Ackee

You saw an Ackee tree previously, now you can see up close one of its fruit that has fully ripened and split open to show the three black seeds surrounded by the soft creamy and spongy white aril. If you are real hungry and want to eat this, you need to clean and wash the aril before boiling it for approximately 30 minutes. Don't use the water because it has residue of the toxin hypoglycin. The Ackee fruit is used to produce soap in some parts of Africa where it is also used as a fish poison. The dried seeds, fruit bark and leaves are known to have been used medicinally as a treatment for colds, fever, water retention (edema), and epilepsy. Beginning 2005, the first commercial shipments of canned ackee from Haiti were approved by the United States for shipment to the US market but I have never seen it sold in the local stores in Miami. I may have to venture into Miami's Little Haiti to find this fruit in cans... not that I would eat it, ripened or not. Luckily, I don't think I have any cold, fever, edema or even epilepsy at this time, at least not that I know of. When I do, I'll think about this some more.