Abiyuch
Also called Garlic pear · Sacred garlic pear · Balai LamokCrateva religiosa · Capparaceae family
A Micronesian fruit whose most useful introduction is through Yapese food knowledge, not a generic raw-fruit nutrient label.
Find it near DetroitGet to know it
Abiyuch is Yap’s garlic pear, a fruit with a sweet, musky smell and a hint of garlic. On Yap’s atolls, people boil it with coconut milk. Its Yapese names are abiuuch and abiich.
What it is
The fruit grows on Crateva religiosa, a tree in the caper family. Its leathery skin encloses fleshy pulp with seeds, though the large kinds are generally seedless. Fruits run from egg-shaped to long and rounded, measuring about 6–15 cm (2.4–6 in) in length.
Yap has two main kinds: one with small, seeded fruit that is used in local medicine, and a seedless one with larger fruit.
Where it comes from
The tree grows from India through South and Southeast Asia into Micronesia and Polynesia, mostly wild and occasionally planted. Within Micronesia, it is especially common on Yap and other Caroline atolls. There it grows in coastal villages, alongside paths and in agroforests, planted woodlands that mix food trees with other plants.
How it's eaten where it grows
In Yap’s atolls, abiyuch is a cooked fruit: it is boiled with coconut milk, and the atolls are where it is most appreciated. Elsewhere the tree supplies a different part of the meal. In India and Indochina, its leaves are used as a vegetable.
How it's grown
Abiyuch grows as a small tree in coastal villages and planted woodlands. It can briefly shed its leaves at the height of the dry season. The flowers sit above the foliage near the ends of the branches; their thin, pollen-bearing stalks reach beyond the petals. The flowering display is showy but short-lived.
Get it near Detroit
What it tastes like
As mild as a peach, softer than a pear≈
More about the taste
It has a sweet aroma with musky garlic notes.
It has a sweet aroma with musky garlic notes.
Choose, eat
1ChooseThere's a smaller seeded form and a larger, generally seedless food form
There's a smaller seeded form and a larger, generally seedless food form. Ask which form a grower or cook is offering.
2EatThe fruit is boiled with coconut milk, especially appreciated in Yap's atolls
The fruit is boiled with coconut milk, especially appreciated in Yap's atolls.
Detroit, Michigan
When it’s good hereUsual monthsJust arrivedAt their bestLast chanceAll yearWhere it is in its usual monthsToday, Oct 22Grown hereIn season in your stateShips fromIn season where it grows
37 names in 11 languages
- abiuuchroot
- กุ่มบกThai
- 魚木Chinese
Strange but trueWhere the name came from
If you like Abiyuch
Tastes alike
Nutrition, sources
Nutrition
Abiyuch, raw · per 100 g
- Carbohydrate
- 18 g
- Fiber
- 5.3 g
- Sugars
- 8.6 g
- Protein
- 1.5 g
- Fat
- 0.1 g
- Vitamin C
- 54 mg
- Potassium
- 304 mg
Sources
Abiyuch · Fruitopia · checked Sep 22, 2026