Do you know the name of this tropical fruit?

Mangosteen see the fruits found in and around my home https://picasaweb.google.com/112094371507683018351/KERALAFRUITS#

Ok, this is a long shot, but, The illustration of the kola nut (or rather the pink fleshy part of the fruit covering the nut) brought back memories.. I remember eating a fruit that looked like it when growing up in Nairobi, Kenya.. we kids used to call it 'mbuya' in swahili i Think, its been 30 + yrs but I still cant forget it, kinda sweet n tart...is it related to the kola nut?

Thank you KitchenButterfly and Sagegreen for this amazing education! Looking forward to hearing more from Nigeria.

Panfusine - see photos of kola nuts in the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_nut
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5683675_significance-kola-nut_.html

I'm planning on a blog post soon when my broken camera is in my arms.

Susan g - I found out all the different names in the different Nigerian languages and emailed my Nigerian friend in Copenhagen, who is also a foodie - she found info on Google. I then read a bit more to confirm and it is right! I am planning to experiment with cooking with it - I made a salad which was ok, but it needs more work!

Thanks SageGreen love the breakdown of the taxonomy info. More Nigerian fruits to share soon

KB, how did you locate the information? This has been eye opening -- there are so many food plants in the world!

Thanks for all this info about a whole new fruit! Just jumping in at the end: Here is a link to an image of the flowers-
http://korupplants.lifedesks.org/pages/351
Here the leaves:
http://www.boldsystems.org/views/taxbrowser.php?taxid=316071
And here you can see a botanic illustration of another cola:
http://www.thefullwiki.org/Cola_%28Malvaceae%29

Would love to see a picture of the nut.. I've heard of the cola nut but never seen one!
Thanks so much for that enlightening post!

Thanks everyone. I've found out the botanical name for this fruit - its Cola Lepidota, cousin to the Cola/Kola nut, which gives an extract that went into the first bottles and cans of Cola drinks. I can sleep easy. Thanks for ALL your help and support!

Thanks for all your help - it looks like both the mangosteen and the mammey apple but isn't. I'll continue the hunt and share the results once I have the answer. Thanks

This reference describes the taste of mammee apples as being like carrots:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ujYXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=Mammee+(Mammea+Americana)+taste+african+carrot&source=bl&ots=IIWcWJcelr&sig=Y47tjffvOaPGdBWs_h1qlFkzh7E&hl=en&ei=TLFeTr_gLu3ViAKbkbizBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&sqi=2&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Mammee%20(Mammea%20Americana)%20taste%20african%20carrot&f=false

How about a mammee apple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammee_apple and lots of pictures at http://www.google.com/search?q=Mammee+Apple+(Mammea+Americana)&hl=en&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=ZK9eTruXFbTPiAKS1OmyBQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1245&bih=912

It looks like it's native to the Americas but has been planted in Africa.

It may be a Mangosteen. See: http://www.fruitipedia.com/african_mangosteen%20Garcinia%20livingstoneii.htm

Thanks - I've been looking at all sorts of medical/taxonomy journals online but no luck - mainly because there are so many entries making it tedious. My Google search on its Nigerian names has yielded nothing. In the east, it is called epapa or ajinrinja (names I'm not even sure I've spelt properly). Some people call it 'African carrots'. On size, it is about 6-7cm in diameter, roughly the size of your average persimmon, only more oval shape versus round.

Can't get an idea of its size? whats it called in the local language?

Can you contact a university with plant scientists? Just think how New Zealand globalized the kiwi -- maybe this is the next food star? The photo alone would sell it! Rambling on, but someone with international connections might have an answer -- or a taxonomist would know a Latin name.

Hahaha! It looks like an egg that got stuck in an inside-out machine! Sorry I can't be of any help, but I'd love to know what it is when you figure it out!

Have never seen or heard of anything like this fruit, the skin makes it sound like it's in the kiwi family but the flesh and taste don't match. Good to hear from you I guess you are settling in and adapting to your new home.