Loquat

The loquat is an evergreen tree 5 to 10 metres tall with large, leathery, deeply veined leaves that are woolly beneath. In late autumn it produces fragrant creamy flowers, and in spring it bears clusters of oval yellow-orange fruit with sweet-tart, juicy flesh. Inside each fruit are one to five glossy, chestnut-brown seeds, each about 1.5 to 2.5 centimetres long, smooth and plump. The seeds have a bitter almond smell when cut and are hard to chew. They are sold only for planting, though trees grown from seed vary in fruit quality, so named varieties are usually grafted. The fruit is sold fresh, canned and made into jams and syrups.

Loquat is native to southeastern China, with wild trees found in the hills of Sichuan, Hubei and Zhejiang provinces. It was cultivated in China and Japan for more than a thousand years. The name loquat comes from the Cantonese luh gwat, meaning rush orange. The Japanese call it biwa and the Chinese pipa, both after the pear-shaped lute, because of the shape of the fruit and the leaf. The species name japonica was assigned by early European botanists who met the tree first in Japan.

Chinese texts mention loquat in the Han and Tang dynasties, valued for its fruit and leaves in traditional medicine, including syrups for cough such as pipa gao, which is still sold today. In Japan, the loquat was widely grown by the Edo period and the leaves were brewed as a tea.

European botanists brought the tree to the continent in the eighteenth century, when it reached Paris and Kew and later spread around the Mediterranean, where it prospered in Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta and Israel. Spanish growers in Valencia, particularly around Callosa d'En Sarrià, became leading producers. The tree also spread to Brazil, California, Florida and Australia, where it is sometimes found escaping as a garden weed.

The seeds have been the subject of traditional folk use as a bitter tonic, and in some places they were roasted and ground to make a drink, but this practice is not recommended because the kernels contain amygdalin, which can release cyanide when digested. Because of this, modern food safety advice is to discard the seeds and use the flesh only. The tree is also grown as an ornamental for its foliage.

The seeds are not eaten. They are planted to raise rootstocks or new trees, and some people grow them as houseplants for the bold foliage. The fruit is eaten fresh, stewed, baked in tarts, made into jam, jelly, chutney, wine and liqueur, and canned in syrup. Dried loquat leaves are used in traditional Chinese and Japanese teas and syrups. The wood is hard and fine-grained and has been used for small tools and carving. Loquat flowers produce honey that is valued locally in some Mediterranean regions.

The loquat fruit contains vitamin A precursors, potassium, fibre and polyphenols. The leaves have been studied for compounds such as triterpenoids and flavonoids, with animal and early human studies exploring effects on blood glucose and inflammation, but evidence is preliminary. Seeds are used in some folk preparations for cough or digestive complaints, but there is no reliable clinical evidence to support these, and they pose a safety concern because of cyanogenic compounds.