From the book
Fruits of Warm Climates
by Julia F. Morton
Cape Gooseberry
Physalis peruviana L.
Physalis edulis Sims
ANACARDIACEAE
The genus Physalis, of the
family Solanaceae, includes annual and perennial herbs bearing globular
fruits, each enclosed in a bladderlike husk which becomes papery on
maturity. Of the more than 70 species, only a very few are of economic
value. One is the strawberry tomato, husk tomato or ground cherry, P. Pruinosa
L., grown for its small yellow fruits used for sauce, pies and
preserves in mild-temperate climates. Though more popular with former
generations than at present, it is still offered by seedsmen. Various
species of Physalis have been
subject to much confusion in literature and in the trade. A species
which bears a superior fruit and has become widely known is the cape
gooseberry, P. peruviana L. (P. edulis
Sims). It has many colloquial names in Latin America: capuli,
aguaymanto, tomate sylvestre, or uchuba, in Peru; capuli or motojobobo
embolsado in Bolivia; uvilla in Ecuador; uvilla, uchuva, vejigón or
guchavo in Colombia; topotopo, or chuchuva in Venezuela; capuli, amor
en bolsa, or bolsa de amor, in Chile; cereza del Peru in Mexico. It is
called cape gooseberry, golden berry, pompelmoes or apelliefie in South
Africa; alkekengi or coqueret in Gabon; lobolobohan in the Philippines;
teparee, tiparee, makowi, etc., in India; cape gooseberry or poha in
Hawaii.
Description
This
herbaceous or soft-wooded, perennial plant usually reaches 2 to 3 ft
(1.6-0.9 m) in height but occasionally may attain 6 ft (1.8) m. It has
ribbed, often purplish, spreading branches, and nearly opposite,
velvety, heart-shaped, pointed, randomly-toothed leaves 2 3/8 to 6 in
(6-15 cm) long and 1 1/2 to 4 in (4-10 cm) wide, and, in the leaf
axils, bell-shaped, nodding flowers to 3/4 in (2 cm) wide, yellow with
5 dark purple-brown spots in the throat, and cupped by a
purplish-green, hairy, 5-pointed calyx. After the flower falls, the
calyx expands, ultimately forming a straw-colored husk much larger than
the fruit it encloses. The berry is globose, 1/2 to 3/4 in (1.25-2 cm)
wide, with smooth, glossy, orange-yellow skin and juicy pulp containing
numerous very small yellowish seeds. When fully ripe, the fruit is
sweet but with a pleasing grape-like tang. The husk is bitter and
inedible.
 | | Fig.
114: The golden cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana) keeps well and
makes excellent preserves. The canned fruits have been exported from
South Africa and the jam from England. |
Origin and
Distribution
Reportedly
native to Peru and Chile, where the fruits are casually eaten and
occasionally sold in markets but the plant is still not an important
crop, it has been widely introduced into cultivation in other tropical,
subtropical and even temperate areas. It is said to succeed wherever
tomatoes can be grown. The plant was grown by early settlers at the
Cape of Good Hope before 1807. In South Africa it is commercially
cultivated and common as an escape and the jam and canned whole fruits
are staple commodities, often exported. It is cultivated and
naturalized on a small scale in Gabon and other parts of Central Africa.
 | | Fig. 115: The cape gooseberry is a useful small fruit crop for the home garden; is labor-intensive in commercial plantings. |
Soon
after its adoption in the Cape of Good Hope it was carried to Australia
and there acquired its common English name. It was one of the few fresh
fruits of the early settlers in New South Wales. There it has long been
grown on a large scale and is abundantly naturalized, as it is also in
Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern
Tasmania. It was welcomed in New Zealand where it is said that "the
housewife is sometimes embarrassed by the quantity of berries [cape
gooseberries] in the garden," and government agencies actively promote
increased culinary use.
In China, India and Malaya, the cape
gooseberry is commonly grown but on a lesser scale. In India, it is
often interplanted with vegetables. It is naturalized on the island of
Luzon in the Philippines. Seeds were taken to Hawaii before 1825 and
the plant is naturalized on all the islands at medium and somewhat
higher elevations. It was at one time extensively cultivated in Hawaii.
By 1966, commercial culture had nearly disappeared and processors had
to buy the fruit from backyard growers at high prices. It is widespread
as an exotic weed in the South Sea Islands but not seriously
cultivated. The first seeds were planted in Israel in 1933. The plants
grew and bore very well in cultivation and soon spread as escapes, but
the fruit did not appeal to consumers, either fresh or preserved, and
promotional efforts ceased.
