Vietnam possesses the ‘fruit from heaven’ that makes China infatuated, from Asia to Europe it considers it a treasure, exporting thousands of tons every year.

Vietnamese gac is planted once and harvested for 10 years

In Vietnam, people often plant gac trees indoors to provide shade for the yard. The dark red gac flesh is often used to make sticky rice for festivals. Gac is also used as a medicine in traditional remedies.

As a perennial plant, gac only needs to be planted once to be harvested for decades. With current advances in gac varieties and growing techniques, gac productivity can reach over 20 tons of fruit/ha, income can be up to 100-150 million VND/ha. Gac is easy to grow, easy to consume, and the price is stable, so in many localities, many farmers have switched to growing gac on a farm-scale with high efficiency.

In the North, there are about 18 provinces and cities that grow gac on a household scale, scattered and scattered. In 2018, the cultivated area was large and concentrated in Hai Duong province with a cultivated area of ​​about 500 hectares; Thai Binh is over 100 hectares, Bac Giang is about 120 hectares, Hung Yen is about 200 hectares, and the remaining provinces in the North are about 150 hectares. The climate in the North only produces fruit from August and September every year and is harvested from November to January every year.

In the South, gac growing provinces such as Tay Ninh, Long An, Tien Giang, Dong Nai,… Due to the mild, favorable climate combined with high air humidity, high soil moisture is weak. These factors help gac trees grow well and continuously, so gac grown in this area bears fruit all year round.

Currently, consumers’ demand for functional foods, cosmetics, and herbs is increasing, especially in developed countries. Products from Vietnamese gac fruit have conquered more than 10 countries and regions around the world. Among them, China is considered a large and potential market for Vietnamese gac products.

In addition, the output of Vietnamese gac exported to the US is estimated at an average of 500 – 1,000 tons/year. In India – the leading country in essential oil extraction technology – the demand for dried gac is relatively large, about 11 thousand. tons/year, into Japan 4.2 million tons/year, into Thailand about 1 million tons/year, into Europe about over 2 million tons/year.

Foreigners seek to grow “fruit from heaven”

CGTN news agency (China) once had an article about the unique Vietnamese fruit that created a fever in this country, saying that in China in recent years, there have been many products extracted from gac and are popular. .

Due to its high nutritional value, gac is known as the fruit from heaven.

Farmer in Taiwan (China) You Zonghan said: “There are many types of gac. Gac in Vietnam and Thailand are round and larger. Gac in Taiwan is small and oval in shape. There are many types of gac in Vietnam. meat, softer and stronger smell.”

It took 6 years for Taitung Agricultural Reform Farm (Taiwan, China) to breed the first native gac species.

Zaobao newspaper (Singapore) recorded the confession of a 70-year-old farmer who cherished the gac tree like a treasure: “One day, a group of our friends went to a remote island to rest. We followed him. He came to his farm. Under the shady green canopy, I saw this rare fruit for the first time.

The gac fruits are covered with plastic bags and plastic mesh outside, Mr. He said to prevent insects and birds from pecking at them. Gac fruit is known as “fruit from heaven”.

Orientaldaily (Malaysia) newspaper said that, based on its high nutritional value, gac fruit is popular with many people, some people even bring it directly to the garden to plant, not only to get the fruit but also to decorate the landscape.

In Malaysia, not many people knew about gac before, but because they were attracted by the fruit’s uses, people started growing it at home.

Ms. Chen Meibao in Malaysia said that after learning about gac and having a friend let her drink the juice from gac fruit, she brought the variety and planted it immediately.

In addition to Asia, Europe and America are also fond of this fruit. The American Health Magazine once wrote a whole article about Vietnamese gac fruit, with the title “Gac, an Asian treasure filled with Antioxidants, for your health”.

According to scientists, 100g of gac meat (red membrane) contains 15mg of carotene and 16mg of lycopene. These substances are raw materials to produce functional products to prevent malnutrition, brighten eyes, prevent aging, prevent skin darkening, acne, dry skin, hair loss…

Some studies show that compounds of carotene, lycopene, vitamin E (-cotopherol) in gac oil also have the effect of neutralizing 75% of carcinogens, especially breast cancer.

According to Khanh Vy