165Abstract
Canarium odontophyllumMiq. or locally known as
“dabai”, is one of the popular underutilized fruits
of Sarawak, Malaysia. Local community consumes
a significant amount of dabai during the fruiting
season without much knowledge about its nutri-
tional composition and health-promoting proper-
ties. Nutritional composition and antioxidant
properties of dabai fruits from different growing
areas in Sarawak were investigated. Lipid was the
major macronutrient in dabai fruit, while the pre-
dominant minerals were magnesium and calcium.
The fruit is a source of unsaturated fatty acids,
with 38–42% oleic acid, 15–18% linoleic acid and
traces of linolenic acid. The total anthocyanin con-
tent in dabai fruit (2.05–2.49 mg/g dried weight)
was comparable to blackberry, blueberry and
grape. Fifteen types of phenolic compounds have
been identified from this fruit. Several products
like mayonnaise, sauces, chips, pickles and soap
have been developed from this fruit. This fruit has
also been used by local restaurants as an ingre-
dient in their dishes.
- Introduction
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) in its effort working with its members
and the entire international community for achieve-
ment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
has declared year 2010 as the International Year of
Biodiversity. The integration of biodiversity and nu-
trition is important for the achievement of MDGs.
With this, the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity for food and agriculture play a critical
role in the fight against hunger, by ensuring envi-
ronmental sustainability while increasing food pro-
duction.
Sarawak has the richest diversity of flora in
Malaysia and offers an excellent source of indige-
nous fruits and vegetables to the rural communi-
ties. Canarium odontophyllumMiq. is one of the
popular indigenous fruits potentially to be devel-
oped as a speciality fruit of Sarawak. The fruit is
known as “dabai” among the local community and
has been dubbed “Sibu olive” because of its physi-
cal appearance, smooth texture and rich flavour
(Lau and Fatimah, 2007). Dabai fruits are similar in
appearance to olive fruits and turn dark purple
when they are fully ripe. The fruits are ovoid drupes,
weigh 10.0–18.0 g, 3.0–4.0 cm long and 2.2–3.0 cm
in diameter. Dabai fruit contains a single seed with
hard and thick endocarp (2.5–3.5 cm long and 1.6–
2 .0 cm in diameter). The seed is sub-triangular with
three chambers. The purple peel and pale yellow
fleshy pulp of this fruit (3.0–5.0 mm thick) is edible,
while the seed is discarded. The whole ripe fruit is
soaked in warm water for 3 – 5 minutes to soften the
pulp and eaten as such or with sugar, salt, pepper
or sauce. Dabai fruits are traditionally consumed as
highly nutritious fruit rich in energy and fat by local
community during fruiting season.
Dabai fruits are rarely eaten, unfamiliar and un-
known elsewhere apart from Sarawak. They are
sometimes viewed by outsiders as nutritionally in-
ferior fruit. The current usage of dabai fruits is still
limited to human consumption. Therefore, there is
an urge for scientific evidence to realize the full
potential of dabai fruits. To the best of our knowl-
edge, only few reports on nutritional composition
and antioxidant properties of dabai fruits are avail-
able. Voon and Kueh (1999) has reported the prox-
imate composition including mineral and vitamin
content of dabai fruit, while oils extracted from the
fruit pulp and kernel were studied for their fatty
acids composition and vitamin E content by Azlan
et al.(2010). Carotenoids profiles of peel, pulp and
seed of the fruit and their related antioxidant ca-
pacities have been studied by Prasad et al.(2011).
Extracts of peel, pulp and kernel of dabai fruit have
consistently shown antioxidant capacities (Azrina
et al., 2010 ; Prasad et al., 2010 ; Shakirinet al.,
2 010).
Previous studies have indicated that geographical
conditions and botanical aspects such as variety