20 fruits that few people know about

These exotic fruits are edible, but they are not often consumed even where they grow, to say nothing of us. But it’s still interesting to know about them – what if you find yourself in a place where they grow in abundance; you will try them and brag later that you ate something that most of the world’s population have never tried and even seen.

• 1. Coccoloba uvifera (Sea grape). This seaside ornamental plant is native to Florida, Mexico, Central America, western South America and the Caribbean. These edible (ripe, tart to sweet, purple-red) fruits are edible raw and can also be made into jelly or wine. Each fruit contains one hard seed.

• 2. Dillenia serrata (Dengen fruit). The plant is native to northeastern South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and Indonesia. The fruit looks like an orange. The fruity taste is sour and very tasty when eaten with salt.

• 3. Carpotroche brasiliensis. Carpotroche brasiliensis is a genus of shrubs and trees in the Achariaceae family. The pulp is white, sweet, and slightly astringent.

• 4. Baccaurea polyneura and Baccaurea hookeri (wiggler). Origin: Sumatra, Kalimantan (Borneo) and Malaysia. A fruit box opens in a very unusual way - with a click on the box, it “explodes” exposing juicy red or white seeds.

• 5. Moela-de-Mutum, Scientific name - Lacunaria jenmanii

  Dioecious fruit tree, medium in size, at maturity can reach 15 meters in height. The berries are cylindrical in shape, only the pulp around the seeds is edible; it has a juicy texture and sweet, but at the same time sour taste.

• 6. Ubaia Amarela. Ubaia Amarela ornamental shrub, not more than 3 meters high. It produces a large number of tasty yellowish-orange fruits, slightly sweet and without acidity. It can be consumed in its natural form or as a soft drink.

• 7. Sapota do Solimes. Sapota do Solimøes, one of the lushest plants in the Amazon, produces a large fruit with dark-colored bark and yellow pulp. The fruit is firm, and it had yellow, juicy and sweet pulp inside.

• 8. Barringtonia edulis. This is a large, low-growing, fruit-bearing tree that grows throughout Melanesia. Barringtonia edulis is cultivated in villages, gardens, along trails and roads. The tree sprouts in the wild from fruit that has fallen to the ground or spread by bats. The fruit of Barringtonia edulis is a rare fruit. Mostly eaten raw or boiled, it is a good source of energy. Look at his beautiful flowers. It blooms several times a year. It is also called Yum-yum tree, Delicious tree, Heart tree.

• 9. Mariana plum. Mariana plum is an evergreen tree up to 25 m high with leathery dark green lanceolate-elliptical leaves 13-45 cm long and 5-7 cm wide. The fruits are round or somewhat elongated drupes 2-5 cm in diameter. At first they are green in color, when ripe they become yellow or orange. Unripe fruits contain sticky milky juice. The taste of the pulp can range from sour to sweet. It has slight turpentine smell. The fruit contains one large, smooth, red-brown seed with an edible kernel. The kernels of the seeds, although edible, have bitter taste. The fruits are edible fresh and are also used to make compotes and marinades.

• 10. Babassu - a palm tree, a close relative of coconut. The almonds are very oily, white in color, have a dense texture and are abundant, and can be consumed in their natural form by humans or pets. However, they make very useful oil, which is gaining its niche in the food and cosmetic industries. Oils extracted from babassu almonds have great potential for biodiesel formulation.

• 11. Yantok (Calamus manillensis). It is a vine from Australia whose trunk is completely studded with needles. Yantok is an exotic fruit that can be found in forested areas of the jungle, but is now grown in small plantations for commercial sale. It is one of the sweetest fruits in the world.

• 12. Kesusu. Kesusu is the strangest but most delicious fruit of Borneo Island. Kesusu belongs to the jackfruit family (Anacardiaceae). Its scientific name is Prainea limpato. The edible part is the protruding orange seeds. The seeds are soft and loosely embedded in the fruit and are easily taken out. The surface of the seeds is oily. The pulp has sweet taste with small amount of acid.

