Best to put the airlayer on at time of most active growth: spring/summer. Make sure you choose branches that get plenty of sunlight and you might want to do several in case some don’t root up. Ref: Oscar – Hawaii
I’ve never tried it but the local Filipinos tell me they cook the whole Santol fruit, peel and all and add it to stews. Ref: Oscar, Hawaii
Santols are ripe when they turn from green to totally yellow or, in some varieties, red. They never really get soft on the exterior, so that is not a good sign of ripeness. Size also is not a good indicator of ripeness as the size can vary in different varieties. Have seen them vary from baseball size to bigger than softball size. In Thailand saw some santols that were almost as big as pummelos! Ref: Oscar
If the seed are a few months old then they are probably dead. If they are sprouted, keep them warm and moist. Santol is super easy to grow and very vigorous. Ref: Oscar
Santol fruit can be eaten by peeling off a little layer of the skin and then you eat the peeled skin (a bit sour so you have to eat it with salt or the Mexican pico de gallo seasoning or Japanese lihing salt or the Philippines salted shrimp fry) and then suck on the seeds covered by the white stuff which can be either sweet or sweet/sour sweet/sour until all the white stuff covering the seed is eaten. When we were kids, we used to suck the white stuff that covers the seed until it is down to the seed cover. Sometimes we swallow the small seeds but our mom usually scares us telling the seed will grow in our stomach. BTW, the layer of peeled skin (not the peelings) is also treated as a vegetable in some regional provinces of the Philippines. It is cut into small chunks, saute in garlic, onions, with small shrimps or diced pork, season with salt/pepper, chile pepper and cream of coconut milk. It is best eaten with steamed rice. The Bangkok variety of Santol is usually sweet and eaten as is without adding salt. The kids usually dont peel the fruits. They open the ripe santol by pressing the fruit between their two hands and then they scoot out with their teeth the seeds. If the fruit is sweet, they eat the inside flesh, otherwise, they just suck on the seeds. So, enjoy the santol. I should have some ripening in May or June when I return back to the Philippines…Unfortunately, what was once the big Bangkok santol fruits of our Bangkok santol tree turned into smaller fruits now. The fruit is still sweet but the size is about half of what it used to be. Ref: Sally – rarefruit.