Tropical Fruit Adventures with Mario Mendez

As a sign of appreciation to my good friends Noah and Alex who have been helping me maintain the farm I decided to take them to see a very knowledgeable tropical fruit grower named Mario Mendez. Mario is an expert grafter and singlehandedly maintains 8 hectares of tropical fruit plus a large nursery. He focuses on Rambutan or Mamon Chino and Avocado but maintains collections of several rare fruits as well. As I drove the coastal highway from Uvita to the sleepy town of San Buenaventura where Mario´s farm is located I recalled my first meeting with Mario nearly three years ago.

It was a hot and humid August day when I headed down to Ciudad Cortez with a couple of friends to visit a property one of them had purchased. As we drove through Cortez smiling faces greeted us at every corner and showing us their bags of Mamon Chinos they had for sale. These beautiful bright red fruits were everywhere and we quickly began gobbling them up. The Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) is a member of the Sapindaceae family which includes other delicious fruits like the Lychee (Litchi chinensis) and the Pulasan (Nephelium mutabile) . Its translucent flesh is sweet and juicy and grape like in consistency. We were hooked immediately and it occurred to me that I had not yet planted Mamon Chino at Finca Carolina. So I began asking the Mamon Chino sellers where I could buy some good Mamon trees. Quickly, I was informed that in the town of San Buenaventura lived a man named Mario with lots and lots of Mamon Chino trees. So it was off to San Buenaventura where more Mamon sellers excitedly pointed us in the right direction to find Mario. We did eventually find Mario and sampled his delectable fruits and headed back to Uvita with several Rambutan trees to plant at the farm.We were impressed by his orchards and vast knowledge of tropical fruit production

         Mamon Chinos do not yield in Southwest Costa Rica until August so there were no Mamons on this visit but Mario always has a few surprises for the tropical fruit lover. First he let us sample guava fruit from his Brazilian guava tree (Psidium guavaja, Family Myrtaceae). Its bright pink flesh was oh so inviting and delicious. Guava fruits are high in antioxidants, Vitamin A and C, folic acid, and many minerals.
            Next, Mario proudly showed us his Borrojo tree in fruit. Borrojo (Borojoa patinoi, Family Rubiaceae), head fruit or fruta cabezona is native to Western Panama and is cultivated on small scale in Panama and Southwestern Costa Rica. Mario says that just a small piece of this fruit is enough to flavor an entire pitcher of refresco or refreshing fruit beverage. Borrojo is rumored to have aphrodisiac powers and is used in folk medicine to treat impotency. You heard it here first! The plant family Rubiaceae has yielded such important plants as coffee (Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora) and the source of the anti-malaria medicine Quinine (Cinchona pubescens).Many of the understorey shrubs that one encounters in the rainforests of Southwest Costa Rica belong to the Rubiaceae family.

Finally, Mario showed off his large crop of Acerolas or Barbado Cherries. This small, delicious cherry like fruit is packed with Vitamin C. Acerola is being added to a variety of juices in order to boost their Vitmain C content. One of the small fruits is supposed to contain the Vitamin C of four oranjes. This sprawling shrub is a great choice for the home grower in Southwest Costa Rica as it is hardy and fruits prolifically. Acerola, (Malpigia emarginata), is a member of the Malpighiaceae family which contains other plants of ethnobotanical interest like the nance, (Byrsonima crassifolia) a small yellow fruit enjoyed throughout Costa Rica and beyond and Banisteriopisis caapi which is used in the preparation of the South American visionary beverage ayahuasca or yaje.