Tropical Fruits ... Some You've Probably Never Heard Of

 

From a 1947 report titled Tropical and Subtropical Fruits

The larger cultivated fruits of the northern temperate zone, apples, pears, quinces, plums, peaches and their varieties are not included in this listing. Instead, you will find the principal edible fruits of the tropics. Many have been cultivated since early historic time or before, such are the fig, the date, the pomegranate, the common spiny jujube, and perhaps also the lime. Scarcely known in northern Europe and not capable of being cultivated there, these did not reach our North American shores with the notable exceptions of oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit which can be cultivate in the South.

Of other exotic fruits brought from Mediterranean countries, the principal ones were figs and dates. Though introduced repeatedly in various places in the United States, it is only recently that they can be said to have been well established. The first figs grown in California were black mission figs brought by Franciscans from Spain or Portugal. Bananas, arguably the most important of all tropical fruits, made its first New World appearance in Hispaniola in the 1870s. The following pages show fruits that the average person has probably never of because they cannot be grown in temperate and colder climates.

One fruit that is familiar is the mango, virtually unknown in America a half century ago. A native of India and East Indies, this is the most widely planted of large tropical fruit trees. The numerous varieties now found in all warm countries differ considerably in quality as well as in color, size, and shape of fruit. The soft pulp of the ripe fruit is juicy, sweet, and aromatic. A mass of fine fibers connects the pulp firmly to the large, hard pit; but the fruit is readily eaten out of hand after slitting the thick skin at the apex and peeling it back toward the base. Usually eaten fresh, it is also made into jam, or cooked with spices and pickled while green as in mango chutney.

Next up, we have the breadfruit:

Breadfruit trees were introduced into the American tropics from the Pacific islands. There are two kinds, those having fruits with and those without seeds The fruit of the former is prickly, and only the somewhat immature seeds are eaten, boiled in saltwater or roasted like chestnuts. The seedless breadfruit illustrated here is eaten baked, boiled, or sliced and roasted, or even fried. Boiled and mashed it may be prepared and seasoned like macaroni.

A large and handsome tree of India, long grown in the Malayan region, the jackfruit was introduced in the American tropics, especially Jamaica and Brazil. It has simple, dark green shiny leaves and rough or prickly compound fruits of the size of watermelons, which grow on short stalks directly from the stem or old branches. The large brown seeds are edible when roasted. The fleshy sweetish yellow pulp about the seeds is boiled, and is esteemed by those who are not deterred by its heavy musky odor.

This oval fruit, as large as a small plum, has a soft yellow skin, white to yellowish flesh, and several black seeds. It is the product of a tree of the rose family and has a refreshing sweet-acid flavor reminiscent of apples or pears. Originally from central eastern China, it is now grown in many warm countries. It is well known in the Mediterranean region, where it is called Japanese medlar. All parts of the tree including the fruit are covered with a white or gray down.

This is the fruit of a large leguminous tree of India, now established in all tropical countries. It is recognized by its delicate feathery foliage and curved brown pods which remain hanging for a long time on the tree. The smooth seeds are imbedded in a brown pulp of agreeable sweet-acid flavor and are said to contain more acid and more sugar than any other fruit. The pulp serves for the preparation of a refreshing drink and is used sometimes to add bulk and flavor to guava jelly.

This fruit is cultivated in many places in the moist tropics of both hemispheres. The dark red flowers and fruit grow in clusters from the trunk and the older branches. The gherkin-like fruits are very acid, but pleasant when candied or cooked with sugar as a preserve.

A five-winged yellow fleshy fruit of a small Indo-Chinese tree introduced in the West Indies and South America. The fruit is usually very sour and is edible only when cooked with sugar, though an agreeably sweet variety exists, more commonly known as the Star Fruit.

This tall-growing tropical tree of the Chinaberry, or Mahogany, family is restricted chiefly to the Malaysian region, Siam, and IndoChina. The fruits are the size of pigeon eggs and grow in grape-like clusters from the larger branches. The fruit has a thick, bitter, rather leathery, inedible skin, which encloses from one to three segments of a white translucent pulp, and usually only one seed. The pulp is juicy, subacid, aromatic, and when ripe is sweet and of excellent flavor.

