Common name: Camu camu

Camu Camu is a fruiting shrub or small tree originating in South America, where it occurs on the vast floodplains of the Amazon Basin. 

It typically reaches heights 3 to 5 m (10 to 16 ft), occasionally up to 12 m (39 ft) and develops one or more upright stems with a low-branching habit, off of which grow long lateral branches forming a rounded crown. On floodplains, where floodwaters are sometimes high enough to nearly cover the plant, the lateral branches shear off, leaving a v-shaped crown. The bark is smooth, bronze-brown and flaking, exposing pale brown underbark.

Leaves oval with a tapered pointed tip, up to 10 cm (4 in) long, dark glossy green on top, pale dull green underneath and arranged in pairs along the branches. They fall off only in areas with a pronounced dry season, in other areas staying on the plant throughout the year. 

The flowers are small, funnel-shaped with prominent white filaments at their centre, sweetly fragrant and borne in clusters of a few arising at the leaf base. They come into bloom at the transition from the dry to the rainy season, in response to a rise in humidity, which in constantly humid climates results in on-and-off blooms throughout the year.

Fertilised flowers are followed by roundish fruit, 1 to 3 cm (0.4 to 1.2 in) in diameter that are yellow-green when young, becoming reddish to purple-black when ripe. The skin is thin and encloses soft, juicy pulp with up to four small seed.

Use

The fruit are known to have one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C of any fruit, reportedly 2 to 3% of their fresh weight and about thirty times that of citrus. However, the Vitamin C content declines as the fruit ripens, resulting in a trade-off between Vitamin C content and flavour. 

The pulp has a sour, citrusy flavour and the whole fruit are usually macerated in water and sugar to make a refreshing drink. In Peru, it is carbonated and sold as a popular pink coloured soft or fizzy drink. Nowadays, the pulp from harvested fruit is mostly dried and made into a powder used to manufacture vitamin C tablets. It is also marketed as a superfood and dietary supplement, with distribution through health food stores. 

Camu Camu pulp also makes an excellent jam or jelly and in its native range is used for flavouring ice-cream and other desserts.

Health use

In addition to a high Vitamin C content, the fruit pulp is rich in protective flavonoids as well as having good amounts of the amino acids leucine, serine and valine, all three of which play a vital role in regulating healthy blood sugar levels in the body. 

Climate

Grows naturally in humid tropical lowland climates, generally in areas with annual lows of 20 to 25°C, annual highs of 28 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 1500 to 7500 mm and a dry season of 4 months or less.

Growing

New plants are usually grown from seed, which lose their viability quickly and should be sown within three days of extracting from the fruit. The seedling plants are tended in a nursery for about a year or until they are about 60 cm tall, after which they are planted-out. 

Performs best on free- or slow-draining clay, loam and sand soils of an acid to neutral nature, generally with a pH of 4.0 to 7.0, and on sites with full to partial sun exposure. Camu Camu has good tolerance to seasonal flooding and poorly drained soils but poor tolerance to limestone soils. It also adapts well to areas outside floodplains.

Trees in plantations yield on average 12 kgs (26 lbs) of fruit per year and start to flower and fruit when about three years old.

Problem features

There does not appear to be any records or reports of it as a weed or invasive species, despite being introduced long ago into Florida, Puerto Rico and other subtropical and tropical regions.

Books

• Alexiades, M.N. & Shanley, P. 2005, Forest products, livelihoods and conservation: case studies of non-timber forest product systems, volume 3 (Latin America), Bogor, Indonesia

• Barwick, M., et al. 2004, Tropical & subtropical trees : a worldwide encyclopaedic guide, Thames and Hudson, London

• Castner, J. L. & Duke, J. A., & Timme, S. L. 1998, A field guide to medicinal and useful plants of the Upper Amazon, Feline Press, Gainesville, Florida

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 1986, Food and Fruit-bearing Forest Species, 3 : Examples from Latin America, FAO Forestry Paper no 44/3, Rome

• Lopez, C., et al. 2004, Riches of the forest: fruits, remedies and handicrafts in Latin America, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia

• Lorenzi, H. 2006, Brazilian fruits & cultivated exotics (for consuming in natura), Instituto Plantarum de Estudos da Flora, Nova Odessa, San Paulo

• Morton, J. F. & Dowling, C. F. 1987, Fruits of warm climates, Creative Resources Systems, Winterville, North Carolina

• Page, P. E. 1984, Tropical tree fruits for Australia, Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QLD DPI), Brisbane

• Wickens, G. E & Day, Peter R., 1928- & Haq, N & International Symposium on New Crops for Food and Industry 1989, New crops for food and industry, Chapman and Hall, London ; New York

Articles, Journals, Reports and Working Papers

• Clay, J.W. and Clement, C.R. 1993, Selected species and strategies to enhance income generation from Amazonian forests, FAO Working Paper, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome