Lotkon ia a affordable fruit of Narsingdi

 

In this rainy season some fruits are being attracted the intention by the  stranger like me. Here is the Morjal bus stand at Narsingdi is being  crowded with various types of people to sale Lotkon.

 Species of baccaurea motleyana is a  fruit and fruit tree that grows wild in parts of Southeast Asia and is cultivated for its fruit in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, and Peninsular Malaysia. Its common names include rambai and rambi, and in the Thai language, mafai-farang. In Bengali, the fruit is known as bugi as local language in Narsingdi as Lotka, Lotkon or bugi .

 It is a tree generally growing to a height of 9 to 12 meters (30 to 39 ft) with a short trunk and broad crown. The evergreen leaves are glossy green on the upper side and greenish-brown and hairy on the underside. Each leaf is up to 33 centimeters (13 in) long and 15 centimeters (5.9 in) wide. The species is dioecious, male and female flowers grow on separate individuals.

 Both types of flowers are fragrant and have yellow sepals. The staminate racemes are up to 15 centimeters (5.9 in) long and the pistillate inflorescences can reach 75 centimeters (30 in) in length. The fruits are 2 to 5 centimeters long and about 2 centimeters wide and grow in clusters. Each fruit has a velvety pinkish, yellow or brown skin that puckers when ripe and is filled with a whitish pulp containing 3 to 5 seeds. The flesh has a sweet to sour taste. They can be eaten raw or cooked, or made into jam or wine. The tree is also used for shade and low-quality wood.

Burmese grapes (lotkon) are said to have more nutritional value than many other popular fruits. Found throughout Asia and mostly commonly grown in Malaysia and India, this fruit is rich in vitamin C. The fruit also contains many minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. The tree's bark, roots, and wood are sometimes used to treat skin conditions.

But of course, nutritional value is not the only value that Burmese grapes provide. The fruit is refreshingly delicious, with an explosion of sweet and sour juice as soon as it hits the mouth. The taste has certainly earned a very good reputation among many people.

Nevertheless, it is among the fruits that are rather rare and unique in our country. There are fruits that we rarely see these days. Even a decade ago, fruits like 'orboroi', 'karamcha', 'belumbo' and 'aamloki' were plentiful; the time you came out of school to look at the fruit basket filled with these delicious fruits and many spices to enhance the taste. Today, such carts are replaced by regular fruit; and we do not see the same fascination with such fruits as we noticed many years ago. Those days are gone.

However, we see such fruits as Burmese grapes for a limited time each year. Burmese grapes are currently quite available in bazaars and fruit shops. So make sure you buy some Burmese grapes this season and relive the moment.

Latkan is a kind of original and unconventional fruit that is very rich in nutrients and medicinal properties. The English name is Burmese grape and the scientific name is Baccaurea sapida. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree. Locally it is called  (Bubi) (in Sylheti) and in Bangla it is called Lotkon. Latkan has several names; Such as - Harfata, Dubi, Bubi, Kanaiju, Lotka, Lotkau, Kichyan, etc. The fruit is a round capsule, the fruits of which turn yellow when ripe. Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes and squeeze out the juice

Latkan Nutrition:

Latkan is a very nutritious and tasty fruit. For every 100 grams of ripe latkan, there are 1.42 grams of meat, 0.45 grams of fat, 0.9 grams of total minerals, 0.3 grams of iron and 91 kilo calories of food energy. As a result, people of all ages can eat it safely because it has very little fat and no sugar.

An adult tree gives 100-150 kg of fruit. Latkan is sold at Tk 100-120 per kg in various markets in the country. However, its price in the capital is more than 100tk per kg. Latkan flowers in March and takes four to five months for the fruit to ripen. Latkan is available in June, July and August. So it is now the time to take opportunities to buy this delicious fruits. 

Healthy Lotkon's image from Morjal 

Thank you being with me.