In England, the cape gooseberry was
first reported in 1774. Since that time, it has been grown there in a
small way in home gardens, and after World War II was canned
commercially to a limited extent. Despite this background, early in
1952, the Stanford Nursery, of Sussex, announced the "Cape Gooseberry,
the wonderful new fruit, especially developed in Britain by Richard I.
Cahn." Concurrently, jars of cape goosebery jam from England appeared
in South Florida markets and the product was found to be attractive and
delicious. It is surprising that this useful little fruit has received
so little attention in the United States in view of its having been
reported on with enthusiasm by the late Dr. David Fairchild in his
well-loved book, The World Was My Garden. He there tells of its
fruiting "enormously" in the garden of his home, "In The Woods", in
Maryland, and of the cook's putting up over a hundred jars of what he
called "Inca Conserve" which "met with universal favor." It is also
remarkable that it is so little known in the Caribbean islands, though
naturalized plants were growing profusely along roadsides in the Blue
Mountains of Jamaica before 1913.
With a view to encouraging
cape gooseberry culture in Florida, the Bahamas, and the West Indies,
seeds have been repeatedly purchased from the Stanford Nursery and
distributed for trial. Good crops have been obtained. Nevertheless
there was no incentive to make further plantings.
Pollination
In
England, growers shake the flowers gently in summer to improve
distribution of the pollen, or they will give the plants a very light
spraying with water.
Climate
The
cape gooseberry is an annual in temperate regions and a perennial in
the tropics. In Venezuela, it grows wild in the Andes and the coastal
range between 2,500 and 10,000 ft (800-3,000 m). It grows wild in
Hawaii at 1,000 to 8,000 ft (300-2,400 m). In northern India, it is not
possible to cultivate it above 4,000 ft (1,200 m), but in South India
it thrives up to 6,000 ft (1,800 m).
In England, the plants have
been undamaged by 3 degrees of frost. In South Africa, plants have been
killed to the ground and failed to recover after a temperature drop to
30.5º F (-0.75º C).
The plant needs full sun but protection from
strong winds; plenty of rain throughout its growing season, very little
when the fruits are maturing.
Soil
The
cape gooseberry will grow in any well-drained soil but does best on
sandy to gravelly loam. On highly fertile alluvial soil, there is much
vegetative growth and the fruits fail to color properly. Very good
crops are obtained on rather poor sandy ground. Where drainage is a
problem, the plantings should be on gentle slopes or the rows should be
mounded. The plants become dormant in drought.
Propagation
The
plant is widely grown from seed. There are 5,000 to 8,000 seeds to the
ounce (28 g) and, since germination rate is low, this amount is needed
to raise enough plants for an acre–2 1/2 oz (70 g) for a hectare. In
India, the seeds are mixed with wood ash or pulverized soil for uniform
sowing.
Sometimes propagation is done by means of 1-year-old
stem cuttings treated with hormones to promote rooting, and 37.7%
success has been achieved. The plants thus grown flower early and yield
well but are less vigorous than seedlings. Air-layering is also
successful but not often practiced.
Culture
It
is necessary to determine the time of planting for each area. In India,
seeds are broadcast from March through May. In Hong Kong, planting in
seedbeds is done in September/October and again in March/April. In the
Bahamas the first seeds planted in late summer of 1952 produced healthy
plants and a continuous crop of fruits for 3 months during the
following winter. Additional seeds procured from England were planted
in April of 1953. The plants started to blossom in mid-July and from
September on continued to flower and set fruit, although no fruits
remained on the plants to maturity until the cooler months of winter
when a good yield was obtained. Seeds were again planted the following
November. Thirteen weeks later, the first fruits were ripening, and by
mid-May of the following year a heavy crop was harvested. In late June,
the plants were still growing and flowering profusely but only a few
fruits were being set and these failed to develop to maturity. This
condition continued into September, by which time some of the more
robust plants had reached 6 ft (1.8 in) in height with much lateral
growth.
In Jamaica, the initial planting of cape gooseberries in
late January of 1954 made slow growth until June when development
accelerated. By mid-August the plants had reached 15 in (37.5 cm) in
height with much lateral growth, and were flowering and setting fruit.
It would appear that the heat of summer is unfavorable for fruit
development and, therefore, the best time to plant the cape gooseberry
is in the fall so that fruit can be set during the cooler weather and
harvested in late spring or early summer. In California, the plants do
not fruit heavily until the second year unless started early in
greenhouses.
Some growers have kept plants in production for as
long as 4 years by cutting back after each harvest, but these plants
have been found more susceptible to pests and diseases.
