Si Thong

Si Thong (Seethong) is a Thai cultivar characterised alongside Rongrien and Si Chompoo in a four-year study at the Chanthaburi Horticultural Research Center between 2011 and 2014, and held in the USDA Hilo germplasm collection as 'Si Tong'. Of the six eastern-Thailand cultivars examined it came out on top on nearly every size and yield measure, and the researchers concluded it had promise for both the fresh market and for processing. Where Rongrien wins on flavour reputation and shelf life, Si Thong wins on bulk: the biggest fruit, the heaviest panicles and the thickest aril in the comparison. It is far less widely planted than Rongrien and is more likely to be encountered in Thai collections and research plantings than in a nursery catalogue, but it is a genuine named cultivar with published data behind it.