Fruit a structure formed from a mature or ripe ovary of any plant species after
fertilization has occurred. The term 'fruit' is more conveniently used to refer to the part of the seed suitable for human consumption, eaten fresh, either ripe or young. From the nomadic age to present-day civilized life fruits have been used as food. The earliest cultivated fruit appears to be the date palm. Other fruits like pomegranates, Egypt figs
and olives had been popular fruits since 3500 BC. Fruits have pericarps developed from ovary walls and seeds developed from fertilized ovules.
Generally the ovary alone grows into a
fruit. But in some cases calyx and thalamus are
involved to form false fruits like
Dillenia,
cashew nut and apple. Simple fruits developed from single ovary,
is the character of fruits. Aggregate fruits are developed
from numerous ovaries as in
jackfruit and
pineapple.
Some common fruits
Bangladesh abounds with a large variety of tropical and sub-tropical fruits. The most widely cultivated fruits are mango, jackfruit, black berry, pineapple, banana, litchi, lemon, guava, custard apple, wood apple, elephant apple, golden apple, Indian berry, papaya,
tamarind, melon, watermelon, cashew nut, pomegranate,
palmyra, plum, rose apple, Indian olive, and Indian jujube.
There are many minor edible fruits that are locally available
in the wild and are also cultivated, such as latkan, monkey
jack, uriam, rattan, river ebony, garcinia, water coconut,
wild date palm, etc.
May, June and July are specially
treated as fruit festival months in Bangladesh when almost all
the major and minor fruits are matured and available. A few
fruits are available throughout the year. These are the
papaya, sapodilla, coconut and banana. The common imported fruits are orange, apple, pomegranate, grape, date, and mandarin.
In Bangladesh the cultivation of
temperate fruits has been unsuccessful, except for grapes in some
places. Oranges are cultivated only in a very limited areas in Sylhet
and in remote areas of Rangamati (Sajeek) and Bandarban (Ruma)
districts.
Fruit tree
Trees that produce edible fruits for human consumption. Human
civilization is irrevocably linked with the culture of food plants and
fruit trees. The earliest selection and culture of fruit trees seems to
be the date palm. The mango has been in cultivation for 6,000 years;
it is one of the oldest tropical fruits indigenous to India. The
commercial production of fruit trees started at the beginning of the
18th century. Traditionally the fruit trees were cultivated as a
backyard crop or as boarder tree to fulfil the requirements of the
family. In the beginning of the 19th century, the Christian
missionaries and European settlers pioneered the organised culture of
fruit orchards in the subcontinent. Since the beginning of the 20th
century, a wide variety of major and minor fruit trees are being grown
in Bangladesh on a commercial basis. Most of the major fruit trees
are evergreen in nature of which mango, jackfruit and coconut occupy
almost 90% of the fruit tree culture in Bangladesh. Mango, the most
popular fruit tree in the country, has about 3000 varieties both in
cultivation and in the wild. The most popular varieties grow in the
northern districts of Bangladesh; fruit weight varies from 100-1000g;
June-August is the time to harvest. Jackfruit, which originated in the
Western Ghats of India and now grows all over the country, is another
popular fruit. The large bushy evergreen tree produces composite
fruits, perhaps one of the largest fruits (up to 50 kg) in the plant
kingdom. June-September is the time to harvest.
Litchi was introduced in India from
China in the beginning of the 19th century. A much branched evergreen
tree grow well in almost all parts of Bangladesh. But the good
quality fruits are grown in Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Jessore and Khulna
regions. June and July are the months to harvest. Coconut grows
abundantly in the southern and central parts; the average fruit number
per plant is 70-80; can be harvested throughout the year. Green
coconut is a favourite drink in summer; the endosperm of ripe fruit is
mostly used in preparation of sweets. Guava, a semi-deciduous exotic
plant from tropical America introduced in the middle of the 18th
century, is grown in almost all village groves. About 50 varieties are
found all over the country, most of which grow in Chittagong,
Comilla, Sylhet and Barisal regions. Fruit weight varies from 20-700g;
can be harvested during July-September. Indian Jujube (boroi, kul)
is a small fruit-bearing medium-sized deciduous tree; fruits are
available in off-seasons; the fruit weight is 10-70 g; can be harvested
during February-March.
