Duhat / Java Plum
One of the first signs of summer is the arrival of duhat in the local markets. 
Today I could not resist a huge basket filled to the brim with large duhats. Also known as Java Plum (Syzygium cumini), ripe duhat are oblong or round in shape, about the size of a medium to large olive, and possess a purple to black (when ripe) thin skin and a white pulp surrounding a single seed. The fruit is generally described as “aphud” or astringent and can be distasteful to quite sweet. “Aphud” is a uniquely Filipino description, as the fruit isn’t just astringent, it reacts with your tongue and mouth lining in an almost numbing manner, albeit fleeting. It is a textural experience. Hard to describe and I haven’t done it properly…
Duhat are native to India, Burma, Sri Lanka and the Andaman islands (recently moved by the Dec 26 tsunami) and is believed to have made its way to the Philippines in pre-historic times. 
The tree thrives throughout the archipelago. Extremely hardy, the tree bears fruit in varying degrees of abundance from season to season. Locally, you see duhat from March to June. There is an abundance of duhat, not enough people want to eat it when it ripens across the country. It is a pain in the neck to harvest as you have to almost hand-pick the fruit to get the riper ones. When it bears fruit, the trees are messy and smelly… birds munch on the fruit and poop as they fly off leaving a wicked purple stain wherever their poop lands… worse, the fermenting fruit around the tree really smells and attracts swarms of flies.
Having said all that, duhat are an acquired taste that usually brings back childhood memories for those who grew up in the Philippines and lived near a duhat tree at sometime during the summer. I like to take generous bowls of the ripe fruit, toss them with rock salt and eat to my hearts content. Apparently it makes a great duhat jelly and even a sweet wine (explains the fermentation smells). Today I bought 500 grams from the market and even at the astronomical price of P100 a kilo, it was worth it. Duhat doesn’t keep long so eat it within a day of purchasing it. Little known trivia — duhat thrives in California around the Santa Barbara area, but conditions do not allow it to bear fruit…
Isnt what they call LUMBOY in Cebu? My tagalog vocabulary is not so good!
March 6th, 2005Yes, this is lumboy for all those Cebuanos and Visayans out there. Also known as Longboi for some Bicolanos, Ilocanos and Ibanags; dungboi for igorots; duatnasi for pampangenos, etc.
March 7th, 2005From what i have heard, Duhat is supposed to be very good for those with Diabetes.
March 8th, 2005We have the largest and sweetest duhat in Lubang Islands. That’s in Mindoro Occidental. I haven’t fully establsihed the reason why but the island seems to be thickly populated (together with kasuy) with the tree. Some are more than a century old and these trees bear the largest and sweetest fruits. We are planning to turn duhat and kasuy this fruiting season into wine to correspond to the grape’s red and white wine. They wine should be commercially available in July of August this year.
March 28th, 2005This does remind me of childhood! I remember eating duhat with rock salt after swimming in my great grandmother’s house. I would eat tons and get their deep purplish stain on everything. I recently was at a friend’s place in Matabungkay and relived this summer tradition. They had two kinds of duhat trees, one bearing the fruits shown above and another bearing a smaller variety (just slightly larger than a blueberry) that had no seed! Both were great and the taste did not differ much. The great thing about the small ones was that you could stuff your mouth with a handful without getting any seeds…
May 2nd, 2005On a recent trip to Cebu, I discovered lumboy leaves being sold in the mercado. They are rolled with a thin strip of tobacco and smoked. It’s very tasty, and is not necessary to inhale. I can’t figure out how they get the dry leaves to stay rolled (the leaves are sold both pre-rolled and unrolled). They remind me of Indian “bidis”.
May 21st, 2005James how interesting. Never knew they smoked lumboy leaves. I wonder if it has a narcotic or caffeine like effect. Or does it add flavor like say cloves in Indonesian cigarettes?
June 21st, 2005can i ask in your good office abiut the history of duhat?
July 25th, 2005Danica, other than the basic info in the post about duhat’s likely origins in India/Andaman area, I don’t much else about the history of the fruit.
July 25th, 2005sana may history, legend, o kahit na anong written records (references) kung papaano nagoriginate ang duhat…..
October 6th, 2005Mark, I understand you are from U.P., perhaps if you check the library and the materials of Doreen Fernandez you will find what you need. Certainly there must be a lot of information on duhat that is not at the touch of a search engine…
October 6th, 2005Please post the history of duhat and what kind of stain is in it… and how effective duhat to ba a marker ink… tnX…
February 21st, 2006Eldon, that’s more than I know about the fruit…
February 21st, 2006i just bought duhat in alaminos and the lady told me that it is best eaten after drying under the sun for a day..it becomes sweeter and more tasty..
