Malay apple is an evergreen tree with a spreading but cone-shaped crown, usually growing 5 - 20 metres tall, occasionally up to 30 metres in New Guinea.
The straight, cylindrical bole can be 20 - 45cm in diameter (up to 130cm in New Guinea), often branching near the ground with buttresses at the base.
The edible fruit is well-liked and harvested locally, with potential for commercial exploitation.
The tree is cultivated for ornamental purposes and its fruit in tropical regions.

Known Hazards

None known

Habitat

Canopy or sub-canopy tree in rainforests in lower mountain regions.
Moist coastal areas.
Common in villages, lowland secondary forests, and cultivated valleys up to 1,000 metres.

Cultivation Status

Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers fairly moist, lowland tropics, also found up to 1,200 metres elevation.
Best growth in temperatures 22 - 28°C, tolerating 16 - 33°C.
Intolerant of frost.
Prefers annual rainfall 1,200 - 1,600mm, tolerates 1,000 - 2,200mm.
Can tolerate dry season but thrives with year-round rainfall.
Requires rich, well-drained soil and full sun.
Succeeds in poor coralline soils of low-lying islands.
Dislikes very acidic soils, prefers pH 5.5 - 6.5, tolerates 5 - 8.
Takes 4 - 5 years to flower from seed, maximum yields after about 10 years.
Can fruit up to three times a year, flowering induced by wet weather after dry spells.
Some years may have almost continual fruiting.
Yields of 60 - 80 kilos recorded.
Young trees transplant easily.

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw, stewed with cloves, or in pies, tarts, custards, etc.
Ripe fruits are crunchy, crisp, very juicy, with a thin skin and mild, refreshing, subacid flavor.
Rich in vitamins.
Fruit is up to 20mm x 26mm.
Dark red, purplish-yellow, or yellow-white ellipsoid berry, 5 - 8cm in diameter, containing a single large seed.
Flowers - preserved in syrup or eaten in salads.
Slightly sour stamens added to salads.
Young leaves and shoots, while red, eaten raw with rice.

Medicinal

Various parts used in traditional medicine; leaves and bark show antibiotic activity.
Bark astringent, weakly hypoglycaemic.
Contains tannins.
Bark infusion treats tuberculosis, mouth infections, stomach ache, abdominal ailments.
Bark cures mouth sores in children, acts as purgative, treats venereal diseases.
Leaves treat red eyes, decoction used on skin infections.
Also used for cough, yellow urine, bad appetite, deep bone pains, diabetes, gonorrhea, swollen stomach after childbirth, sore throat, thrush, bronchitis, constipation relief.

Agroforestry Uses

None Recorded

Other Uses

Reddish-brown dye for tapa bark cloth from bark and root.
Reddish to light brown wood hard, tough, very heavy, warp-prone, difficult to work.
Locally used for construction, beams in Hawaiian hale, house, bowls, poi-boards.

Propagation

Seed - sown fresh due to limited viability.
Seedlings need light shade when young.
Air layering common vegetative reproduction.
Cuttings.
Grafting or budding use only seedlings of same species.