Daluguan Cultural Station

Stars in a foreign country are so magical
A visit to the Inca orchard

In Gaoshu Township, Pingtung County, a Hakka village famous for its stone lions, Chen Longfa takes tourists to an orchard next to the post station. Covered with green leaves and climbing vines, the inconspicuous looking fruit trees hide lovely, green, star-shaped fruits (four, five or even six cornered). Tourists search for the fruits with wide eyes, and cannot help taking photos of its strange appearance.

Introduction

The Inca fruit tree native to the tropical rainforest of the Andes Mountains in Central and South America, also known as “starfruit”, enjoys the reputation of the “Fruit of Longevity” in Peru. In recent years, Inca Oil is known as “the fish oil of the plant kingdom” because of its richness in Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-9. Hence Inca oil has gradually emerged as a star product in the health food market.

The cultivation of Inca fruit trees requires a fully sun-lit environment, and Pingtung Dashu Township has sufficient sunlight and adequate temperature, conducive to the growth of Inca fruit trees. At present, more than 500 Inca trees have been planted in the farm of Daluguan Culture Station.

The Inca fruit tree itself does not have too many pests, so the orchard adopts a non-toxic and eco-friendly planting method. Inca fruit, which has a strange appearance, does not have a long growth period. It takes only seven months for the Inca fruit tree to grow from seed to maturity. Although it can be harvested all year round, the main harvest period is concentrated in November and December annually, April and May the following year.

Features of Agricultural Tourism

Grains

The Inca fruits in the farm are hand picked, and then exposed to the sun, after which the fruit shell is cracked and the nuts are peeled by machine, then baked at low temperature and made into dried fruit, all before the final step of oil extraction. About 250㏄ of Inca can be squeezed out of 3 kg of the Inca fruit, with oil yield at about 45%.

In addition to the guided tour of the Inca orchard, visitors can also experience DIY oil extraction at the Daluguan Cultural Station. Here you can taste Hakka delicacies like the delicious Hakka glutinous rice balls. The taro “Nai Nai Ice Cream” with no added coloring, made from high-content taro developed to promote GaoShu’s yam, and the “Shi Gong Egg” made by marinating turmeric and grass, have all become the preferred souvenirs of tourists.