Eriobotrya japonica (Loquat – Japanese cotoneast)

Description

The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a well-known fruit from the rose family. It is an evergreen, 5-10 m tall tree with a round crown and a short trunk. Young branches are woolly hairy. The alternately placed leaves grow densely packed, especially in the shoot tips.
The ovoid, orange fruit is 3-8 x 2-5 cm in size. Underneath the orange skin is the very juicy, aromatic, sweet and sour flesh, which is somewhat reminiscent of apricot. The fruit contains n to ten (usually two to five) to 2 cm large, oval, flattened, brown seeds. The fruits can be eaten out of hand or processed into fruit salads, fruit juices, compotes, ice cream and jams. The fruits are also canned in China and Taiwan, among other places.