Sweet tasting Lembeh (Curculigo); Jungle plant food

The Lembeh fruits at the ‘armpit’ of the plant

An Orang Asal guide once told me that jungle plant Lembeh (the Curculigo species)  bears fruits that once eaten will make plain water taste sweet (through drinking) for hours later on. I did not have the opportunity to taste the  Lembeh fruits back then because all the Lembeh plant we found were fruitless. However, during a recent trek to a waterfall, I stumbled upon some Lembeh plant and walaaaa!…Lembeh fruits!

Lembeh , also called Lembah is an interesting plant. Besides being known as the ‘natural’ mouth sweetener, its other usages include fibers for cordage and other medicinal properties.

Nature Guide John helped me to confirm the plant. Lembeh reminded me of my Pandan fronds at home. Closer look, the leaves of the Lembeh are significantly different and are of a lighter shade of green. I used my parang to move around the leaves, careful not to surprise any long slithery friends that may be lurking below all the tall leaves. I was looking for the fruit ‘pods’.

The fruit pods are located on the ‘armpits’ of the plant.

Near to them ground is where the fruits are

I looked around a few batches of the Lembeh plants. One cluster contained flowers, yellow in color. Besides this particular batch of Lembeh is where I found one of the fruits. A pinch with my fingers and the white fruit pops out from the pods.

The fruit of the Lembeh plant

I took a bite and already noticed that it is rather sweet tasting. The texture is very much like a kiwi fruit or a dragon fruit. There are a lot of small little black seeds in the white fleshed fruit.

The fruit of the Lembeh plant

Just to be sure, I waited a few minutes before consuming the entire fruit. There were no stinging sensations or any unwanted reactions to the fruit so I decided to consume the entire fruit (the car is about 2 hours walk away…only)

Sure enough, gulps of plain water from my water bottle later really do taste sweet. Its kind of weird because the mouth itself does not taste sweet but plain water passing through tasted like sugar water. It’s a wonderful yet weird experience. I couldn’t believe it and before I know it, I finished my entire bottle of drinking water. What a good way to motivate a person to rehydrate in the jungle!

Lembeh a.k.a Lembah of the Curculigo species