Thailand is an exotic country where tourists discover a lot of new things. Including a huge amount of juicy fruits. Many travelers know nothing about them, but Asian fruits have their own characteristics. It is best to buy fruits in non-tourist markets where prices are not inflated. Out of habit, it’s better not to get carried away, try no more than 1-2 types per day. Some fruits have a specific aroma, which is why it is prohibited to bring them into your hotel room.
Durian (too-ree-an)- the king of all fruits. Not only in price, but also in size. Large spiny fruit. Durian weighs up to five kg. It grows on trees and has several varieties. The fruit has an unpleasant, repulsive odor and a unique sweet taste, reminiscent of vanilla and honey. The fruit is very filling, so it’s best to take it in pieces. Durian raises blood pressure, and simultaneous consumption with alcohol can be harmful to health. It is prohibited to take it out of the country and bring it into your room.
Longan (lam-yai)- eye of the Dragon. Small fruits with thin skin and juicy pulp. Thais prefer to eat this fruit not only fresh, but also as a side dish for hot dishes. Longan is not expensive - about 50 baht per kg. The fruit is rich in vitamins and microelements such as phosphorus, iron and calcium. Eating longan in large quantities leads to an increase in body temperature. Only the sweet and sour pulp of the fruit is eaten.
Sweet tamarind (ma-kham-wan). Similar to legumes. Inside the fruit there are dark, sweet, tart seeds that are used for food. Has a mild laxative effect. Tamarind costs about 35 baht per kg. For local residents, a tamarind tree planted on the site brings monetary well-being. This fruit is not only eaten fresh, but is also widely used in Thai cuisine to make drinks, sauces and spices.
Dragon fruit- pitaya. A brightly colored fruit with a scaly skin growing on a cactus tree. The cost does not exceed 60 baht. Dragon fruit has a sweet and juicy pulp, but it does not differ in aroma and pronounced taste. Very similar in taste to kiwi, rich in vitamins, useful for patients with diabetes, poor blood circulation and endocrine diseases.
Guava (farang)- very reminiscent of a yellow-green pear. The fruit is usually eaten with the skin on and sprinkled with sugar, as there is no particularly pronounced taste. The cost varies around 20 baht per kg. Guava is very good for the intestinal heart.
Carambola (ma-feung) - star fruit. Juicy yellow fruits with a floral taste and shaped like a star. Rich in vitamin C and microelements. There is an opinion among local residents that carambola prevents the formation of kidney stones. Helps well with hangover syndrome. It has a tart taste and is widely used as a vegetable in salads, sauces and marinades. The cost is about 60 baht per kg.
Papaya (ma-la-ko). A large, fleshy orange berry, but its taste is unique, reminiscent of boiled sweet carrots. Used both as a fruit and as a vegetable. Papaya is cooked with meat and goes well with it. Can also be added to salads. The cost does not exceed 30 baht per kg. An exceptionally healthy berry, whose beneficial enzymes are widely used in medicine. The unripe fruit is very poisonous. Papaya is a very ancient berry; it was first mentioned in the Mayan and Aztec cultures.
Mangosteen (mong-khut)- queen of fruits. A small round dark fruit with an exquisite taste and aroma. Mangosteen combines rose, lemon, apricot and melon. Queen Victoria loved it, but in Thailand the fruit is considered sacred. Legend has it that Buddha was walking through the forest on a white elephant and found a mangosteen. He understood the healing properties of the fruit and presented the gift to people. The cost does not exceed 35-40 baht per kg. Mangosteen is eaten immediately after durian; it perfectly quenches thirst and removes odor. The fruit is very healthy, contains calcium, nicotinic acid and phosphorus. Has a refreshing and rejuvenating effect. The peel contains tannin, a wound-healing antiseptic.
It got its name from the Tupi-Guarani Indian language. Locals they call it the fruit of passion. The plant looks like a vine, the fruits of which have a sweet and sour taste. Passion fruit juice has a tonic effect on the body. Regular consumption of this fruit improves digestion and sleep. Widely used in cosmetology and medicine. The cost does not exceed 20 baht per piece. They eat passion fruit with a spoon, after cutting it in half.
Jackfruit (kha-nun)- breadfruit tree, similar in appearance to durian in size and spines. But that's where the similarities end. Inside the jackfruit there are very sweet slices, similar in taste to pineapple and melon. They are packaged in 6-8 pieces and sell for no more than 20 baht. Unripe jackfruit is used as a vegetable, in meat dishes and soups. Rich nutrients, vitamins and microelements. Fruit grows on big trees, the fruits are the same size as watermelons.
Longkong (ma-nuang)- a small fruit that grows in clusters and has a lemon-tangerine flavor. They eat the flesh of longkong, removing the skin. Care should be taken not to bite into the bitter seeds. Contains calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium. The cost is about 40 baht per kg.
Lychee (lin-chi)- white flesh in a red skin. The taste is similar to strawberries, very sweet. It grows in the northern part of the country. The fruit is rich in B vitamins, improves digestion and quenches thirst. The pulp is eaten by removing the skin. The cost is about 60 baht per kg.
Tangerine (som)- Thai mandarin. It has a thinner peel and smaller size. Rich in vitamin C and fiber. In Thailand, tangerine is used to make various drinks, including compotes. The cost does not exceed 30 baht per kg.
