Carambola 257
14.1 Introduction
A curious and attractive fruit, the carambola, Averrhoa carambola L, belongs to the
family Oxalidaceae. The fruit with five corners, commonly called the Star Fruit, is
very crisp and juicy with a refreshing taste. Fruits are yellow to green, depending on
the variety. Yellow fruit tend to be more acid in flavour, and the green ones sweeter
(Fig. 14.1).
Carambola is known by a number of regional names in addition to the popular
Spanish appelation which belies its Far Eastern origin. In the Orient, it is usually
called balimbing, belimbing, or belimbing manis (‘sweet belimbing’), to distinguish
it from the related species, A. bilimbi commonly known as bilimbi or belimbing
asam, L. In Ceylon and India carambola is called kamaranga, kamruk, or kamrakh.
In Vietnam, it is called khe, khe ta; in Cambodia, spu; in Laos, nak fuang, carambolier;
14 Carambola.................................................................................................
K. N. Babu and D. Minoo Indian Institute of Spices Research, India and
K. V. Tushar and P. N. Ravindran, Center for Medicinal Plants
Research, India
Fig. 14.1 Fruits of carambola – ‘the star fruit’.