Rambutan reins in fruit market

By Faris Arakkal RAMBUTAN is not a novel fruit to Thrissurites now. It had come to fruit shops in the city three years ago. By June, the city market will be ready to sell the fruit. The yellow or red fruit was earlier spotted in the homes of rich, but now the fruit is available to the common man as it is cultivated in the state. The fruit is mainly cultivated in Kottayam district. Rambutan was found growing in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia earlier. Anil, who has been selling fruits in the city for 25 years, said that demand for the fruit is very high as the fruit is known for its sweet-sour taste. The fruit is nutritious too. Vitamin-C, copper, and manganese contents in the fruit are the added qualities. There are also claims of medicinal values of the fruit. It has been reported that the skin of the fruit contains garlic acid which can cure cancer. The fruit will also help reduce diabetes and control blood pressure, according to the report. Fruit shops charge around Rs 140 a kg of Rambutan. "The increased demand for the fruit has prompted local farmers to cultivate it," said Siddiq, a fruit shop owner. His house compound now has a number of Rambutan plants. "But it will take at least 10 years to yield a fruit," Siddiq added. Despite the demand, traders don't by the fruit in bulks as it will not remain fresh more than two days. As the season almost comes to a close, Rambutan will be showing up in the market for 15 days more.