Alan Davidson

Rukam

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

rukam the Malay name for the fruit of Flacourtia rukam, a tree of the same genus as the better-known ramontchi and lovi-lovi. Native to Asia and long associated with Madagascar (as French and Spanish names, prune malgache and ciruela de Madagascar, testify), it has been introduced to the American tropics.

The roundish fruits are about 2 cm (1") in diameter, nearly black in colour when ripe, and with a juicy, acid, yellowish-white pulp. They vary in sweetness but some are good eaten raw when ripe. Like the ramontchi, they can also be made into jams and so forth when slightly unripe.