Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The fruit of the
carambola tree.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun deeply ridged yellow-brown tropical fruit; used raw as a vegetable or in salad or when fully ripe as a dessert
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From the shape of its cross section.]
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Examples
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treeseed commented on the word star fruit
Also seen as starfruit
The carambola is a species of tree native to Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka and is popular throughout Southeast Asia Trinidad Malaysia and parts of East Asia. It is also grown in Dominican Republic, Brazil, Peru, Ghana, Guyana, Samoa, Tonga, Taiwan, French Polynesia, Costa Rica and Australia. Carambola is commercially grown in the United States in south Florida and Hawaii. Its fruit, the carambola, more popularly known as star fruit, but also coromandel gooseberry, kamranga, or five finger, is a golden-yellow to green berry. When cut across it shows a 5-pointed (sometimes 6-pointed or 7-pointed) star shape, hence the name, "star fruit." Star fruits are crunchy, and have a slightly tart, acidic, sweet taste, reminiscent of pineapples, apples, and sometimes kiwi fruit. The fruits are a good source of vitamin C. Its seeds are small and brown. They consist of a tough outer skin and a tangy white inside.
There are two varieties of star fruit - acidulate and sweet. The tart varieties can often be identified by their narrowly spaced ribs. The sweet varieties usually have thick fleshy ribs.
The fruit starts out green, and goes to yellow as it ripens, though it can be eaten in both stages.
Individuals with kidney trouble should avoid consuming the fruit, due to the presence of oxalic acid. Juice made from carambola can be even more dangerous due to its concentration of the acid.Fatal outcomes after ingestion of star fruits have been described in uraemic patients.
_Wikipedia
February 11, 2008