We’re back again bringing you rare and unique fruits from around the world. Coming up on
this episode of Top 10 Fruits You’ve Never Heard of Part 11.
Number ten, Beautyberry Grown on a small deciduous evergreen shrub
that grows up to 6 feet or 2 meters tall, the beauty berry produces white to pinkish
flowers will develop into these bright purple berries. Measuring 2 - 5 mm in diameter, this
fall season berry will last well into the winter and will be an important food source
for birds when there isn’t much to eat. Native to east and southeast Asia, which is
typically not where berries grow, it can also found in North and South America, Australia
and Madagascar.
This highly astringent berry doesn’t taste great has a similar but not quite as bad taste
as the porcelain berry which we covered in the previous episode. Mostly an overpowering
bitter taste with mild sweetness is present in this berry which are typically used for
making jams and not much else. There is another unique, useful function of this plant, the
leaves contain a poison that can be used to stun fish which makes for an easy day of fishing.
Used in traditional Chinese medicine, the beautyberry is most commonly used for treating
inflammation and bleeding disorders. Side effects aren’t known from the consumption
of this fruit as it isn’t consumed regularly in any large amount. Some people have experienced
slight nausea after eating them. The essential oil created from this berry has been found
useful at repelling insects.
Number nine, Kwai muk Native to Southern China, this lumpy, bumpy
orange fruit is a part of the artocarpus family which is mostly famously known for the breadfruit
and jackfruit which we’ve covered in previous episodes aswell. Grown on a large evergreen
tree up to 15 feet or 4 and ½ meters in China this fruit has been found to thrive in Florida
where the tree can reach up to 25 feet or 7 and ½ meters in height. Cultivated primarily
for local consumption in Florida, this tree is not only provides a source of food but
a beautiful aesthetic evergreen tree. Ripening from August to October the kwai muk fruit
is a velveting skinned fruit that ripens within 1 - 3 days making it not viable for commercial
production The red flesh on the inside is a good indicator you’ve picked a ripe one
to eat, being a member of the autocarpus family latex will be present when unripe just as
with the jackfruit. Being yellowish orange on the outside when perfectly ripe, a green
colored kwai muk will be unripe and overly sour. If you wait too long they’ll become
overripe and have a fermented taste to them just as a pineapple has.
Inside a handful of seeds will be found that should be spit out, it’s important to note
while the seeds shouldn’t be consumed the skin can unlike a jackfruit. They have a sweet
and tart flavour similar to an apricot with sour elements of a citrus fruit. Being juicy
and full of fiber the kwai muk is a tasty fruit that can be enjoyed fresh, dried or
preserved with salt and sugar syrup.
Number eight, Rattan Fruit The first thing that comes to mind when you
hear the word rattan may be the wicker like furniture and weavings that comes from this
climbing palm. Despite all the creation that is done with the stems of this palm, it actually
produces a fruit as well. There are 40 different varieties with some of them not being edible.
Within the edible varieties are multiple different looking rattan fruits that’ll have different
sized spacing and shapes of the scales on the outside of the fruit. The snake like skin
of this fruit is similar to that of salak or snake fruit as they are in the same general
family. Among the tallest rattan is the littuko variety which are harvested by placing a primitive
ladder next to the tree and cutting off the entire bunch of rattan at once.
Found in the philippines and India this fruit isn’t commonly consumed anywhere really,
even by locals. Offering a comparable experience as biting into a lemon, sour will overwhelm
your tastebuds. On the inside if a large seed not offering a lot of flesh to enjoy, this
isn’t the case though with the littuko variety which is seedless. Chewing the seeds apparently
has a similar buzz effect, that of 6 cups of coffee, as betel nut. Available from April
to September the rattan is being planted as a tree to reforest certain areas of the Philippines
and slowly increasing in popularity as a local food to eat.
Number seven, Quandong The desert quandong or native peach as it’s
also to referred to as has multiple additional names coming from different indigenous groups.
This hemiparasitic plant or one that can photosynthesize using the root system of another plant is
found in the central deserts and southern areas of Australia. This tall shrub up to
20 ft or 6 meters tall produces a green fruit that will turn red when ripe. Enjoyed by the
locals of Australia the quandong is also a staple fruit of the Australian Emu population.
Commercially it can be found throughout the southern regions of Australia. It has tart
flavour like a peach or apricot with a large seed on the inside. An unusual find in the
fruit kingdom, the quandong has a substantial amount of fat per fruit with over half its
weight being fat. Being high in vitamin C and good for the skin, this fruit has the
ability to scavenge free radicals from the body.
Number six, Osage orange This spherical lumpy, bumpy fruit measures
up to half a foot in diameter and comes from a tree in the mulberry family. The name comes
from the Osage Native Americans who would use the wood from this tree to create bows
and clubs. Other names for this fruit are hedge apple, horse apple, monkey ball and
mock orange. When cutting into one sticky white latex oozes
out, their woody like pulp is tough with an unpleasant flavour much like a watermelon
rind mixed with a cucumber. The oblong seeds in the middle which are edible, are the most
desirable part of this fruit by both humans and animals mostly notably by squirrels. Extracting
them from the fruit is a painstaking process which yields a tasty seed that has a flavor
reminiscent of sunflower seeds. Seeing how most creatures won’t eat this fruit, it
is believed extinct mammals like the ground sloth, mastodon and mammoth ate this fruit
and spread the seeds around. Many people claim this fruit will repel insects by chopping
it into chunks and placing it around the area of which you want to keep them away.
