From strawberries that taste like pineapple to cotton candy grapes, here are the most
incredible fruit hybrids in the world that you should definitely try!!
11.
Rangpur
The Rangpur is a fruit hybrid made naturally by crossbreeding a lemon and a Mandarin orange.
It’s grown in Asia, South America, and North America.
But, it goes by different names depending on the region.
In South China, it’s called the Canton Lemon.
The Japanese call it the Hime.
In Brazil, it goes by several names including limão-cravo and limão-rosa.
In the US, it’s known as the mandarin-lime (I know, original right) and was introduced
by the Reasoner Brothers of Oneco, in the 19th century.
The two brothers, Pliny and Egbert Reasoner are considered Florida’s plant pioneers.
They had obtained the seeds from India, where it gets the name of Rangpur, Sylhet lime or
nimboo.
Most people in the west use it as a potted plant and ornament.
But, this awesome fruit is highly acidic and can substitute commercial limes.
Have you ever tried one?
Let us know in the comments!
However, there are very few similarities between the fruit and actual limes.
So, the name mandarin-lime is somewhat misleading.
10: Plumcot
Can you guess what it is??
The Plumcot is a hybrid of a plum and an apricot!
It was made by Luther Burbank, who was a fruit cultivator, at the turn of the 20th century.
He undertook some of the earliest experiments in plant breeding.
His Plumcot was 50% plum and 50% apricot.
He also experimented with hundreds of other vegetables and fruits on his farm in the City
of Sebastopol, California.
While the Plumcot was an incredible hybrid, it was difficult to grow, harvest and transport
because it was too delicate so unfortunately they never enjoyed commercial success.
I bet they were delicious!
Plumcots have been grown for many years on a small scale, but if you want to try one
never fear!
Advances in plant genetics have led to the creation of Pluots, which are second generation
hybrids, which in this case is probably close enough!
Number 9: Tangelos
Also called the honeybell, it’s a citrus hybrid of the pomelo and Thompson tangerine.
The fruits are the size of a human fist and taste like tangerines.
The skin is easier to peel than that of oranges.
But, you can easily distinguish them since they have a characteristic knob at the top.
On the inside, they have few seeds complementing their juiciness.
Minneola tangelos, close cousins of the honeybells, are popular in Florida.
They were made by cross-breeding the Dancy tangerine and the Duncan grapefruit.
They were released in 1931 by the USDA Horticultural Research Station in Orlando.
8: Pluots
Although speaking of pluots, Floyd Zaiger built on the breakthroughs of Luther Burbank
to make the Pluot.
He holds more than 500 patents and many consider him the master of interspecific fruit breeding!
How’s that for something to be known for!
Pretty cool right?
Before we proceed, let’s clear something up.
Fruit hybrids and GMOs are very different.
First, genetic engineering is a modern invention of the late 20th century.
Hybridization is a natural phenomenon that has occurred in nature for hundreds of years.
While GMOs are made in the lab by injecting the genes of one species into a different
species, fruit hybrids are derived through artificial selection.
During the process, fruit breeders like Mr. Zaiger, collect pollen from flowers of one
plant variety and apply it to the flowers of a different plant species.
Plant breeding between members of the same species is called intraspecific breeding.
When it involves closely related plant species, it’s known as interspecific breeding.
Classical breeding techniques have taken many years to perfect.
But, the success of the hybrid depends on nature itself.
So, humans didn’t invent hybridization clearly.
We only speed things up by acting as a matchmaker.
The Pluot made by Zaiger in the late 1980s is 25% apricot, and 75% plum.
It has a smooth exterior that closely resembles the plum.
He stumbled upon the Pluot after crossing several plum-apricot hybrids such as the Aprium.
This took him many years, because even a successful cross may not yield the desired fruit.
Zaiger Genetics Inc., a renowned company based in Modesto, California, plants about 50,000
to 60,000 crosses every year.
Out of the thousands, only six hybrid varieties have characteristics that the fruit industry
will find appealing.
So, next time you encounter a fruit hybrid with a fancy name like Flavor King Pluots,
remember that it’s a product of extensive labor and passion.
It’s what makes fruit hybrids pretty incredible and appreciated.
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7: Peacotum
Can you figure out the fruits that made this hybrid?
I’ll give you a moment to leave your guesses in the comments below!!This one is kind of
tricky!!
Peacotums look like Pluots and Plumcots.
So, they must have plum and apricot genes.
Surprisingly, Peacotums also contain peach genes and were developed by Zaiger's Genetics
Inc.
The company touted the Peacotum as the first three-fruits-in-one hybrid.
See, tricky!!
Some Peacotum varieties have been released so far, under the brand names, 'Bella Royale,
Bella Cerise and Bella Gold.’
Are you wondering how this delicious fruit tastes?
When it’s fully ripe, it melts in your mouth and has the proper balance of acidity needed
for a delightful flavor.
Growers and customers have described the skin as fuzzy and likened its appearance to that
of its parents, the peach, and the apricot.
It tastes like plums with hints of apricot but lacks a peach flavor.
Therefore, the only peachy thing about the Peacotum is its cover.
6: Pineberries
Pineberries are strawberries with a slight pineapple flavor, which is the reason why
they are called pineberries!
