| Canarium album | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Canarium album leaves and fruit | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Burseraceae |
| Genus: | Canarium |
| Species: | C. album |
| Binomial name | |
| Canarium album (Lour.) DC. | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Canarium albumRaeusch. [Invalid] | |
Canarium album[2] is a tree species in the genusCanarium and the familyBurseraceae, found inIndo-China; theCatalogue of Life does not record any sub-species.[2]
Canarium album produces a fruit commonly calledChinese olive orwhite olive,[3] though it has no relation toOlea; it is consumed in Vietnam (Vietnamese:trám trắng, fruitquả trám), Thailand (where it is known assamo chin (Thai:สมอจีน) orkana (Thai:กาน้า)) and in China (simplified Chinese:橄榄;traditional Chinese:橄欖;pinyin:gǎnlǎn).[4]
The pulp of the tree's fruit and its seeds are edible, with a strong resinous flavor when they are fresh. Culinary oil can be extracted from the seed.Preserves can be made with the fruit, both sweet likejam or pickled preserves. In China, apickle calledolive vegetable(simplified Chinese:橄榄菜;traditional Chinese:橄欖菜;pinyin:gǎnlǎn cài), made from a mix ofCanarium album fruit andmustard greens, is commonly used as a flavoring forcongee andfried rice,[5] withTeochew people specifically being very fond of the pickle.
Mostly cultivated in Thailand, cultivation has been introduced on a smaller scale toFiji and northernQueensland in Australia. Its fruit,resin and seed are exported to Europe where they are used in the manufacture ofvarnish and soap.[6]
When celebratingChinese New Year (CNY), it is a custom forTeochew people to keep green olives in one of the compartments of aChinese candy box.[7][8] In CNY, olives are also called diêng1 guê2 (珍果, literally precious nut) orbetel nuts (檳榔).[9][10] Though green olives may referred to as betel nuts in Teochew, they should not be confused with the betel nuts, fruits of theareca palm, consumed in Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Fujian.[7] It was said that Teochew people used to have the practice ofbetel nut chewing like the people in the neighbouring regions.[11] But by late Qing dynasty or early Republican period, they gave up on the addictive betel nuts and took up green olives as a substitute.[9] From then on, eating olives, both green and black, become a custom in Teochew.
Media related toCanarium album at Wikimedia Commons
Data related toCanarium album at Wikispecies