Cachiman cannelle
Sweetsop
Annona aquamosa
Cachiman coeur boeuf
Custard apple
Annona reticulata
Cachiman la chine
Cherimoya
Annona cherimolia
The Kreyol name for these delicious American fruits probably owes its derivation to 17th century French contacts with the Carib Indians of the Lesser Antilles. Both cachiman cannelle and cachiman coeur boeuf are moderately abundant in the lowlands even in rather dry areas, while cachiman la chine is a specialty of high altitude regions in the Massif de la Selle, where it was introduced in 1926.
The fruits are eaten raw. A tea is made by boiling three leaves of cachiman and adding a pinch of salt. This is used to treat a swollen stomach. In the kitchen, the wood is used to bank the fire, as it holds fire well and thereby saves matches. From the bark, fiber for cord is obtained. Birds are a serious pest.
Corossol
Soursop
Annona Muricata
Over most of the country the soursop is common, but it Is not very important in the diet or in commerce. It is either sown directly, or transplanted from seedbeds. At least three varieties are distinguished, Ordinaire, which is roughly heart-shaped, light-green in color, and spiny; Zombi, which is round, smaller than the ordinalaire and comes from a tree with a larger leaf; and Cannele, which is very sweet, deep green, and smaller than the Ordinaire. Rats, ciseau palmiste (palm chat, Dulus dominicus) and Charpentier (Hispaniolan woodpecker, Centurus striatus) steal the crop.
The fruit is eaten raw, often in the form of a white creamy beverage made from the mashed pulp. Milk may be added to this beverage.. Like pineapple, soursop considered to be a "cold" food, which should not be taken when one is hot with exertion.
Many medicinal properties are attributed to the corossol leaves. Soaked in tafia, they are put on the head for headache. Crushed and mixed with tafia, they are used to wash cattle with ticks. The crushed leaves are snuffed to treat "faiblesse". A tea for stomach ache is made with corrosol leaves and grated nutmeg. On the Guinea Coast of Africa, where it has been introduced from America, the soursop is esteemed as in Haiti for the supposed medicinal and insecticidal properties of its leaves. A decoction of the leaves is used for a lotion and as a sudorific for fever, especially in children. The leaves are pounded and applied to wounds. In Gambia they are employed to rid houses of bed bugs. The bark is used to make cord. Pieces of bark are put to soak in the water jug to make a refreshing beverage.
Génipayer
Genipap
Genipa americana
To French contacts with the Tupi in Brazil this fruit tree owes its Creole name. It is quite common in the native state in the humid hill country of the Grand-Anse, and occasionally it is planted. A remedy for yaws is prepared from the fruit. The wood is made into planks, drums, and troughs for cane juice. Apparently, the fruit is neither valued as a food, nor as a source for blue dye, uses which are current in in other areas of tropical America.
Goyave
Guava
Psidium guajava
Guava is only occasionally planted, but it is very abundant as an adventitious plant in moist regions along paths and in pastures. Unfortunately, livestock do not eat the leaves or stems, only the fruit, so that in a few years the guava bushes may displace much of the grass in a pasture. The natives eat the fruit raw and they regard it as a choice constituent of conserves and jellies. Seldom is it gathered for sale at the market.
Grénade
Pomegranate
Punica granatum
Despite an early introduction by the French, the pomegranate has attained little popularity in Haiti. The trees are grown from cuttings. A refreshing drink is made by soaking the seeds in water. The fruit is grilled in a pot, ground, and mixed with oil to make a lotion which blackens the hair and supposedly stimulates its growth.
Grénadille
Passion fruit
Passiflora app.
Several species of the genus Passiflora are grown in Haiti: grénadille (P. quadrangularia), calebassie, (P. maliformis), and pomme liane, (P. laurifolia). Rochefort noted the pomme liane and the grénadille in the Lesser Antilles in the 17th century. They are raised through out the humid sections of the country, except that pomme liane is not cultivated at high altitudes. Usually they volunteer, but they may be planted, and sometimes the seed is selected from an especially god fruit. A post or tree up which the vine may climb is a preferred site for planting. Fruiting occurs throughout the year on the perennial vines, with a seasonal maximum in the spring on the lowlands and in late summer in the heights of the Massif de la Selle. Pomme liane and calebassie are eaten raw. From the placenta of the grénadille, a delicious, reputedly soporific drink is made by agitating it in water. The flesh is made into conserves and jelly. Also the whole green fruit may be boiled as a vegetable. Grénadille leaves coated with grease and applied to an ache are supposed to act as an analgesic.
Jacqa
Jackfruit
Artocarpus integra
This relative of the breadfruit was observed only in the vicinity of Anse-d'Hainault, where it is quite common. Propagation is by seeds. The odoriferous rubbery flesh of the huge jackfruit is eaten raw or steeped in tafia, and it is made into conserves. As for the wood and gum, they are utilized in the same manner as those of breadfruit.
Jaune d'oeuf
Lúcuma
Lucuma domingensis
Lúcuma is an uncommon native fruit. Propogation is by seeds and the fruit is eaten raw.
Papaye
Papaya
Carica papaya
In contrast with other tropical areas, the Dominican Republic, for example, the papaya is of small consequence in Haiti. It is difficult to secure the fruit in the markets, and those that are available tend to be small and of poor quality, despite the introduction of improved varieties during the American occupation. Most of the trees are isolated specimens in dooryards, whereas they are common in the fields, even in abandoned ones, in the republic to the east. The authors of a bulletin on the culture of the papaya in Haiti wrote:
The papaya has grown for a long time in Haiti. However, it has never been planted in orchards... The plants are usually slender and produce fruits whose diameter rarely exceeds six inches which have the form of more or less round peach. Ordinarily their flavor is not agreeable.
Usually the fruits are eaten raw and ripe; occasionally the immature fruit is boiled as a vegetable. Haitian cooks utilize the tenderizing properties of papaine.
These properties are used by our cooks when they warp a piece of meat or of old fighting cock in papaya leaves. The meat is left for several hours or for a whole night in the leaves, after which, it is removed an cooked.
The papaya fly Toxotrypana curvivauda gerst is probably the most serious pest of the papaya in Haiti.
All items (24)
