Persons involved in fruit farming know the rambutan fruit very well. The same rambutan’s relative fruit from Malaysia is now slowly becoming popular in the Kerala state, India. And the name of this fruit is ‘Pulasan’. Sometimes keralites wrongly pronounce it as Pilosan. The Botanical name of this fruit is Nephelium mutabile. The name pulasan came from the Malay word pulas (twist) together with the suffix -an. The fruit gets opened through the act of twisting the fruit in opposite directions (clockwise or counterclockwise), similar to wringing a wet cloth of water, thus it got the name pulasan.

This fruit like the rambutan has hairy spines all over. But they are not big spines when compared to the rambutan. Dark red or maroon colored, much thicker outer skin than the rambutan. They are the same Lychee and rambutan plant family 'Sapindaceae'. But sweet and juicier to taste than both of them.

Many of the keralites from Pattananthitta are on job in Malaysia. Because of them, the Malaysian fruits are becoming popular here. The pulasan is the latest addition to these fruits. An 18 year old tree gives as much as 3 ½ tons of fruit.

One has to water the plant twice a week during summer season. After planting , it starts giving fruits at the 5th year. In the month of July they start ripening and ready for harvest. The rambutan fruits were eaten up by bats frequently in this region. But the tough outer skin of the pulasan has become a hard nut to crack for the bats. So, the pulasan has passed a big test here. While planting, the distance should be maintained a minimum of 30 feet, from one plant to another. Fruit picking is better to be done with the ladder assistance. Better not to use any hooks for picking these fruits as the tree gets hurt and may yield less in the coming year.

The pulasan grows in bunches. Each fruit grows 50-80gm. To weigh 1Kg needs 15-20 fruits. The fruit, as it starts to ripen, it’s color will be Parrot green. Then it starts turning red from one side. At one stage, when it turns half red, it looks very attractive.

The whitish inner flesh is similar to that of the rambutan. But has much more flesh inside and very juicy. The seed gets separated easily.

The fruit is very delicate. If there is any plan for selling these fruits, they must reach the market as early as possible, as it gets spoilt after 2-3 days.