also harm the tropical star. The carom needs to be replanted once a year - and with careful care, after a couple of years, small lanterns will appear on the tree.

In nature, starfruit comes in two flavors – sour and sweet. The color of the carambola plant is also different - photos of the fruit may show fruits that are bright and soft green, yellow and brown-orange.

When you grow carom at home, you never know in advance what flavor and shade of fruit you will get - this tree loves surprises. Experienced gardeners plant several seeds at once, and then select the sweetest fruits and leave the desired carambola to continue bearing fruit.

What are the benefits of carambola?

Like many fruits from the tropics, carambola usually flies to our shelves unripe and ripens on the way. But the juiciest, sweetest and most useful tropical star is the one that ripens on a branch, is recently picked and is sold somewhere in a Thai market. If you find yourself on vacation in Asia, be sure to buy freshly picked carambola - that’s when the starfruit will give you all its healing power and sweetness.

The medicinal properties of carambola have been little studied even in its homeland, not to mention in Western countries - and in vain. The strong “star” pulp contains vitamin C, which strengthens the body, thiamine (B1) – the main doctor for our nerves, riboflavin (B2), which is responsible for the beauty of nails, skin and hair.

The minerals in starfruit - magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, etc. - allow you to use carambola as an additional remedy for a variety of ailments. Decoctions of dried or fresh stars are used for fever and headaches.

Carom flowers and leaves are known in medicine even more than the fruits themselves - they have long been used as a diuretic and hemostatic agent for infectious diseases.

Tropic Star Danger

The pulp of carambola is full of oxalic acid, which is why in Sri Lanka carambola juice is valued as an excellent stain remover for clothes.

But this same acid can be dangerous for people with high stomach acidity, ulcers and gastritis, especially during exacerbation. There is no need to give up carambola if this is your diagnosis - but let the Asian star decorate not your salad, but just a glass of cocktail.

How to choose the most delicious carambola?

Carambola is a fruit with a mystery: it is called that way only when ripe, unripe carambola is an ordinary vegetable. But if for vegetable stew you have enough gifts from the Russian garden, you need to choose the right carom both in the store and in the noisy market.

By appearance It is difficult to determine the ripeness of carom, but finding a high-quality fruit is quite possible. The fruit should have an even, juicy color, without damage or spots. Color ranges from greenish to yellow and light orange, ideally with brown stripes on the tops of the ribs. If the carom is not ripe, then you can leave it to ripen in the kitchen, juicy and sweet fruit Will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

The taste of a ripe tropical star simply cannot be described: some compare it to “”, others – to a dryish apple. Many believe that carambola is similar to both an apple, a plum and, and most tourists are sure that fresh taste starfruit is a mixture of cucumber and apple.

Carambola in cooking

Those who are just getting acquainted with the Indonesian fruit often ask the question: carambola - how to eat this unusual star? Ripe carom is most often used for decoration: cocktails, ice cream, all kinds of salads, eat and in pure form, simply cutting into slices. Unripe vegetable caroms are especially valued in Asia - they marinate them, cook them sweet and sour sauces, added to main courses and baked with fish, meat and poultry.

If you're tired of traditional salads with, and other fruits of the tropics, you can prepare baked pangasius with carom.

You will need: fillet of any fatty white fish (in our case pangasius) 600 g, carambola - 2-3 fruits, 2 lemon juice, herbs.

Prepare the marinade: oil, lemon juice And soy sauce, pour in the fish, leave for about 30 minutes. Roughly chop the carrots, pour them onto greased foil, place pieces of pangasius on the carrot pillow, and slices of carom on top. Keep in the oven for about 30 minutes, then open the foil to dry the fish and brown the ends of the stars (can be grilled). Before serving, you can decorate with herbs. That's all, simple, tasty and original...

Carambola can be grown at home. The plant reproduces well by seeds. To plant, you need to choose a ripe fruit of the variety you like in the supermarket. The plant is easy to care for even for a beginner. Look at the photo, how unusual beautiful shape has fruit. The tropical star is used to decorate dishes and is widely used in cooking.

Varieties and varieties of carambola

Asia is considered the birthplace of the fruit. At home, it is as popular as cucumbers or apples in our country. In hot weather, the fruit can quench your thirst, as the pulp is very juicy and has sweet and sour taste. Carambola has been acclimatized in Brazil, Israel, Thailand, and the Hawaiian Islands. There are many different names for carambola: tropical star, kamrak, illicium, carambola, etc. A relative of this plant, sorrel, grows on the territory of Russia.

Carambola is eaten raw and desserts are also prepared from it.

