Philippine fruit Aratilis and its benifits

Philippines – Aratilis

Almost part of any Filipino childhood is eating the organic fruit snack, aratilis. Also known as the mansanitas (tiny apples) in my province, its scientific name is Muntingia calabura. It is small tree that grows about 7 to 12 meters. This makes it easy for children to reach up and grab its fruit or climb it. However, climbing is not advised because its branches are thin and can not bear weight well.

The aratilis is popular among Filipinos because it’s a ready-to-eat fruit snack. With juicy sweet pulp and miniature seeds that you can eat with each bite, it can be an addictive treat. Our common rivals for it are the fruit bats that often stay up in the tree at night.


Summer is often when the aratilis tree flowers and blooms. Much like the apple tree (or mansanas in Filipino), it starts off with green unripe fruit that’s hard and bitter and later on, it ripens to give you soft, ripe, red and juicy fruit.
Here are its benefits to your health:

Not only is its fruit has a nice taste, but it has tetapin which can also be processed into syrups, jams, and juices. This fruit, by consuming as many as 9 points each 3 times a day, is believed to treat GOUT.

The aratiles leaves also are beneficial as an antiseptic. Compounds contain tannins, flavonoids, saponins capable of killing a variety of bacteria. Moreover its leaves when boiled to make a tea, can also be used as an anti-inflammatory agent.

Aratiles leaf flavonoid compounds are found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in vitro. Aratiles leaves can be presented in the form of tea, that is by leaving it to dry and then brew with hot water.

So many benefits to the Aratiles fruit that it's considered a shame if people just let it fall useless. With proper treatment, this fruit is able to meet the body's nutritional needs and prevent disease

Muntingia calabura, the sole species in the genus Muntingia, is a flowering plant native to southern Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and western South America south to Peru and Bolivia.[1] Common names include (English) Jamaican cherry, Panama berry, Singapore cherry, Bajelly tree, Strawberry tree; (Spanish) bolaina, yamanaza, cacaniqua, capulín blanco, nigua, niguito, memizo.