The first time we came across this fruit was at Pak Awang’s orchard in Biawak, Lundu.  An Indonesian friend told us this fruit was called ‘matoa’ meaning crystal and that it was native to Iran Jaya.  Lately we have also come across fruit vendors at the 3rd Mile Market in Kuching selling this fruit too.  But surprisingly it did not taste anywhere near Pak Awang’s.

Local Name: Kasai, Matoa, Dawa
Botanical Name: Pometia pinnata
Family : Sapindaceae

Matoa is a tropical fruit mainly from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, East Indonesia, Papua and the Pacific Islands. It is not a very common fruit found elsewhere.

The fruit is much bigger than longan & has a hard shell.  It is green when immature and will turn purplish red, green, dull brown or almost black, depending on the various varieties.  The yellowish white pulp is also much thicker, sweeter & the texture is chewy. It has a single seed which looks like a type of nuts. The seed is edible too and it is usually consumed roasted or boiled.

Related link :

3 COMMENTS

  1. Dear sir,

    I am currently developing an Encyclopedia of Fruits of the World.

    I would like to use your photo of the Pometia pinnata (matoa):

    https://bombasticborneo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/crystal01.jpg

    Please, let me know if this is OK for you. The author of the photo will be credited.

    You may take a look to a preliminary project for iPad/iphone that I have developed at:

    http://doctorcastello.com/fruits/

    And the video of the App:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdnD6eLqUxo&feature=player_embedded

    However, this will be a printed/pdf book and will include much more references.

    Best regards,
    Dr Jose R Castello

    ABOUT THE PROJECT

    This is an ongoing General Reference educational project which will include more than 400 different type of edible fruits. Each photo in the project will be credited with the full name of the photographer (and website if desired). The location in which the photo was taken will be also included. It will be also clearly stated that the copyright of the photos will be retained by their original authors. This is a personal project which I am developing in my spare time, with no editorial support of any kind.

    Jose R Castello, MD PhD
    info@doctorcastello.com

    • Hi Dr Jose, congrats on your upcoming fruit project and thank you for writing in. We will allow the use of the said photo for free only if you will maintain our ‘bombasticborneo.com’ water mark on the photo. However, if you wish not to have it retained we will have to charge you a fee of USD150.00. Thank you.

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