While typical strawberries have a red flesh and white seeds, pineberries have white flesh
and red seeds.
They are native to Chile and resulted due to a cross between the common strawberry and
the beach berry or coastal berry.
This strawberry is native to Hawaii and the Pacific coast of South and North America.
A different strawberry variety cultivated in northern Europe closely resembles the pineberry
in appearance.
However, it’s an Alpine strawberry variety, and its seeds are either light green or white.
It’s also much smaller than pineberries.
I would love to try one of these, I’ve never seen this anywhere have you??
Anyone from Chile who has tried one?
Number 5: Limequat
The Limequat is a cross of the Key Lime also known as the Mexican Lime, and the Kumquat
fruit that’s native to China.
Did you know that Kumquat is the only citrus fruit that can be eaten whole?
Moreover, the peel is the sweetest part of the fruit, and its insides are sour.
Yeah!
It’s a strange fruit.
The Limequat inherited the soft, sweet and edible skin of the Kumquat.
But, many find its insides too sour to eat.
So, it’s mostly used in marmalades, jellies, and jams.
The Limequat is a suitable replacement for recipes that require lemons or Key limes.
Like my favorite, key lime pie!!
It has more desirable traits like an ability to produce many fruits from an early age.
Currently, it’s grown in Israel, Spain, Malaysia, Japan, Florida, Texas, and California.
If you happen to have a bunch of Limequats lying around, you can use a clever technique
to eat them.
Squeeze the juice out, and then pop the rest of the fruit in your mouth.
Number 4: Tayberry
This is an exciting cross between a raspberry and blackberry.
It acquired its size from the raspberry and the juiciness and sweetness from the blackberry.
It was patented in 1979 after farmers discovered a way to cross its parents successfully.
The name came from River Tay in Scotland.
Tayberries have a favorable yield of 27 tons per hectare.
However, they become very soft when fully ripe and can get really mushy.
This makes harvesting the berries using machines or by hand difficult.
For this reason, tayberries have never been fully incorporated in large-scale commercial
farming.
Backyard growers and artisans don’t have a problem growing them.
As a domestic plant, the Tayberry has received the Award of Garden Merit, from the Royal
Horticultural Society.
If you have never had a chance to eat one of these fruits, they have a sweet-tart flavor.
You can eat the fruit raw or cooked.
Also, you can use them to make jams, wines or pies due to their high pectin content.
3: Blood Limes
Also called the Australian Blood Lime, it’s an incredible hybrid developed during the
CSIRO project that sought to find salt-resistant crops.
It’s a cross of the red finger lime and the Ellendale mandarin hybrid.
Despite being unsuitable to grow in high-salt concentrations, it has enjoyed commercial
success.
It made a debut in Australia’s markets in July 2004 and was later exported.
The blood lime has several desirable traits.
The skin can also be eaten together with its insides!
It stores juice in small vesicles within its red flesh.
You can cut the fruit in half, and squeeze the juice out of the vesicles.
Alternatively, you may chew the vesicles, and they will pop releasing a refreshing burst
of lime juice in your mouth.
Blood limes are also sweeter than normal limes, which are too tart for most people to eat
just by themselves, unless they are inside a cocktail!
Number 2: Jostaberry
The Jostaberry (pronounced as yust-a-berry) is a complex hybrid made by crossing the blackcurrant,
with the European gooseberry, and the North American coastal black gooseberry.
Despite the extensive cultivation of gooseberries and blackcurrants in Europe, they have never
taken hold in the United States.
Many gardeners choose not to grow the gooseberry partly because of its thorns and tart taste.
Who wants that??!!
Blackcurrants are prone to diseases such as blister rust and mildew.
They were banned in the US in the 1900s since they served as a vector for a tree disease
called the white pine blister dust.
It had threatened to annihilate all pine trees in the US so the USDA had no option but to
ban its cultivation.
The hybrid has captured the best traits from both species, without the disadvantages.
The Jostaberry gets its looks from the gooseberry, but without the thorns!!
It’s also resistant to diseases that plagued the black currants so it has the best of both
worlds!!
The first breed of the Jostaberry was introduced by Germany in 1977.
Further varieties have been produced recently, by the USDA in Oregon.
Number 1: Cotton Candy Grapes
Cotton Candy grapes are not flossy or fluffy, nor do they smell like cotton candy.
They resemble ordinary green grapes in all aspects.
However, when they pop in your mouth, the first thing you’ll think about is the cotton
candy flavor.
They were created at the International Fruit Genetics facility in California by David Cain,
a leading horticulturist, and his team.
They conducted about 100,000 trials before stumbling on the cotton-candy grape.
It’s a cross of two grape species and has 12 percent more sugar than store-bought grapes.
The hybrid has been sold in supermarkets since 2011.
But of course, it’s more expensive than ordinary grapes or seedless grapes.
Nevertheless, this has not deterred customers from making them a favorite snack.
The IFG creates new varieties of grapes and cherries, and showcases them during a Global
Summit of table grape growers held in Bakersfield, California.
It has created grape varieties that taste like pineapples, mangos, and strawberries.
They are testing them to see if they are economically viable.
Who doesn’t want grapes like that!!
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