May 3rd, 2006meron sana mga included na vitamins and minerals or mga cures na nagagawa ng duhat.,.,
May 10th, 2006I remember way in the Phil. they even use the bark of the lomboy,duhat tree to treat a diareah problem and also the leaves will do the same. I can’t wait my lomboy tree here in Stockton Ca. to bear fruit ,I have 2 trees of lomboy in my back yard it’s about 12 feet high wright now. I talked to the owner of a duhat lomboy growers in South Texas and told me that the harvest of the lomboy duhat fruit is next month 50 cents a lbs if you pick them higher if they pick it for you. you can log in to their wbsite and look @ the lomboy duhat trees they have.www.revirsendnursery.com
June 25th, 2006samson, I am sure MANY Filipinos will be happily shocked to know there are LUMBOY trees in Texas and fruit to boot!!! Thanks for that information.
June 25th, 2006what is the indication and contraindication of duhat fruit? and how to prepare it?
July 1st, 2006can you give me an idea or a certain detail about duhat which is being use for the ink in some pen?Can you cite some details about it?Pls email me ???pls because i need it in my research in our subject.ok? pls?????????
if you dont mind please mail me because i need it in my research.
Thank you?????
God bless
July 11th, 2006Catherine, I have no idea how duhat can or could be used in ink… I suggest you hit more serious sources for your research project… Good Luck!
July 11th, 2006which family does duhat or lomboy belongs to?
August 25th, 2006Myrtaceae, I think.
August 25th, 2006thanks for these very importanst pieces of information!
September 18th, 2006interesting fruit indeed haha. and its gotten quite a lot of feed back about it too. cool. hehe.
March 1st, 2007Duhat is also one of my favourite fruits back home. I have a lot fun memories with duhat when i was a kid. After we come from the market, i would wash them and put them in a container soaked in water and put it in the fridge for a few hours coz i like mine cold. I like the soft ones, it’s easy to chew and it’s sweet. However, i always get into trouble for dipping the duhat in too much salt! hehehe Too bad that the last 2 times i’ve been back home, they’re not in season yet…
May 10th, 2007We received a basket of duhat just the other day from a friend who has a farm in Antipolo. The velvety, bitter taste wouldn’t go away even after we paired it with rock salt. But then I took the cue from my experimental 9-yr old nephew who laced his duhat with WHITE SUGAR before popping them into his mouth…. and voila! A new twist to the old duhat-and-salt combo. The sugar really brought out the juiciness of the fruit. Try it sometime!
May 10th, 2007thanks for the information!!!im having my science investigatory
June 10th, 2007project entitled “utilization of duhat fruit as tea” and im glad i found this site which cud be of big help especially if im going to do the review of related lit…wanna help? hehe…agen,thank u and i hope u continue having further researches on dis fruit and with the other philippine natives…
wat r d chemical contents of dis fruit? having it chemicaly analyzed,wil it cost me a thousand?
June 10th, 2007Hi. I will also be using duhat for an investigatory project. I thought of using it as ‘dye’. Since nagstastain, most probably, pwede magkulay. Do you think it will work? Thanks
June 17th, 2007I suppose you may find out with your investigation/experiments. I don’t have an answer for you…
June 17th, 2007denisse,
July 7th, 2007we have already conducted your study last 2005.sori,naunahan ka
i never tried to eat that fruit… cause i dont eat fruit since i was a kid
August 16th, 2007I planted 3 Java Plum trees when i first moved to my house in south Florida 10 years ago, they are huge now, but it is the first year I have fruit (maybe I never noticed, they are by the road, it’s a great traffic blocker)
I just googled this tonight, as I decided to make jelly for the first time with them tonight, I had my husband bring a quart in, and I find now that it wasn’t enough. Just boiling them and putting sugar with it without agitating it too much, takes most of the astringent taste away, to my utter surprise. We had tasted them the other day outside, and both my husband and I kept saying “not bad!” then “eeuw!” and spitting it out. The grapes that grow wild on the fence have that same taste, but if you boil them and thin out the flavor, its wonderful! Wish me luck on the jam.
August 31st, 2007Don’t forget lots of sugar!
August 31st, 2007Audrey, HOW FASCINATING!!! I suspect there are thousands of Filipinos now living in the United States who would figuratively KILL for a little basket of your java plums… And yes, good luck with the jam, I have never tried jam out of the java plums!
August 31st, 2007does any one have any idea how long it takes for duhat tree to bear fruit.Iplanted 2 trees here in central florida and am eager for my grand kids to sample fruits i know as a child.Sad to observe that kids dont appreciate fruits if it’s not frpm the supermarket one reason why i have pomelo langka duhat avocado peach and oranges in my yard.Tnx
September 9th, 2007I had the same question as Daniel but I just noticed Audrey’s post. She is also located in South Florida. She said that it took ten years to bare fruit. It looks like Daniel P and I are going to have to be patient.