The jujube is the fruit of a small, thorny, slender-branched tree of the Buckthorn family. It has been well known in the Mediterranean region for at least 2,000 years and may have been brought originally from India. The fruit is smooth and ovoid, yellowish or reddish brown at maturity, of the size of an olive, with a thin skin covering a whitish or yellow sweet pulp and a hard oblong kernel containing two seeds. It is esteemed as a dessert fruit and eaten fresh, dried, or boiled in sugar. The jujube is the fruit of a small, thorny, slender-branched tree of the Buckthorn family. It has been well known in the Mediterranean region for at least 2,000 years and may have been brought originally from India. The fruit is smooth and ovoid, yellowish or reddish brown at maturity, of the size of an olive, with a thin skin covering a whitish or yellow sweet pulp and a hard oblong kernel containing two seeds. It is esteemed as a dessert fruit and eaten fresh, dried, or boiled in sugar. 

This fruit was the inspiration for "jujube" candy. The candy was inspired by the fruit's chewy texture and sweet flavor. Jujubes were first created in the late 19th century in the United States. The candy was originally made from a mixture of sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin. The name reflects both the fruit and the candy's chewy consistency. Jujubes have become a popular candy variety, often found in theaters and candy stores. 

This fruit tree of the Indian archipelago is commonly planted in the East Indies for its large globose pendulous fruits. These weigh from five to six pounds and are famous for their combination of delicious flavor and disagreeable odor of decayed onions. The fruit has a thick fibrous rind beset with coarse pyramidal spines. Internally it is 4-celled, with from two to six large seeds in each division, covered with a whitish, buttery, and aromatic flesh or pulp which is the edible part of the fruit.

This ornamental tree of tropical Asia is cultivated in India, Ceylon, and the Malay region for its thick foliage, large white flowers, and remarkable fruits. After flowering the petals drop, while the persistent calyx again closes and grows to form a thick protective covering for the developing fruit, till at maturity the whole reaches the dimensions of a small or medium-sized grapefruit. The bulk of it then consists of the thick fibrous calyx within which the true fruit surrounded by brown stamens appears like a pale green tomato surmounted by the persistent many-rayed stigma. The fruit is aromatic but very acidic and requires cooking.

The mangosteen has long had the reputation of being the most delicious of tropical fruits. It is produced by a small tree, rarely over thirty feet high, native in the Malay Peninsula and cultivated in the warm and humid parts of the Old World tropics. The flowers are about the size of a wild rose and dull red in color. The rind of the fruit is thick and tough, dark red to dark purplish outside and pale violet within, and contains a bitter yellow juice. The edible part is the snow-white juicy pulp of exquisite flavor surrounding the four to six seeds.

This fruit grows wild in eastern Asia and in places forms veritable woods with wild apples and pears. It was well known to the ancient Egyptians and was naturalized throughout the eastern Mediterranean region as well as eastward to China and southward to Zanzibar and India. The trees are usually shrublike, with slender branches, small crowded leaves, and showy flowers. The fruit has a tough, leathery rind and very many seeds in four two-storied compartments. Each seed is covered by juicy red pulp (aril), which is the edible portion of the fruit. 

This fruit has grown in popularity in recent years due to its antioxidant qualities. There is even pomegranate juice.

A small garden tree introduced from Indo-China or Java and grown for the sake of its rose-flavored fruits, one to two inches in diameter, usually whitish or ivory-colored with crisp thin flesh and generally hollow with a single large spherical seed, or sometimes two or three, within the seed cavity. It may be eaten fresh, and makes a rose-flavored preserve.

This Malayan tree has been introduced into the Hawaiian Islands, Dutch Guiana, and Brazil, where it drops most of its leaves at flowering time. The bark of the trunk and naked branches then becomes covered with clusters of bright red flowers that last but a short time, then cover the ground under the trees with a rose-colored litter of fallen petals. In season, the pear-shaped fruits are conspicuous in tropical markets. They are white or rose-colored, with somewhat dry and insipid white flesh of rose scent. The fruit may be eaten fresh, but it is used chiefly for desserts and jellies.

This is a small ornamental Malayan tree producing clusters of pretty rose-pink or purplish-white waxy-looking pear-shaped fruit. The pulp is pleasantly sour-sweet but is usually too fluffy or pithy to be agreeable if eaten fresh.

This tall, very slender-stemmed palm usually grows in small clumps on low wet ground in the Guianas and the northern part of Brazil. Its flowers and fruit are borne in clusters immediately below a rather small crown of feathery leaves. The small spherical fruits are of the size and color of high bush blueberries when ripe. They contain a single round seed of the size of a large cherry stone. The soft purplish pulp and fiber are loosened from the pits by mashing or kneading in water. The result, after straining, is a thick liquid like blueberry mash, known in Brazil as "assai" or "assahy," and famous especially in Para where assai thickened with farinha provides many a cheap and simple meal.