Of the minor fruit trees the following are very common and popular: Black Plum or Black Berry (kalo jam),
a large fruit tree; fruits when ripe are almost black, elongated,
marble-sized having seed almost half the size of the fruit; fruit is
harvested in July. Sapodilla (sopheda), a medium-sized
beautiful evergreen tree with upright dense canopy, introduced from
tropical America, is being extensively cultivated in the Faridpur and
Dhaka regions. The other common minor fruits are Tamarind (tentul), Palmyra Palm (tal), Monkey Jack (dewa), Indian Olive (jalpai), Carambola or Star fruit (kamranga), Star Apple (jamrul), Mangosteen (kaw), Burmese Grape (latkan), Flacoutia (paniala), Star Gooseberry (arbaroi), Elephant Apple (chalta), River Ebony (gab), Otaheita Apple (bilati amra), Velvet Apple (bilati gab), Wood Apple (kathbel), Indian Apple (bel), Custard Apple (ata), and Indian Goose Berry (amlaki).
Fruit production
Different fruits grow in Bangladesh round the year because of
favourable climatic conditions. A list of the common fruit trees showing
the area of production and yield is given below.
| English name |
Local name |
Scientific name |
Area under production (in 000 ha) |
Yield (thousand m ton/year) |
| Banana |
Kala |
Musa sapientum |
40 |
630 |
| Jackfruit |
Kathal |
Artocarpus heterophyllus |
27 |
265 |
| Mango |
Am |
Mangifera indica |
50 |
190 |
| Litchi |
Lichu |
Litchi chinensis |
5 |
13 |
| Hog Plum |
Amra |
Spondias dulcis |
-- |
-- |
| Papaya |
Papaya |
Carica papaya |
5 |
41 |
| Coconut |
Narikel |
Cocos nucifera |
-- |
-- |
| Guava |
Payara |
Psidium guajava |
10 |
46 |
| Star Apple |
Jamrul |
Syzygium samarengense |
-- |
-- |
| Black Berry |
Kalajam |
Syzygium cumini |
-- |
-- |
| Orange |
Kamla |
Citrus chrysocarpa |
0.3 |
8 |
| Grape Fruit |
Jambura |
Citrus grandis |
4 |
11 |
| Indian Apple |
Bel |
Aegle marmelos |
-- |
1 |
| Wood Apple |
Kathbel |
Feronia limonia |
-- |
-- |
| Custard Apple |
Ata |
Anona squamosa |
-- |
-- |
| Indian Jujube |
Boroi |
Zizyphus mauritiana |
4 |
15 |
| Sapodilla |
Sofeda |
Manilkara achras |
-- |
-- |
| Indian Goose Berry |
Amloki |
Phyllanthus embelica |
-- |
-- |
| Pomegranate |
Dalim |
Puncia granatum |
-- |
-- |
| Elephant Apple |
Chalta |
Dillenia indica |
-- |
-- |
| Carambola |
Kamranga |
Averrhoa carambola |
-- |
-- |
| Pineapple |
Anaras |
Ananas comosus |
14 |
150 |
| Watermelon |
Tarmuj |
Cucumis melo |
12 |
100 |
| Lemon |
Lebu |
Citrus limon |
4 |
12 |
| Other citrus fruits |
-- |
-- |
3 |
8 |
| Source BBS, Yearbook of Agriculture Statistics, 1995, 1997-98 |
Bangladesh
enjoys generally a sub-tropical monsoon climate. There are three
distinct seasons. From November to February a cool temperature (12-28
°C) and little or no precipitation prevails. Summer continues from March
to May with a little rainfall, with temperatures as high as 40 °C. The
monsoon prevails from June to October having high rainfall, humidity and
temperatures from 25-35 °C. The average precipitation per year varies
among the regions from 1194-3454 mm.
