One of the best fruits you’d love to eat in Asia, assuming you’re a visitor, is the popular rambutan fruit. As sweet as the fruit is, it is also healthy with many health benefit.
Rambutan fruit, or simply, rambutan is a medium sized fruit that’s round or oval in shape. Rambutan have single seeds in each fruit. The fruit is 3-8 cm long. In rare cases, it can grow as long as 8 cm. It is also 3-4 cm broad, and always borne in clusters. The fruit can also be made into a juice which is also available in commercial brands as rambutan juice.
The fruits have leathery, reddish skin, and sometimes appear yellowish or orange. The skin is covered by hair like spines that are pliable and fleshy. These hairy spines are not without responsibility, as they are involved in the transpiration of the fruits, which affects the quality of the harvest.
The rambutan tree
The tree, rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) is a tropical tree that’s medium-sized. It is of the family of Sapindaceae, and is native to Southeast Asia. Rambutan is related to lychee and guinep.
Although rambutan is native to Southeast Asia, the growing of the tree has expanded to as far as Australia, India, Madagascar, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Syria, Thailand, and Congo.
Rambutan taste
Rambutan and lychee share similar taste. That’s why rambutan has an English name of hairy lychee. Rambutan has a sweet fruity taste and flavor. Rambutan has an acidic hint that resonates with that of strawberry and grapes.
Are rambutan seeds edible?
There are confusing submissions on the edibility of the seeds of rambutan. Most people assumed that the seed is edible while some studies have shown that the seeds and skins of rambutan fruits contain toxic compounds that may be harmful to your body when consumed in excess.
Those who suggests that the seed may be eaten advised that that can only be after you have prepared the seeds according to certain way. For me, it enough to eat the fruits, avoid eating the seeds as possible as you can avoid death traps.
Rambutan juice
One of the ways to preserve rambutan, after harvest, is to turn the fruits into a juice. This is because rambutan juice retains the flavor, sweetness, and nutritional content of the fruits.
Where to buy rambutan juice
There are several commercial rambutan juice products in the market. You can buy your choiced rambutan juice from supermarkets, and standard local shops.
How to make rambutan juice (Recipe)
Rambutan juice is quite easy to make. To make the juice, first remove the hairy skin, then the seeds. Get coconut flesh and banana.
Instructions
Cut those fruits into smaller pieces and pour all into a blender. Add a cup of clean water to ease the blending and make the juice lighter.
After blending for about 5 minutes, pour the content in a cup and enjoy your sweet, nutritious, rambutan juice chilled.
Benefits of rambutan fruit juice
Rambutan fruit juice is well fortified with vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, B, C, folate, potassium and calcium. Aside these, there are lots of bioactive compounds present in the fruits with strong biological activities. Some of these compounds include, alkaloids, terpenoids, triterpenes, coumarins, flavonoid, tannins, saponins, proteins, and carbohydrates. These compounds are beneficial for your health.
Rambutan fruit juice improves eye health
The vitamin A that is present on the fruit is essential for maintaining a healthy eyesight. Vitamin A prevents night blindness and protects you from cataract.
The antioxidants present in rambutan fruits, including vitamin C are essential for preventing oxidative damage of the macula and retinoid muscles. This way, your eyes would remain effective even at old age.
Read also: Amazing benefits of honeyberry
Rambutan juice for pregnant women
For a pregnant woman, eating foods rich in folate, vitamin B and vitamin E. These compounds prevents some defects and improves the foetal growth. For instance, folate is essential for the development of neural tubes, it prevents birth defects that affect the brain and spinal chord.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that prevents oxidative stress in pregnancy. Iron also is involved in the production of hemoglobin and myoglobins. These cellular components are involved in the transfer of oxygenated blood to the cells and tissues.
Iron is also involved in the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. This prevents pregnancy induced anemia. A combination of rambutan fruit and filbert nut will greatly improve your reproductive health and aid in pregnancy.
Read also: 11 medicinal facts about Turkey berry
May boost your immunity
Taken herbal tonics is one sure way of keeping your immunity strong. Need me tell you why our forefathers lived such an awesome life of good health and agility? It is traced to what they eat. Our fathers eat herbs like food and eat foods like herbs. That’s the way to go, friend.
When you consider fruits with health benefits, should remember to count rambutan among the first. The fruit and its juice are well fortified with strong bioactive compounds that promote strong immunity. If you don’t eat rambutan fruit, you can drink the fruit juice.
Rambutan fruit lowers cholesterol level
Bad cholesterol are high risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, especially in diabetic patients. While it may be difficult to totally eliminate bad cholesterol from our body, we can actually reduce the level of it in our blood.
Eat more of rambutan fruit if you have bad cholesterol. But if the cholesterol level is too high, you may eat a seed or two of miracle seeds. The warning about miracle seeds is that they can purge your stomach. So eat them when you’re at home for the day.
Rambutan fruit juice detoxifies your body
Like miracle seeds, rambutan possess strong antioxidants that detoxify your body of free radicals. This way, the fruit juice will protect you from certain autoimmune diseases that are ravaging the world.
A regular intake of rambutan fruit juice will clean up your kidneys of depository stones from heavy metals, enhance your glomerular filtration rate, and keep you protected from kidney related diseases.
Also, you’d enjoy a healthy and functional liver, when you make rambutan fruits your regular menu. How would you feel spending less on medication simply because you now eat right?
