Loquat
The loquat is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit, its leaves for tea, and also cultivated as an ornamental plant.
The loquat is in the family Rosaceae, and is native to the cooler hill regions of south-central China. Since it reached its shores, the loquat has been grown in Japan for over 1,000 years, and has been introduced to regions with subtropical to mild temperate climates throughout the world.
Eriobotrya japonica was formerly thought to be closely related to the genus Mespilus, and is still sometimes known as the Japanese medlar. It is also known as Japanese plum and Chinese plum, as well as pipa in China, and nespolo in southern Italy.
Description
Eriobotrya japonica is a large evergreen shrub or small tree, with a rounded crown, short trunk and woolly new twigs. The tree can grow to tall, but is often smaller, about. The fruit begins to ripen during spring to summer depending on the temperature in the area. The leaves are alternate, simple, long, dark green, tough and leathery in texture, with a serrated margin, and densely velvety-hairy below with thick yellow-brown pubescence; the young leaves are also densely pubescent above, but this soon rubs off.Fruit
Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe at any time from early spring to early summer. The flowers are in diameter, white, with five petals, and produced in stiff panicles of three to ten flowers. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelled from a distance.Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, long, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to subacid or acid, depending on the cultivar.
Each fruit contains from one to ten ovules, with three to five being most common. A variable number of the ovules mature into large brown seeds.
The fruits are the sweetest when soft and orange. The flavour is a mixture of peach, citrus and mild mango.
History and taxonomy
The loquat is originally from China, where related species can be found growing in the wild. It was introduced into Japan and became naturalised there in very early times; it has been cultivated there for over 1,000 years. It has also become naturalised in Georgia, Armenia, Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bermuda, Chile, Kenya, India, Iran, Iraq, South Africa, the whole Mediterranean Basin, Pakistan, New Zealand, Réunion, Tonga, Central America, Mexico, South America and in warmer parts of the United States. In Louisiana, many refer to loquats as "misbeliefs" and they grow in yards of homes. Chinese immigrants are presumed to have carried the loquat to Hawaii and California. It has been cultivated in Japan for about 1,000 years and presumably the fruits and seeds were brought back from China to Japan by the many Japanese scholars visiting and studying in China during the Tang Dynasty.The loquat was often mentioned in medieval Chinese literature, such as the poems of Li Bai. Its original name is no longer used in most Chinese dialects, and has been replaced by pipa, which is a reference to the fruit's visual resemblance to a miniature pipa lute.
The first European record of the species might have been in the 16th century by Michał Boym Polish jesuit, orientalist, politician and missionary to China. He described loquat in his Flora sinensis, the first European natural history book about China. The common name for the fruit is from portuguese nêspera,. Since the first contact of the Portuguese with the Japanese and Chinese dates also from the sixteenth century, it is possible that some were brought back to Europe, as was probably the case with other species like the hachiya persimmon variety.
Eriobotrya japonica was again described in Europe by Carl Peter Thunberg, as Mespilus japonica in 1780, and was relocated to the genus Eriobotrya by John Lindley, who published these changes in 1821.
The most common variety in Portugal is the late ripening Tanaka, where it is popular in gardens and backyards, but not commercially produced. In northern Portugal it is also popularly called magnório/magnólio, probably something to do with the French botanist Pierre Magnol. In Spain, the fruits are similarly called "nísperos" and are commercially exploited, Spain being the largest producer worldwide, after China, with 41,487t annually, half of which is destined to export markets.
Cultivation
Over 800 loquat cultivars exist in Asia. Self-fertile variants include the 'Gold Nugget' and 'Mogi' cultivars. The loquat is easy to grow in subtropical to mild temperate climates where it is often primarily grown as an ornamental plant, especially for its sweet-scented flowers, and secondarily for its delicious fruit. The boldly textured foliage adds a tropical look to gardens, contrasting well with many other plants.There are many named cultivars, with orange or white flesh. Some cultivars are intended for home-growing, where the flowers open gradually, and thus the fruit also ripens gradually, compared to the commercially grown species where the flowers open almost simultaneously, and the whole tree's fruit also ripens together.
Japan is the leading producer of loquats followed by Israel and then Brazil. In Europe, Spain is the main producer of loquat.
In temperate climates it is grown as an ornamental with winter protection, as the fruits seldom ripen to an edible state. In the United Kingdom, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
In the US, the loquat tree is hardy only in USDA zones 8 and above, and will flower only where winter temperatures do not fall below. In such areas, the tree flowers in autumn and the fruit ripens in late winter. It is popular in the East, as well as the South.
Culinary use
The loquat has a high sugar, acid and pectin content. It is eaten as a fresh fruit and mixes well with other fruits in fresh fruit salads or fruit cups. The fruits are also commonly used to make jam, jelly and chutney, and are often served poached in light syrup. Firm, slightly immature fruits are best for making pies or tarts.The fruit is sometimes canned or processed into confections. The waste ratio is 30 percent or more, due to the seed size.
Alcoholic beverages
Loquats can also be used to make light wine. They are fermented into a fruit wine, sometimes using just crystal sugar and white liquor.In Italy nespolino liqueur is made from the seeds, reminiscent of nocino and amaretto, both prepared from nuts and apricot kernels. Both the loquat seeds and the apricot kernels contain cyanogenic glycosides, but the drinks are prepared from varieties that contain only small quantities, so there is no risk of cyanide poisoning.
Nutrition
The loquat is low in sodium and high in vitamin A, vitamin B6, dietary fiber, potassium, and manganese.Like most related plants, the seeds and young leaves of the plant are slightly poisonous, containing small amounts of cyanogenic glycosides which release cyanide when digested, though the low concentration and bitter flavour normally prevent enough being eaten to cause harm.