Do you know Jenipapo, or Genipap?
You! Who never even heard that word, how about reading this text?
You! Who thinks of “jenipapo” and only remembers a liqueur and that song by Toquinho, “O Pato Pateta”, needs to read this text! (ups, I gave your age).
Ripe jenipapo at left, and unripe at right
Genipap (Genipa americana) is a fruit native to South America and Brazil. Its tree, the jenipapeiro, can be found in several Brazilian biomes, such as the Amazon, Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. The fruit has a brownish rind and pulp, 8 to 12 cm long and with small, flat seeds. The genipap tree flowers from November onwards and can bear fruit most of the year, but especially in July and August.
It is quite uncommon to consume the fruit in natura, despite the fruit being rich in nutrients, vitamins B1, B2, B5, C and antioxidants. Understandable, because its taste is not sweet nor its aroma is attractive. Jenipapo is mainly consumed in products derived from the fruit, especially liqueur, but also as syrup, juice, wine, sweets, vinegar, brandy and home remedies. The jenipapeiro wood is also of economic interest because it is flexible and compact, and has long durability.
Scientific studies indicate that genipap essential oil has antibiotic action against various types of bacteria, demonstrating broad-spectrum antibiotic action. As a vermifuge, the leaves and extracts made from the leaves have demonstrated inhibitory activity on the development of intestinal worms. The fruit demonstrated, in the laboratory, the ability to fight skin cancer cells and kidney cancer, indicating high antioxidant capacity. That is, it is worth introducing genipap in the diet.
Even today, genipap is used by several indigenous cultures for body painting. In fact, this was its main use when Europeans arrived in Brazil. This is possible due to a substance called genipin, present in the fruits and peels. Genipin has a dark blue or violet colour, but in contact with air, it turns black. Body paintings made with genipap last about 10 days, even with frequent baths. Hence, we arrive at the meaning of “jenipapo”, which comes from the Tupi language and means “fruit that stains”.
Have you ever thought that genipap can be a Brazilian substitute for henna for body and hair dyes?
Fun fact: it is also possible to extract a blue dye from the unripe fruit. In the unripe fruit, genipin reacts with proteins and free amino acids and creates a beautiful blue. In fact, this blue genipap dye has been used as a food colouring in some restaurants and is starting to be successful. And unripe fruits can even be found in some markets in Brazil. They are not good for eating, but they can make the most beautiful blue bread!
Want to make your own blue genipap food? To get a really strong blue, you need heat and protein. A good tip is to take ¼ of green genipap (without skin, with seeds) and a cup of milk to the blender, grind well, strain and boil over low heat for a few minutes. As it cools, it gets even bluer, as this reaction takes a while. You can use this milk in the preparation of bread, cakes, pancakes, pasta, desserts... For vegan preparations, you can grind the genipap in water, but to achieve a very strong blue, you need to have another source of protein. It will be a different shade of blue, but it will still be beautiful!
Neide Rigo from the "Come-se" Blog has experimented with the blue color of genipap under different conditions. I took her recipe for bread, and I copy it here for you:
Blue genipap bread
500g of wheat flour
10g of salt
200g fermented levain
400 ml of liquid (of which 325 ml of water and 75 ml of the genipap liquid: milk or water)
Mix the flour, salt and levain well, first with a spoon and then with your hands. Add 300mL of the liquid, and mix, gradually adding the rest of the liquid as needed, until you reach the desired consistency. Knead in circular motions until the dough is homogeneous. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased, lidded jar and wait half an hour. Work the dough a little, folding it up. Leave covered another half hour. Repeat this step two more times (for a total of 2 hours of yeast growth). Shape the dough into one or two balls and place in a greased and floured pan. Cover with a cloth and let rise for another two hours. This time may depend on the temperature at your location. Did the dough grow? Turn on the oven to 250°C and let it preheat for about 15 minutes. Cut the surface of the bread with a hashtag or as you prefer. Sprinkle some water and put it in the oven. You can use an iron pan with a lid as a roasting pan. The lid keeps the dough moist longer and allows for a better rise. If using the lid, leave it covered for about 20 min and then remove it, lowering the temperature to 220°C, then leave it for another 25 min. You don't have the lid? Don't worry and make it anyway, but spraying water in the oven every 3 minutes for the first 15 minutes.
And if this text made you want to try some of this fruit, here's a tip: in the North and Northeast of Brazil, or even in rural areas in the Southeast, the genipap candy (jenipapada) and the liqueur produced with the fruit are items very popular and sold mainly during the festive season of São João, the classic Brazilian Junin Festival.
References:
- Slow Food Brasil, 2020. Jenipapo. Disponível em: <https://slowfoodbrasil.org/arca_do_gosto/jenipapo/>. Acesso em: 27 de Jan de 2022.
- Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento, Coordenadoria de Assistência Técnica Integral, 2022. Jenipapo. Disponível em <https://www.cdrs.sp.gov.br/portal/produtos-e-servicos/publicacoes/acervo-tecnico/jenipapo>. Acesso em: 27 de Jan de 2022.
- Portal São Francisco, -. Jenipapo. Disponível em: <https://www.portalsaofrancisco.com.br/alimentos/jenipapo#:~:text=Nome%20Cient%C3%ADfico%3A%20Genipa%20americana%20L.%2C%20fam%C3%ADlia%20das%20Rubi%C3%A1ceas.&text=Origem%3A%20%C3%89%20origin%C3%A1rio%20da%20Am%C3%A9rica,os%20nortistas%20para%20fazer%20vinho.>
- Blog Come-se, 2018. Experiências jenipapais como pão azul. Disponível em: <https://come-se.blogspot.com/2018/09/experiencias-jenipapais-com-o-pao-azul.html>. Acesso em: 10 de fev de 2022.
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