Rambutan seeds possess antidiabetic properties
Although there are speculations from some studies that rambutan seeds possess toxic substances, the seeds have been used extensively in the treatment of diabetes. A study has found the fruit peel of rambutan to possess strong antidiabetic activity. According to the study, rambutan fruit peel extract significantly reduced the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, creatinine, and glycated serum protein in diabetic mice in a dose-dependent manner.
In another study involving rambutan seed extract, there was an interesting findings. In most research studies involving herbs, the antidiabetic activities of most remedies are traced to the inhibition of the alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase. But in the case of rambutan seed extract, the antidiabetic activities of the phenolic compounds present was found to be through two mechanisms: the first was through the inhibition of the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and secondly by improving glucose clearance via the improvement of insulin sensitivity.
Rambutan fruit peel improves sperm count and quality
Of the problems facing obese men are low sperm count and sexual dysfunctions. Luckily, the fruit peel of rambutan has strong potency in correcting this abnormality, as a study conducted on obese albino rats showed increased sperm count and sperm quality.
The fruits also exhibited an increment in libido. If you are treating any reproductive complication, you may do well to consume the fruit peel and seed powder of rambutan, and make it a duty to always eat the fruit. It may be beneficial for sexually active couples, as the increased libido will help spice up their sex life.
Rambutan improves your hair growth
Rambutan possesses antibacterial properties that might treat dandruff and other scalp issues such as the itching. It is fortified with copper, which supports hair growth and prevent hair loss. Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant that supports hair growth, improves the thickness and shining of your hair.
The copper present in rambutan also intensifies hair color, and prevents the premature greying of your hair. The protein content in rambutan is involved in strengthening your hair roots.
Rambutan boosts blood production and circulation
A regular consumption of rambutan fruits or juice will enhance blood production and circulation in your body. This is because the iron and copper present in the fruit is essential for maintaining constant production of red blood cells, and also improves circulation of nutrition and oxygen to all parts of the body.
Rambutan also stimulates the production of white blood cells, which are the first defense mechanism of the body. When the white blood cells are low, or weak, our immunity becomes essentially weak and thus leave us vulnerable to infectious diseases.
Rambutan fruit enhances bone health
The fruit and juice of rambutan also improves bone health. The minerals present in the fruits, such as calcium, phosphorus , and magnesium are important in maintaining your bone health. Iron is also essential in the production of new bone cells.
Vitamin C is found in excess amount in rambutan fruits. This vitamin is essential for the formation of collagen in bone matrix. As an antioxidant, vitamin C also prevent the harmful effects of free radicals on the bone cells.
Rambutan seeds are aphrodisiac
Aside improving sperm health in men by the fruit peel, the leaves of rambutan also possess aphrodisiac properties. It activates is involved in the dilation of the blood vessels that lead to the urethra and causes the inflow of blood, which in return cause strong erection of the penis. The leaves also activate the hormone that increases libido in both men and women.
Read also: Benefits, uses and how to grow Passiflora caerulea
Rambutan aids in digestion
Rambutan fruits possess both dietary and insoluble fibers. These fibers are very important for your body functions. The dietary fiber is beneficial to your gut bacterial, which are involved in the synthesis of short chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are used by your gut cells for cellular functions. They also prevents inflammation and improve symptoms of gut diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.
The insoluble fiber on the other hand is involved in the prevention of constipation. because they are insoluble, they form bulky stool and speed up intestinal transit.
Enhances weight loss
Because rambutan fruit is packed with insoluble fiber, it is essential for reducing your body weight and preventing the development of obesity. The insoluble fiber in the fruit makes you feel full and suppresses appetite. This way, you would reduce the frequency of snacking on caloric foods. Remember that high caloric food intake is a risk factor for obesity. So by eating rambutan fruits, you would reduce the frequency of high caloric food intake.
Possess anticancer compounds
I cannot conclude this article without mentioning that rambutan possesses anticancer properties. The antioxidants present in the fruits, seeds, and even leaves of rambutan is essential for suppressing tumor growth and preventing cancer cell proliferations.
Rambutan possess antiallergic properties
Allergens are chemical compounds that elicit allergic reactions in our body. This is done when the chemicals cause the release of histamines and hexosaminidase in the body when your body recognizes the a certain substance as foreign or dangerous to your body.
Allergic responses can be harmful to you, and in some instances can be fatal. Allergic reactions can also occur on the skin. In this case, you may witness the blistering of your skin due to your body’s allergic response to a substance that touches your skin. It is a good news that both the fruit pulp and seeds of rambutan can prevent allergic reactions.
References
Perumal A, AlSalhi MS, Kanakarajan S, Devanesan S, Selvaraj R, Tamizhazhagan V. Phytochemical evaluation and anticancer activity of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) fruit endocarp extracts against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2) cells. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Mar;28(3):1816-1825.
Sukmandari, N.S. & Dash, G. & Jusof, W.H.W. & Hanafi, Muhammad. (2017). A review on Nephelium lappaceum L. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 10. 2819-2827.
Victoria, Kerin & Nugraha, Yudhi & Fauziah, Cut. (2020). Effect of Rambutan Fruit Peel Extract on Total Sperm Counts of Wistar Rats With Obesity. Biota. 13. 10.20414/jb.v13i1.240.
Chin KY, Ima-Nirwana S. Vitamin C and Bone Health: Evidence from Cell, Animal and Human Studies. Curr Drug Targets. 2018;19(5):439-450. doi: 10.2174/1389450116666150907100838. PMID: 26343111.
