Mangifera Caesia: Anacardiaceae Jack
Mangifera Caesia: Anacardiaceae Jack
Mangifera Caesia: Anacardiaceae Jack
Anacardiaceae
machang
LOCAL NAMES
Danish (binjai); Filipino (bayuno); Indonesian (palong,binglu); Javanese
(binglu); Malay (sedaman,beluno); Thai (lam-yaa,bin-ya); Trade name
(machang)
BOTANIC DESCRIPTION
Mangifera caesia is a large tree, often attaining majestic proportions, 30(-
45) m tall, and bole 50-80(-120) cm or more in diameter; bole columnar,
without buttresses, crown dome-shaped with massive branches; bark
greyish-brown, superficially fissured, containing irritant sap.
Wild forms have sour fruits but there is a cultivar in Borneo and Bali with
sweet, fibreless and tasty fruits. The smell of the fruit pulp is rather
offensive, and the white juice of the immature fruit is very irritating to the
skin and when ingested.
BIOLOGY
The trees bloom profusely and old trees can produce thousands of fruits.
The fruit ripens 3 months after anthesis. The fruits come to maturity during
the rainy season, from November to March in eastern Kalimantan;
flowering is between October and December. Trees in Sabah flower
between February and April, the fruit ripens from August to October. M.
caesia is deciduous, standing bare for some time before shedding the
very large bud scales that envelop new twigs and inflorescences.
ECOLOGY
M. caesia are restricted to the wet tropical lowlands, generally below 400 m (rarely up to 800 m). It require a rainfall
which is evenly distributed through the year. It also stand inundation well and are commonly cultivated on periodically
inundated riverbanks in East Kalimantan. It is rather rare in forests and found more frequently in periodically inundated
areas and marshes.
BIOPHYSICAL LIMITS
Altitude: Below 400 m (rarely up to 800 m).
Native range
Exotic range
The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither
suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country,
nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since
some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to
your planting site.
PRODUCTS
Food: The juicy, sweetish-sour binjai fruit can be eaten fresh when ripe. The 'wani' form, which is mainly found in Bali
but also in East Kalimantan, is much liked this way and fetches a high price in local markets, as the fruit is palatable,
juicy and sweet, almost fibreless, the foetid rank smell being completely absent. It is excellent for making creamy juices.
Binjai is often used to prepare a spice based on chillies ('sambal') which is eaten with river fish. In some areas the flesh
of ripe fruit is pickled and preserved with salt in jars, to be able to make this sambal when there is no fresh fruit.
About 65% of the binjai fruit is edible. Per 100 g edible portion the constituents are: water 86.5 g, protein 1 g, fat 0.2 g,
carbohydrates including fibre 11.9 g, ash 0.4 g, thiamine 0.08 mg, beta-carotene equivalent 0.005 mg and vitamin C 58
mg. The energy value is 200 kJ/100 g.
Timber: The density of the wood is 410-570 kg/m cubic at 15% moisture content. The wood is used for light construction.
Poison: The white juice of the immature binjai fruit is extremely irritant, both on the skin and when ingested,
SERVICES
TREE MANAGEMENT
Mature trees require much space, 12-16 m each way. No particulars about husbandry or yield levels have been
published.
GERMPLASM MANAGEMENT
FURTHER READNG
Boer E. et al. 1995. Mangifera L. In Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Soerianegara, I. & Wong, W.C. (Eds.): Plant Resources of
South-East Asia. No. 5(2): Timber trees: Minor commercial timber. Prosea Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. pp. 325-329.
Bompard JM. 1992. Mangifera caesia Jack and Mangifera kemanga Blume. In Coronel, R.E. & Verheij, E.W.M. (Eds.):
Plant Resources of South-East Asia. No. 2: Edible fruits and nuts. Prosea Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. pp. 207-209.
Burkill IH. 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of
Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I-Z) pp. 1241-2444.
Ding Hou. 1978. Anacardiaceae. In: van Steenis, CGGJ. (Editor): Flora Malesiana. Series 1. Vol. 8. pp. 438-439.
Kostermans, AJGH. 1965. New and critical Malaysian plants. VII. Mangifera caesia Jack. Reinwardtia. 7(1): 19-20.
Martin FW, Campbell CW & Ruberte RM. 1987. Perennial edible fruits of tropics: an inventory. US Department of
Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook No. 642. 252 pp.
Murkherjee, P.K., et al. 1998. Studies on the anti-diarrhoea profiles of Bauhinia purpurea Linn. Leaves (Fam.
Caesalpiniaceae) extract. Natural product sciences 4(4): 234-237.
Wong KC, Wong SW, Siew SS and Tie DY. 1994. Volatile constituents of the fruits of Lansium domesticum Correa
(duku and langsat) and Baccaurea motleyana (Muell. Arg.) Muell. Arg. (rambai). Flavour and Fragrance Journal. 9(6):
319-324.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Orwa C, Mutua A , Kindt R , Jamnadass R, Simons A. 2009. Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide
version 4.0 (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/af/treedb/)