A tropical location, lush greenery,
moisture-rich loamy soil and production-friendly climate-all these make
Bangladesh one of the notable growers of a vast range of fruits.
More than 60 varieties of fruits are being
grown in the country. Major fruits include mango, banana, papaya,
jackfruit, pineapple, guava, litchi, pummelo, lemon etc. Banana
constitutes over 40 per cent of the total fruit production in the
country.
Most of these fruits—perishable in nature
with high nutritional value -- are available during the respective
season of production. Among these fruits; mango, jackfruit, litchi,
banana, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, guava, lemon, star fruit,
honeydew etc. are available during the summer season between May and
July.
So, it is no surprise that summer in
Bangladesh is called season of fruits—specially for mango, jackfruit,
lichi and jam (black berry)—the popular crowd favourites. In taste,
flavour and texture, scores of most these fruits in Bangladesh are
higher than similar fruits in other countries. One needs not to be an
expert to feel this difference. Visitors to this country may just taste
any of the fruits and judge for themselves.
There are very few industries for processing
of fruits in Bangladesh . The annual requirement of fruits in the
country is over 60, 00,000 metric tons. But current production is only
around 15, 00,000 metric tons, leaving the country highly deficient in
fruits production.
According to statistics complied few years
ago production of varieties of fruits in the country is as follows:
Banana- around 6,40,000 metric ton. Mango-around 1,90,000 metric tons.
Pineapple- around 1, 50,000 metric tons. Jackfruit- around 2,70,000
metric tons. Papaya- around 50,000 metric tons. Melon- around 1,10,000
metric tons. Litchi- around 13,000 metric tons. Guava- around 50,000
metric tons. Ber- around 16,000 metric tons. Orange- around1,000 metric
tons. Pomelo- around 15,000 metric tons. Lime&Lemon- around 13,000
metric tons. Other fruit- around 22,000 metric tons.
The country is endowed with favourable soil
and climate for cultivation of many horticultural crops yet total
production far less than enough. One of the reasons for low production,
despite vary favourable climatic condition, is the absence of commercial
cultivation of fruits. In the rural areas of the country, the farmers
in addition to other food and commercial crops are also the growers of
fruits.
In addition to better taste, flavour and
texture, the fruits of Bangladesh have another attractive plus
point—most of these are organic. Amid growing concern about use of
chemical fertilizers in growing food crops, fruits and vege-
tables and its possible bad effect on the consumer, Bangladesh fruits can certainly claim to be —all natural.
List of notable fruits, their local and English names and growing seasons are as follows:
1. Aam (Mango)- May-September. 2. Kathal
(Jackfruits)- April-October. 3. Lichu (Lychee/Litchee)- June-July.
4.
Jam ( Berry )- May-June. 5. Kala (Banana)- All season. 6. Boroi
(Berr/Jujubi)- November-February.
7.Ata (Cherimoya)- March-May. 8. Gab
(Sharonfruit)-April-June.9. Amra (Golden Apple)- April-October.
10.
Jambura/Batabilebu (Shaddoc/Pummelo)- April-October.11. Jamrul (Rose
Apple) April-October. 12. Kaggji Lebu (Lime)- All seasons.
13. Kamranga
(Carambola/Star fruit)- April-October. 14. Lebu (Lemon)- April-October.
15. Safeda (Sapodila/ Sapota/Chico)- April-October.
16. Kul/Boroj
(Plum/Jujubi)- November-February. 17. Latka (Longan)- April-October. 18.
Amloki(Embica)- July-October.
19. Pani phal (Water chestnut)-
April-October. 20. Peara (Gauva)- All season. 21. Jalpai (Olive)-
November-February.
22. Sharifa (Atemoya)- August-December. 23. Tal
(Mangoesteen/Plam)- April-October. 24. Bel (Wood Apple). 25. Kad Bel.
