Blighia sapida (Introduced)

Blighia sapida K.D.Koenig, Ann. Bot. (König & Sims) 2: 571 1806. (Syn: Akea solitaria Stokes; Akeesia africana Tussac; Cupania akeesia Cambess. ex Spach; Cupania sapida (K.D.Koenig) Oken; Sapindus obovatus Wight & Arn. (Unresolved));

Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, S-Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana,
?Liberia, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Sao Tome, Principe Isl., Haiti
(I), Dominican Republic (I), Puerto Rico (I), Navassa Isl. (I), Nicaragua (I),
Jamaica (I), Costa Rica (I), Belize (I), Panama (I), Lesser Antilles (I)
(Montserrat (I), Dominica (I), Martinique (I), St. Lucia (I), Barbados (I)),
Cuba (I), Venezuela (I), Colombia (I), Cayman Isl. (I), India (I), Vietnam (I),
Micronesia (I) (Pohnpei) (I)), Honduras (I) as per Catalogue of Life;

The ackee, also known as achee, ackee apple or akee (Blighia sapida) is a member of the Sapindaceae (soapberry family), as are the lychee and the longan.

It is native to tropical West Africa in Cameroon, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.^[1]

The scientific name honours Captain William Bligh who took the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England in 1793 and introduced it to science. The common name is derived from the West African Akan akye fufo.^[2]

The fruit was imported to Jamaica from West Africa (probably on a slave ship) before 1778.^[3] Since then it has become a major feature of various Caribbean cuisines, and is also cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas elsewhere around the world.

Ackee is an evergreen tree that grows about 10 metres tall, with a short trunk and a dense crown. The leaves are paripinnatly^[4] compound,15–30 centimetres (5.9–11.8 in) long, with 6–10 elliptical to obovate-oblong leathery leaflets. Each leaflet is 8–12 centimetres (3.1–4.7 in) long and 5–8 centimetres (2.0–3.1 in) wide. The inflorescences are fragrant, up to 20 cm long, with unisexual flowers that bloom during warm months.^[5] Each flower has five greenish–white petals^[6]

The fruit is pear-shaped. When it ripens, it turns from green to a bright red to yellow-orange, and splits open to reveal three large, shiny black seeds, each partly surrounded by soft, creamy or spongy, white to yellow flesh—the aril.^[4] The fruit typically weighs 100–200 grams (3.5–7.1 oz).^[4]

Ackee pods are allowed to ripen on the tree before picking. Prior to cooking, the ackee arils are cleaned and washed. The arils are then boiled for approximately 5 minutes and the water discarded. The dried seeds, fruit, bark, and leaves are used medicinally.^[9]

(From Wikipedia on 4.8.14)