Get to know Red Fruit Plants from Papua

Pandanus Conoideus or often referred to as red fruit because one type of pandanus plants including traditional fruits from the Papua region. In the Wamena area, people call this fruit by the name of Kuansu. This traditional fruit from Papua is spread in various regions, such as the Baliem Valley, Wamena and the Arfak Mountains, West Papua. At its place of origin, red fruit is served for food during a traditional stone-burning party.

In addition, the original fruit of Papua is also used for traditional medicine. The reason, this fruit is efficacious to cure various types of diseases, such as eye disease, intestinal worms, skin diseases and increase stamina.

Besides growing in the Baliem Valley area and the Arfak Mountains, red fruit also grows in other areas, such as the mountains of Jayawijaya, Nabire, Ayamaru, Manokwari, Sorong, Timika, and Jayapura. In addition to the Papua region, this fruit can actually be found but only in the northern part of Maluku from the coast to the mountains.

There are more than 30 types or red fruit cultivars. But in outline, only four cultivars were later developed. The four types of red fruit are:

• long red cultivars
• short red cultivars
• chocolate cultivar
• yellow cultivars

Plant Classification  

Plants that are still closely related to the red fruit are pandanus plants.

Plant Morphology  

1. 1. Tree

The red fruit tree is very similar to the pandan tree. The difference is only seen from the height of the tree where the red fruit grows to 16 meters and free height, branches around 5-8 meters. At the bottom of the tree, it has root support on the surface of the trunk under the fruit.

This red fruit tree grows by clustering with a density of 12 to 30 trees in one cluster. The root system is round bearing with a size of 0.2 to 3.5 meters, having a diameter of 6 to 20 cm, brown and has white spots, and spines.

1. 2. Leaf

Red fruit leaves have a breech lancet shape with a dark green color. The tips of the leaves are pointed, the edges of the leaves are thorny (depending on the type) and at the base of the leaves hug the stems.

1. 3. Flower

The red fruit is a pandan tree that has no male flowers. As for the female inflorescence is a cylindrical oval shape. The whole lump is covered with a yellowish-white bractea with a white head that is slightly wider and darker.

1. 4. Fruit

Just like the name suggests, this red fruit is red. While the shape is oval and has closed buds. The length of the fruit can reach 96 cm to 102 cm and a diameter of 15 to 20 cm. This red fruit generally weighs 7 to 8 kg.

Young red fruits generally have a green color and after ripe will turn bright red. But also found fruits that are brown and yellowish. Ripe red fruit through four stages of fruit development, namely young fruit, somewhat ripe, ripe and through ripe.

Generally, the age of growing red fruit trees reaches 10 years and will begin to bear fruit at the age of 3 or 4 years. Red fruit is ready to harvest when it is 3 to 4 months old.

Red Fruit Nutrition Content

The content of red fruit turned out to contain high levels of nutritional components, such as beta-carotene, tocopherol, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. The chemical content of red fruit oil ( Pandanus conoideus Lam .) which is widely used by the community is as follows:

ripe red fruit

Benefits of Red Fruit for health

With the contents in red fruit, this fruit has benefits and benefits. Red fruit can be consumed by drinking juice or extract in the form of oil. Here are the benefits of red juice:

• • Prevent cancer

Cancer is a deadly disease but actually can be prevented. The high content of toferol and betacrotene in this red fruit makes this fruit highly recommended for preventing cancer. These compounds include antioxidants that have the function to prevent the growth of cancer cells and repair damaged body cells.

• • Lower your cholesterol levels

Levels of bad cholesterol or bad fats in the body that exceed normal levels will result in thinning of blood vessels in the heart, brain and kidneys. This red juice can ward off accumulation of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood.

• • Treating gout

Gout is generally caused by a liver that produces excessive uric acid. Thus, uric acid is covered in kidney stones and flows to the tips of fingers and toes. This is what usually results in pain, aching, rheumatic pain, tingling, and can even swell in the joints.

• • Treating diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a disease caused by high blood sugar levels so that the body does not produce insulin which is useful for maintaining normal blood sugar levels. This diabetes recovery process can be helped by extracts or red juice because they contain tocopherol which will increase the work of the pancreas in making insulin to be more optimal.