In
India, plants 6 to 8 in (15-20 cm) high are set out 18 in (45 cm) apart
in rows 3 ft (0.9 m) apart. Farmers in South Africa space the plants 2
to 3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) apart in rows 4 to 6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) or even 8 ft
(2.4 m) apart in very rich soil. They apply 200 to 400 lbs (90-180 kg)
of complete fertilizer per acre (approx. = kg/ha) on sandy loam. Foliar
spraying of 1% potassium chloride solution before and just after
blooming enhances fruit quality.
In dry seasons, irrigation is necessary to keep the cape gooseberry plant in production.
Season
In
parts of India, the fruits ripen in February, but, in the South, the
main crop extends from January to May. In Central and southern Africa,
the crop extends from the beginning of April to the end of June. In
England, plants from seeds sown in spring begin to fruit in August and
continue until there is a strong frost.
Harvesting and Yield
In
rainy or dewy weather, the fruit is not picked until the plants are
dry. Berries that are already wet need to be lightly dried in the sun.
The fruits are usually picked from the plants by hand every 2 to 3
weeks, although some growers prefer to shake the plants and gather the
fallen fruits from the ground in order to obtain those of more uniform
maturity. At the peak of the season, a worker can pick 2 1/2 bushels
(90 liters) a day, but at the beginning and end of the season, when the
crop is light, only 1/2 bushel (18 liters).
A single plant may
yield 300 fruits. Seedlings set 1,800 to 2,150 to the acre (228-900/ha)
yield approximately 3,000 lbs of fruit per acre (approx. = kg/ha). The
fruits are usually dehusked before delivery to markets or processors.
Manual workers can produce only 10 to 12 lbs. (4.5-5.5 kg) of husked
fruits per hour. Therefore, a mechanical husker, 4 to 5 times more
efficient, has been designed at the University of Hawaii.
Keeping Quality
Cape
gooseberries are long-lasting. The fresh fruits can be stored in a
scaled container and kept in a dry atmosphere for several months. They
will still be in good condition. If the fresh fruits are to be shipped,
it is best to leave the husk on for protection.
Pests and Diseases
In
South Africa, the most important of the many insect pests that attack
the cape gooseberry are cutworms, in seedbeds; red spider after plants
have been established in the field; the potato tuber moth if the cape
gooseberry is in the vicinity of potato fields. Hares damage young
plants and birds (francolins) devour the fruits if not repelled. In
India, mites may cause defoliation. In Jamaica, the leaves were
suddenly riddled by what were apparently flea beetles of the family
Chrysomelidae. In the Bahamas, whitefly attacks on the very young
plants and flea beetles on the flowering plants required control.
In
South Africa, the most troublesome diseases are powdery mildew and soft
brown scale. The plants are prone to root rots and viruses if on
poorly-drained soil or if carried over to a second year. Therefore,
farmers favor biennial plantings. Bacterial leaf spot (Xanthomonas spp.) occurs in Queensland. A strain of tobacco mosaic may affect plants in India.
Food Uses
In
addition to being canned whole and preserved as jam, the cape
gooseberry is made into sauce, used in pies, puddings, chutneys and ice
cream, and eaten fresh in fruit salads and fruit cocktails. In
Colombia, the fruits are stewed with honey and eaten as dessert. The
British use the husk as a handle for dipping the fruit in icing.
Food Value Per 100 g of Edible Portion*
| Food
Value Per
100 g of Edible Portion* |
| Moisture
|
78.9 g |
| Protein |
0.054 g |
| Fat |
0.16 g |
| Fiber |
4.9 g |
| Ash |
1.01 g |
| Calcium |
8.0 mg |
| Phosphorus |
55.3 mg |
Iron
|
1.3 mg |
| Carotene |
1.613 mg |
| Thiamine |
1.01 mg |
| Riboflavin | 0.032 mg | | Niacin | 1.73 mg | | Ascorbic Acid | 43.3 mg |
| *According
to analyses of husked fruits made in Ecuador. |
|
The ripe fruits are considered a good source of Vitamin P and are rich in pectin.
Toxicity
Unripe fruits are poisonous. The plant is believed to have caused illness and death in cattle in Australia.
Other Uses
Fruits: In the 18th Century, the fruits were perfumed and worn for adornment by native women in Peru.
Medicinal Uses:
In Colombia, the leaf decoction is taken as a diuretic and
antiasthmatic. In South Africa, the heated leaves are applied as
poultices on inflammations and the Zulus administer the leaf infusion
as an enema to relieve abdominal ailments in children.
Indian chemists have isolated from the leaves a minor steroidal constituent, physalolactone C.
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