Anyone know how to speed up the fruit baring process with fertilizer or pruning?
Thanks
September 26th, 2007actually im a sucker for this fruit when i was young.my grandma used to put some salt in it or mixed with salt.i really love the taste of this fruit.but the worst thing is,it stains on your plain white T’s.
October 17th, 2007anybody know where i can BUY some java plum seeds?
October 18th, 2007Syzygium jambolanum seed powder seems to be one of the most intensively studied antidiabetic agents of plant origin.
November 24th, 2007In Ayurveda, the inner bark of the jambul tree is also considered valuable in the treatment of diabetes. The bark is dried and burnt. This produces an ash of white color. This ash should be pestle in the mortar, strained and bottled. The diabetes patient should be given 66 centigrams of this ash on an empty stomach with water in the morning and 1.33 grams each time in the afternoon and the evening, an hour after meals, if the specific gravity of the urine is 1.02 to 1.03. If the specific gravity ranges between 1.035 to 1.055, the ash should be given thrice daily in the quantity of two grams at a time.
sir, meron na bang lumboy wine na minamarket ??
December 27th, 2007vincent, I have not seen any duhat wine… but it does ferment fast so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has tried it…
December 28th, 2007duhat ısts nıce to eat ım a pregnant almost 2 months ı want to eat phılıppıne food but what can ı do.nobodys here phılıppıne food ın turkey.ım leavıng ın turkey.phılıppıne food ıs the best ıts dıfferent to other food
January 10th, 2008our duhat dropped fruit at 3 y.o. so we expect much fruit this year& we love it,they are from seed. live in central fl. 6-6-6- fertilizer we use. “prune “the (leaders) for more fruit instead of ‘tree wood’ good luck.
February 28th, 2008ask a nursery how to” RING A TREE”. FOR MORE FRUIT. do not ‘GIRDLE ‘the tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 28th, 2008we have an investigatory project……….and i plan to study the lumboy fruit or known as duhat…..to make it as an alernative oil……..is it possible that i can make an oil out
March 25th, 2008of it? because when i research, i found out that it has a chemical composition called sesquiterpene hydrocarbons???( if i were no mistaken)
if i were not mistaken* that is present in many of essential oils…
March 25th, 2008i would greatly appreciate addresses where i can order duhat fruit,i live in central florida. THANKS SO MUCH,LORD BLESS!
April 6th, 2008Yes, Duhat can be turned into wine. We are actually producing them by the container van here in the Philippines. They are already in California. It is called Haliya Black Plum Light Fruit wine. Please check out haliyawines.com
April 19th, 2008We also have Haliya Mango wine.
i checked haliyawines.com. i dont see any fruits to order.Its just abt the wine.
May 23rd, 2008I want these fruits- Jamun- Duhat.. im in dallas, is there any way where i can find these fruits in USA? Please help me.
Thank you.
tried to remove the seeds of duhat, about a kilo of it yielded a glass, blended it with 3 tbsps honey and 2 glasses of cold water. Wow, great unique tasting fresh shake!
June 22nd, 2008There was a large duhat tree in the backyard of a neighbor.
We called it my mother called it the Philippine Cherry.
And I do think that the fruit might have some sort of antioxidant properties, because fruits that are purple and stain always seem to be on the “good for you full of anti-oxidants” list.
The link to the nursery in Texas that has Duhats corrected is > riversendnursery.com
June 26th, 2008i am trying to find a vendor to order java plums to make honeywine. i need 10 to 20 lbs sent to me by mail, as i am sure not to find them in ohio… i have a friend with the last name “rotramel” which is the name for honeywine made with java plums. i thought it would be sweet to make some for him and his family.
July 22nd, 2008Duhat also grows in Los Angeles. I have a tree bearing fruit for the last 3 seasons and I have a seedless variety I trasplanted to the ground about a year ago. They are available in local Asian nurseries.
August 10th, 2008It also thrives in Florida. I picked some today from a tree on Merritt Island, Florida. That’s also where the Kennedy Space center is located.
September 20th, 2008I live in Tarpon Springs, FL (north of Clearwater on the Pinellas County peninsula), and have a java plum tree which is about 30 feet tall. I planted it about 10 years ago (it was about 2′ tall) and it has produced an abundant amount of fruit every year for the past 7 years. I haven’t tried to make jelly or wine yet, but I will next season. I live on a lake and the birds and other critters seem to really enjoy it! My husband hates the purple stains on the deck, though.
October 2nd, 2008