• • Preventing bone diseases such as osteoporosis

Recent research has shown that there are 55,000 mg of calcium contained in red juice per 100 grams. Therefore, red juice has abundant calcium and can meet the nutritional needs needed by the bones. In addition, red juice also helps avoid osteoporosis.

Cultivation  

1. 1. Growing Conditions

In the natural habitat of Papua’s forests, this red fruit can grow in low-lying areas near the coast to highlands up to 2500 meters above sea level. This plant can adapt to infertile soils, soil acidity or pH 4.3 to 5.3, shade 0% to 15%. In their habitat, these plants grow in groups in areas near the river. The ideal temperature is 23 to 33 degrees Celsius with humidity of 7% to 90%.

Papua native plants do not really need direct sunlight. Therefore, this planting land must be adjusted so that the red fruit is protected from direct sunlight. Good soil for the growth of red fruit from Papua is moist, loose and lots of humus.

1. 2. Land Planting Preparation

Prepare the planting land by cleaning it from weeds and other disturbing plants. The soil can be loosened by plowing it as deep as 15 to 20 cm. Then, a 10 to 12 meter plot was made with a 0.5 to 1 meter trench as drainage.

1. 3. Seed Preparation

To multiply the red fruit can be done by cutting cuttings, stem cuttings and seeds.

• • • • Steak

Nursery of red berries by cuttings must come from old stems with a gray color. The length of the cuttings is around 40 cm to 50 cm and has a diameter of 2 cm to 3 cm. Between the fronds of the leaves to the base of the trunk the size of the pruning measures 15 cm.

Planting of cuttings in seed beds with a spacing of 60 cm x 60 cm. The semantic media can be topsoil soil mixed with manure or compost , in a ratio of 1: 1.

After the cuttings are planted, the beds are covered with 60% -70% shadingnet. Watering can be done twice a day ie morning and evening. Fruit cuttings begin to appear when they are 1 to 2 weeks old. After that, 2 to 3 weeks later have 4-5 leaves, then the seeds can be transferred into a poly bag.

Choose shoots that are 15 to 20 cm high. After being separated from the parent, the seedlings are then planted in beds with a spacing of 50 cm x 50 cm or 60 cm x 60 cm. Seedlings of red saplings can be moved to the field when they have grown to a height of 40 to 50 cm or around 3 to 4 months old.

• • • • Seed

If the seeds are from seed, then soak the red berries for 1 day and then wrap them with a wet cloth 1 night to break down the seed dormancy. The seeds can then be sown in a medium-sand (1: 1) or mixed medium (1: 3) medium.

The seeds that are spread on the seedling media are then covered with 2 to 3 cm thick sand and watered regularly. If seedlings that have been sized 5 to 10 cm can be transferred to a poly bag containing a mixture of topsoil and manure or compost, with a ratio of 1: 1. Furthermore, seedlings can be transferred to the planting area until it reaches a height of 35 to 40 cm and 2 cm in diameter.

1. 4. Planting

Spacing of red fruit seeds in the planting area is 6 x 6 m or 8 x 8 m. In each plot two rows of plants can be planted. Planting holes are generally measuring 50 x 50 x 50 cm. So that the soil is fertile and has enough nutrients, then the excavated soil can be mixed with manure or compost for about 20 to 30 kg per planting hole. Red fruit seedlings are planted and buried to the extent of the root neck.

1. 5. Plant Care

Red fruit does not actually need chemical fertilizer because these plants can meet the needs of the nutrients only with compost or manure given 2 to 3 times each year.

Just do the pruning if the plant height has reached 1 or 2 meters. Tree cover can also be controlled for growth, if it is too lush, prune it. Good maintenance can accelerate the branching of plants, which is about 2 years later followed by fruiting 6 months later.

1. 6. Harvest and Post Harvest

In one year, red fruit can be harvested 2 to 3 times and reaches optimal production when the plant is 10 to 15 years old, ie bears 4 to 5 fruits per tree. Characteristics of red fruit that can be harvested is if the leaves that wrap the fruit begin to open. After the fruit is harvested, it is processed immediately because in 3 to 4 days the fruit will rot and mold .