Japanese Loquat, Eriobotrya japonica
The fruit is eaten raw, cooked or preserved. A slightly acid, sweet aromatic flavour, they can be eaten out of hand or cooked in pies, sauces, jellies etc.
Loquat pie, if made from fruit that is not fully ripe, is said to taste like cherry pie.
The fruit is produced in winter and early spring, it is up to 4cm in diameter.
A nutritional analysis is available.
The seed is edible cooked. A pleasant flavour. Caution is advised if the seed is bitter, the seed is slightly poisonous. This report probably refers to the hydrogen cyanide that is found in many plants of this family, the seed should only be used in small amounts if it is bitter.
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
The loquat is one of the most popular cough remedies in the Far East, it is the ingredient of many patent medicines. For more medical uses click here.
Wood - hard, close grained. Used for rulers etc.