Carambola is an evergreen tree up to 12 m. The fruit is eaten with the skin. Moreover different varieties differ in taste and resemble our plums, apples with grapes, gooseberries with plum flavor. Locals appreciate varieties with sour fruits. Unripe fruits are used as vegetables, and ripe ones as dessert. The leaves of the tree taste like spinach and are widely used in Indian cuisine. The flowers are used as a spice and added to salads.

1. The fruits contain a large number of vitamins and acids, macroelements. The fruits, flowers and leaves are used as a medicinal plant.
2. The juice of the fruit can be used as a bleach to remove stains from clothes.
3. The pulp can be used to polish copper or brass products.
4. Kamrak juice can relieve hangover syndrome and thirst.
5. If the fruits are boiled in sugar syrup they become very fragrant.
6. The fruits are pickled, salted, added to meat dishes and stews, decorate cocktails.

Carambola pulp is very juicy and healthy

Landing

It doesn’t matter where you got the carambola fruit - from a local store or brought it from a trip abroad. The most important thing is to choose a ripe fruit without damage and carefully remove the ripe seeds from the pulp. Ripe carambola has a bright yellow color. Pay attention to the ribs of the fruit. Fleshy ones indicate a sweet fruit, while narrow ones are usually sour. Smell the fruit; the more pronounced its aroma, the riper it is. There are no fully ripe carambola on Russian shelves, since the fruit is imported from afar and is simply impossible to bring ripe fruits presentation. Carambola ripens for several weeks on the shelves or in the refrigerator.

With proper care tropical fruits can be grown on a windowsill

The seeds lose their viability very quickly, so they must be planted without delay. The seeds are washed warm water and soak for 10 hours. After soaking, the seeds are sown in individual pots with a universal soil mixture and vermiculite. Expanded clay must be placed on the bottom - it will provide drainage. The seeding depth is 1 cm. The pots are placed in a small greenhouse. The germination time for each seed is individual, usually it takes from one week to a month. Young bores are provided with lighting so that the daylight hours are 13 hours.

If you planted the seeds in a common box, then when the third leaf appears, the seedlings must be planted in individual containers. Later planting injures the root system and reduces the percentage of plant survival.

Young plants must be sprayed with heated water to ensure high air humidity.

Advice. Carambola fruits contain oxalic acid. Therefore, people with problems gastrointestinal tract you should eat carambola in small quantities so as not to cause an exacerbation of the disease. Excessive consumption of fruits can disrupt salt metabolism in the body and lead to kidney pathologies.

Care, fertilizer and feeding

Carambola requires minimal care. Since the plant is able to bloom and set fruit all year round, it requires a lot nutrients. Feeding is carried out once a quarter. Use complex fertilizers for plants. If there is a lack of iron, the plant may develop chlorosis.

The plant practically does not need pruning. Basically, pruning is done to shape the crown.

Carambola needs to be replanted annually into a larger pot. The soil mixture should have a weak acidic reaction, and in no case alkaline. A layer of drainage is required at the bottom of the container to drain excess water.

Carambola seeds

The plant loves the sun, but direct Sun rays southern windows can cause leaf burn. Carom does not do well in dry climates: it is necessary to maintain air humidity and spray the plant, especially on hot days. The plant has one peculiarity - its leaves curl up at night, but if this happens during the day, you need to sound the alarm. The seedling needs emergency help, something is going wrong. If there is a lack of moisture in the soil, the seedling can completely shed its entire leaf apparatus. When watering, it is important to maintain a balance, since excess moisture impairs root respiration and contributes to the formation of putrefactive diseases. The plant may die.

The optimal growing temperature for a tree in summer is from 20 0C. In winter it should not fall below 15 0C.

Advice. Carambola, grown from a seed, blooms in the third or fourth year of life.

Reproduction

The plant is propagated in several ways:

• vaccination;
• seeds.

Grafting allows you to get a tree with fruits that have certain taste characteristics. In our conditions this is practically unrealistic. For our climate zone, only seed propagation is available. When growing carom from seeds, it is impossible to predict what taste the fruits of the seedling will have. Sweet or sour. The color of the peel can also vary from yellow-green to apricot and brown. Therefore, several seedlings are grown at once, and when the plant begins to bear fruit, a specimen with sweet fruits is left.

Carambola seedlings

Diseases and pests of carambola

Since carambola is new to our latitudes, it has not yet gained “popularity” among pests and diseases. The plant can be damaged by a bud nematode; there have been cases of fruit fly damage. Excessive watering or stagnation of water in the pan contributes to the development of fungal diseases: anthracnose or phyllosticosis. The alkaline reaction of the soil can cause chlorosis in the seedling.

Carambola fruit: video

Carambola at home: photo