• 13. Australian Finger Lime. Ripe fruits with sourness, bright citrus smell and hints of pine needles, unripe ones are bitter. The color of the surface of the fruit can be different: red, green, yellowish, pink, raspberry. The color of the pulp does not always match the color of the fruit skin. One of the rich red varieties received the title of bloody.

• 14. Kitosky Nightshade, or Naranjilla. It is a fruit shrub of the Solanaceae family, a fruit-decorative herbaceous shrub. It reaches 1.5 - 2 meters in height. The fruits are orange, round-elliptical, up to 6 cm across, covered with easily removable white hairs. The taste is sweet and sour - a mixture of pineapple, passion fruit and strawberries.

• 15. Jambolan, or yambolan, or syzygium yambolan. It is a fruit tree of the Myrtle family. Jambolan - an evergreen fast-growing tree up to 30 meters high with a trunk diameter of 60-90 cm and with oblong-oval leaves 5-25 cm long and 2.5 -10 cm wide. The leaves have a pronounced turpentine smell. The flowers are pink with a funnel-shaped calyx, 4-5 fused petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is a glossy dark purple, almost black, drupe with a thin skin, 1.25-5 cm in diameter. The pulp of the fruit is purple or white, very juicy, fragrant, with an astringent, sometimes bitter taste, contains one or more green or brown seeds.

• 16. Ceylon gooseberry, or Ketambila (Dovyalis hebecarpa). It is a fruit tree of the Ketambila willow family - a small deciduous tree 4.5-6 m high, with oval, finely velvety gray-green leaves. The fruit is spherical, 1.25-2.5 cm in diameter, with thin, tough, velvety skin, orange (when unripe) to dark purple when ripe. Inside the fruit contains a juicy sour purple-red pulp. The fruits of ketembilla are primarily used to make jellies and jams. Ketambilla is native to Sri Lanka. It is currently cultivated in South Florida, the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines.

• 17. Santol (Sandoricum koetjape). It is an evergreen fast growing tree 15-45 m high with oblong or elliptical leaves 15-30 cm long. The fruit is spherical, 4-7.5 cm in diameter. There are two varieties of santol fruits, previously considered different species - with a yellowish and red velvety skin containing latex. Both types contain white transparent juicy sweet pulp with 3-5 large brown inedible seeds inside. Santol fruits are edible raw. Jams, jellies, marmalade and alcoholic beverages are also made from it. Santol seeds are inedible and can lead to intestinal disorders.

• 18. Cornus kousa. Cornus kousa is a small deciduous tree 8–12 m high in the Cornaceae family. Common names: kousa, dogwood kusa, Chinese dogwood, Korean dogwood, and Japanese dogwood. This plant is native to East Asia including Korea, China and Japan. The fruit is a spherical berry 2-3 cm in diameter. It is an edible, sweet and tasty addition to the tree's ornamental value. The fruit is sometimes used to make wine.

• 19. Rollinia mucosa, or Biriba. It is a fruit tree of the Annona Rolini family - a fast-growing deciduous tree from 4 to 15 m high. The fruit is conical-heart-shaped, 15 cm in diameter. Inside the fruit contains white mucous translucent juicy pulp with numerous black - brown elliptical seeds. Biriba is found wild in a wide area from northern Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru in the south to Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, southern Mexico and the Antilles in the north. The pulp of the Biriba fruit is consumed fresh or fermented into wine.

• 20. Pithecellobium sweet, or Manila tamarind (Pithecellobium dulce) is a small evergreen tree of the legume family. The tree is 5-8 m high with oval-oblong leaves 2-4 cm long. The fruit is a bean with edible pulp and black seeds. The seeds are dispersed by birds feeding on the sweet fruits. The pulp of the fruit, quite sweet, can be consumed raw and soft drinks are made on its basis.