Number five, Santa Claus Melon Initially named piel de sapo in Spanish, which
I’m sure that was a terrible pronunciation of, translates to toad skin, this melon was
renamed to Santa Claus melon because of it’s long shelf life usually until Christmas. This
football shaped melon has spotty dark and light green skin on the outside with pale
yellowish white flesh on the inside. This melon gives no indication of ripeness like
many others do with their scent which leads you to just look for wrinkling, browning spots
and a good dose of luck to know when it’s properly ripe.
Offering a light and fresh like a mix of a honey dew and a cantaloupe with the flavour
leaning more towards the cantaloupe. It has a very dense and juicy flesh with more liquid
than the other melons yet it’s lower on the squishy and slimy side of melons. While
still firm it’s not nearly as crisp as a hami melon.
They are eaten raw, added to fruit salads, tarts, sauces and sorbets. Able to be keep
in the refrigerator for 2 months this melon prefers warm climates to grow. Being a melon
of the casaba type which originates from turkey, the santa claus melon is cultivated in South
America, Spain and Southern United States.
Number four, Kiwi berry Measuring just the size of a large grape,
this baby version of the kiwi has no fuzz, a green exterior and is much more of a delicate
fruit. Native to Korea and China the kiwi berry has long been grown in New Zealand,
since 1902 to be exact. Being a cold hardy kiwi the kiwi berry is one of the few tropical
types fruits that’ll grow in cold northern climates. Multiple different varieties exist
that come in different sizes and different colors with some tinted a reddish color. The
one we see here is called isaiah which is a self fertile kiwi berry but benefits from
boosted pollination being planted next to a pair of a male and female arctic cold hard
kiwis. Ripening in the fall, as the kiwi berry develops it’ll be rock hard and quickly
transition into the soft yet delicate fruit as it’s ripe.
Their unpredictable shelf life hasn’t made them a viable commercial crop but you can
find them once in a blue moon at whole foods for top dollar. Rich in vitamin C, A, E, potassium,
fiber, iron and calcium this little nutrient powerhouse tastes sweet and sour with a nice
amount of tartness to it. Packing a very strong kiwi flavour, more than a kiwi they’ll tend
to be more sweet and less sour the more ripe they are. A rare but tasty treat that shouldn’t
be skipped if the opportunity arises.
Number three, Snowberry An elegant name with a nasty secret, this
berry also goes by waxberry or ghostberry. I’m not sure if ghostberry is in reference
to it’s pale white color or from people dropping dead from how bad this berry tastes.
There are 15 different species with all but 1 being native to North and Central America,
the other is native to China. Packed into tight clusters of white berries with a grainy
texture on the outside, the inside offers a slightly juicy cotton candy like visual.
Sometimes the snowberry will have a pinkish hue to it. Despite it’s appetizing look
this berry while edible is sometimes called famine berry due to it’s mealy bitter eating
experience. Tucked deep within the depths of the bitter overload are delicate and pleasant
hints of wintergreen. Each berry has white flesh with 2 hard seeds inside that are as
tough as a bank vault, well probably not but strong enough may lay dormant for 10 years
before sprouting. It should be noted too, eating the seeds taste exceptionally bad and
should be spit out.
These berries are best “enjoyed” cooked or made into a jam that you’d give to someone
you don’t like. The saponins, or toxic compound which is present in many foods we eat, are
a little bit on the high side within the snowberry which doesn’t affect adults all that much
but will cause children to vomit, get nausea and diarrhea.
Number two, Jan Kuperus Crab Apple Ranging anywhere from 10 to 40 feet or 3 to
12 meters tall this ultra rare crab apple was discovered by a dutch nursery owner in
the Canadian province of Alberta. While usually a rare fruit will have a small region it comes
from, this crab apple only has one tree it originates from. Slowly it has been grown
and sold by local nurseries but is still a very rare fruit to find, so rare in fact if
you search on youtube there are exactly 0 search results for it. Luckily for all of
us my neighbor has one which is how I got my hands on it.
The Jan Kuperus crab apple is a very small red apple, which can apparently turn purple,
with a powdery yellowish to white flesh inside. While the inside is very grainy and powdery
it has a very nice sweet and tart taste to it. Not just a normal crabapple this little
fruit has what could be described as almost an apple pie taste to it. Best eaten when
they are firm and smooth, if left alone they will start to wrinkle creating a richer taste
until it eventually goes bad when over ripe. These fruit are usually left for birds to
eat at as they won’t fall off the tree and remain until the birds eat them over winter.
Number one, Nutmeg Fruit Bearing one of the most unusual fruits of
them all, the evergreen nutmeg tree produces an oval shaped, egg sized fruit which is home
to the nutmeg seed which what it’s known for. Covering the seed is a bright red aril
or this bizarre waxy red flesh. This red flesh you have probably heard of, it’s dried and
made into a potent spice called mace which is also used in pepper spray. While we are
talking about the hazards of the nutmeg fruit, nutmeg itself can be toxic or deadly if more
than 4 tsps are consumed at once.
Grown on what are known as the spice islands or Moluccas Islands of Indonesia, this fruit
will grow until it cracks in half revealing the red aril and seed. The outer yellowish
flesh that houses the seed or pericarp is the actual fruit which has a bizarre mix of
flavours. A strong nutty nutmeg taste, a dash of bitterness and a lot of dry mouth is what
you can expect but locals don’t usually eat it raw. Candied, dried or mixed with sugar
the nutmeg fruit will suddenly taste much better like a delicious candied treat. Sometimes
it’s boiled to make nutmeg juice, blended into a smoothie, made into jam, pickled, added
to chutney or shredded on savory dishes.
If you want to get your hands on some unique tropical fruit, why not check out our friend’s
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I hope you enjoyed this episode, have you been inspired to try any of these fruits,
let us know in the comments down below and until the next one have a good one.