Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

mabolo Diospyros discolor, a small SE Asian tree of the ebony family (to which persimmon and kaki also belong), grown mainly in Malaysia and the Philippines. It has been introduced to India, and is also occasionally cultivated in tropical America.

The round apple-shaped fruits, about 7 cm (3") in diameter, have a velvet-like skin, covered with fine reddish hairs, which encloses cream-coloured, sweet, and aromatic flesh, whose qualities have prompted at least one name meaning ‘butter fruit’. Before they are ripe they can be enjoyed as crisp fruit or sliced and fried as a vegetable. Fully ripe fruits are eaten fresh for dessert. The juice can be used in drinks or to make jellies.