Get to know Buli, the fruit often mistaken for Calamansi
MANILA, Philippines — From afar, you might mistake Buli for Calamansi because it is of the same size as the regular Calamansi (or Kalamansi).
Buli has the same round shape with a short stub for a stem and the same bright to dark green rind, but take a closer look and you will begin to see the difference.
The rind is too smooth and unblemished to be Calamansi. Upon second glance, it looks more like a miniature coconut or palm. Touch it, and it completely gives itself away. It has a hard, palm-like rind, not the thin citrusy skin of Calamansi that you can peel off easily.
If you slice it, it struggles under the knife, putting up a fight with the hard core that it has, much unlike the Calamansi, which slices off easily and bursts with the citrusy juice it has within.
This is because it is Buli, or buri palm fruit, and not at all the Calamansi that you initially thought it to be. It has a slightly hard white core, which is the fruit itself that you eat, in the place of the pulpy sacs of Calamansi juice with some scattered seeds that you find inside.
The comparison, though, stops there because the Buli comes from the palm tree, growing in bunches much like grape clusters are. It also goes by the name Buri, Silag, Budyawi, and the tree that bears it is among the largest palm trees in the world.
It is seldom to find Buli fruits for sale because its tree grows slowly and takes many years to even form a trunk. It only flowers towards the end of its lifetime. After it produces millions of flowers, the tree dies.
So when you chance upon Buli fruits being sold in the market, score some and enjoy it because opportunities like that are rare indeed.
Buli is known for its antioxidant content. This tropical fruit packs in a good amount of iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, Vitamins A and C, phosphorus, and copper.
The Buli fruit is best eaten as is. Run a knife along the middle of the fruit, but do not cut through, just press the knife deep enough to cut the thick rind and pry open to reveal a round white nut within. It resembles Buko meat, and this round, white buko-type meat is what you eat. You can also boil it with sugar to make Minatamis na Buli.
Other parts of the Buri tree, such as the leaves, sap and stems, are used for medicinal purposes in Aurora, Zamboanga Del Sur, Pangasinan and Iloilo, much like how it is used in traditional medicine in other countries, such as Indonesia and East Timor.
Fiber derived from the leaves of the Buri tree, such as the Buntal fiber from the petiole, is used to make hats, which are famous products of Lucban and Baliuag. Other fibers derived from Buri leaves are also used to make ropes, clothes, mats, fans, and baskets.
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