Siblings Esteban and Florencio stood beneath rows of “duhat†trees – or what northerners like them call “longboy†– in an upland farm in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, their thoughts parallel on the folk belief it is good for dysentery, diarrhea and diabetes.
The “duhat,†variously called in English as Java plum, Indian blackberry or plain black plum, is found throughout this Southeast Asian country, with probable pre-historic introduction from Malaya following waves of Indonesian settlers in ancient times.
Old hands describe the plum, particularly its fruit and bark, as an astringent, carminative, stomachic, anti-diabetic and anti-diarrheal.
When the fruits reach their season, wide baskets of the ripe fruits crowd public markets and pavements in the urban centers, including entrances to markets in Cubao, Caloocan City, Novaliches and Quiapo, among other places, in the National Capital Region.
Filipinos describe it as among the most popular fruits in the country – in the league of the Spanish plum or “siniguelas†of the Tagalogs or “sarguelas†of the Ilocanos, the “atis†– the sugar apple or sweet sop – which has its season during the rainy season here.
The ripe “longboy†– called “duat†by Pampangos, “dungboi†by Igorots, “lomboy†by Bicolanos and Visayans in Central Philippines and “hai nan pu tao†by the Chinese – can be eaten straight from the branches.
Its juice can be made into wine, and can be used in the manufacture of red wine or the "tinto dulce" while its fruit, some studies claim, is a good source of calcium and a fair source of iron.
A local manufacturer in Ilocos Norte has, like her counterpart in Malaysia who has been making vinegar from the juice of the unripe fruit, in recent years begun making vinegar from “longboy†juice, competing with the more popularly described “sukang Iluko†fermented from crushed sugar cane juice. - PNA
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