Description

Kepundung / Baccaurea racemosa, Menteng, kepundung, or (ke)mundung (especially Baccaurea racemosa (Reinw.) Muell. Arg.; also B. javanica and B. dulcis) is an edible fruit-producing tree with the same name. At first glance, menteng fruit is similar to duku fruit, but the tree canopy is different. The taste of the fruit is usually sour (sour) although some are sweet.

Menteng used to be planted in yards, but now it is difficult to find due to pressure from residents and the planting of other preferred fruit trees. This plant is native to the island of Java. Around Jakarta and Bogor, you can sometimes still find menteng fruit sellers.

Habitus: Tree, 10-25 m high. Stem: Erect, woody, round, rough, branching simpodial, brownish white. Leaves: Single, scattered, oval, serrated edge, pointed tip, rounded base, pinnate bone, 7-20 cm long, 3-7.5 cm wide, cylindrical stalk, light green, + 2 cm long, green.

Flowers: Compound, unisexual, on stems or on branches, stalks cylindrical, ± 10 cm long, cup-shaped petals, stamens four to six, female flowers larger than male flowers, crown divided into five, yellow.

Fruit: Buni, round, diameter ± 2 cm, green when young when old yellow. Seeds: Round, ± 0.5 cm in diameter, yellowish white. Roots: Steady, dirty white.

Plant Spread

Kepundung is a fruit plant native to Southeast Asia, spread from Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, to the Moluccas but has its native habitat on the island of Java). Apart from the fruit being eaten fresh, other parts such as the leaves can be used as medicine.

Local Name

Kepundung, Kapundung, Kemundung, Rusip, Kisip (Sumatra), Engkuni, Enkunik, Tamarind wood, Longkuno, Moho liok (Kalimantan), Menteng.

Agroecology

Live in a tropical climate. Grows in the lowlands to the highlands at an altitude of 1,000 m above sea level. The preferred soil type is sandy dry alluvial soil or loamy/clay soil. The ideal temperature is 21-28 °C with an adaptation tolerance of 14-34 °C.

Morphology

Taproot, dirty white.
Stems erect, woody, round, rough, branching simpodial, brownish white.
Single leaf, scattered, oval, serrated edge, pointed tip, rounded base.
Compound interest, androgynous, bowl-shaped petals,
Buni fruit, round, ± 2 cm in diameter, green when young when old yellow.
Round seeds, ± 0.5 cm in diameter, yellowish white.

Cultivation

Propagation by seed, grafting and grafting.
Kepundung will start to bear fruit when it is 7-8 years old with seeds from seeds, while with grafts it is enough for 3-4 years.