Rambutan (ngo)- shaggy red sweet fruit. The name comes from the Malaysian word "rambut" - hair. They eat the pulp after removing the skin. The fruit contains substances that increase skin elasticity, B vitamins, as well as iron, calcium, nicotinic acid and phosphorus. The cost is about 40 baht per kg.
- sugar apple. The unripe fruit tastes like a crisp apple, but when ripe, it has tender flesh. It grows on a tree and looks like a cone. Noina is usually eaten raw, but ice cream is especially tasty from it. Widely used in medicine - noina decoction lowers temperature, roots and bark help with dysentery. People with diabetes should not get carried away due to the high sugar content. The cost is about 50 baht per kg.
Mango (mamuang) bright yellow large very aromatic sweet fruit. When unripe, it is used in salads. The ripe fruit can be used on its own, you just need to remove the skin. The taste is reminiscent of apricot, melon and lemon. Mangoes are also used to make jellies, juices, compotes and even seasonings. Mango improves complexion, contains a natural tranquilizer, and therefore calms the psyche and improves sleep. The cost depends on the season, from 60 and above.
Sapodilla (la-mut)- a small brown fruit that looks like an egg. The fruit has a milky caramel taste. Sapodilla grows on an evergreen tree that releases latex sap when damaged. They eat fruit, as in pure form, and added to baked goods and salads. Sapodilla is widely used in medicine; a decoction of the leaves reduces blood pressure; sedatives are produced from the seeds. The oil is used in cosmetology. Prices start from 30 baht per kg.
The countries of Southeast Asia are simply a paradise for lovers of tropical fruits. Dragon fruit, mangosteen, tomarillo, durian, snake fruit, and many others exotic names here they cease to amaze and become the norm of life. Surely in Russia, in large supermarkets, there are many of these fruits, only, firstly, the prices for them can differ by an order of magnitude, and secondly, in order for them to appear on the shelves in an attractive form, they are pretty stuffed with chemicals or They are sent unripe, which cannot but affect the taste and beneficial qualities. But in Southeast Asia, in their homeland, many of these fruits cost pennies - for example, a ripe and juicy mango in season can be bought for 5 rubles, and a large (3 kg), sweet papaya for 30 rubles. As for the usual apples and pears, here, on the contrary, they are among the most expensive fruits. In addition, there are almost no berries here, with the exception of strawberries, which sometimes makes us happy. We have been living in Bali for six months now, and every day we enjoy a variety of fruit flavors. There are several dozen tropical fruits here, and if you consider that each of them, as a rule, has several varieties, and the taste of each variety is unique and inimitable, then it becomes clear how good life is for fruit lovers here. The same fruits that we tasted in Mexico, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia often differ not only in taste, but also in name and shape. Our eyes are always wide open at the market or in the store, it’s difficult to choose a specific fruit, so we buy huge boxes that can hardly fit on a bike. We deliberately do not write about prices, since they are different everywhere, depending on the country, seasonality, variety and ability to bargain. So, let's begin our acquaintance with tropical exotics.
Snake fruit, the Balinese call it salak
The fruits are round or pear-shaped, tapering to a wedge at the top, covered with a scaly brown skin reminiscent of snake skin, which is where the name of the fruit comes from. The peel is thin and easy to remove; just cut it or tear it at the edge, and then remove it like a shell from an egg. Flesh white or beige colour consists mainly of three segments. If the fruit is not ripe, then due to the high tannin content it will make your mouth stick, this is how we first tried it in Malaysia in the spring - we didn’t like it, and we happily forgot about it. Here in Bali, herring, as one of the most common fruits, quickly became familiar, we tried it again, and, one might say, we fell in love. There are 2 varieties common in Bali. One, more elongated, consists of 3 identical segments, has a pleasant refreshing sweet taste, reminiscent of pineapple and banana with a slight nutty flavor. The second, more rounded, with two large segments and a third small one without a seed, tastes similar to gooseberries and pineapple. Both varieties are quite interesting; we buy different ones with equal success. Salak contains tannin, which removes harmful substances from the body and has astringent, hemostatic and antidiarrheal properties. In the north of Bali, in the forests, we somehow discovered wild herring. Unlike the garden fruit, its peel is prickly with small needles, no more than 1 mm long, and the fruits themselves are smaller in size. They taste sweet, but peeling them is not very pleasant because of the thorns, so we fed them to monkeys, for whom the thorns were not a hindrance and they coped with peeling as quickly as they do with bananas. Tamarillo
Tamarillo fruits are egg-shaped, about 5 cm long. The shiny peel is hard and bitter, inedible, and the pulp has a sweet and sour, tomato-currant taste, almost without aroma. The color of the peel can be orange-red, yellow, or purple-red. The color of the pulp is usually golden-pink, the seeds are thin and round, black, edible. The fruits resemble long-fruited tomatoes, which is why they called it the tomato tree. You can cut the tomarillo into 2 halves and simply squeeze the pulp into your mouth, or peel it with a knife, holding it by the tail - you will get a flower like this 
Tamarillo contains a large amount of vitamins A, B6, C and E, as well as trace elements - iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium. The fruit will be useful for those who suffer from migraines. We fell in love with this fruit because of its berry-currant taste - there are very few berries in Bali, mostly all are imported (with the exception of strawberries). Tamarillo makes an excellent sauce when you add lemon juice, ginger and honey. The sauce is suitable for both spicy dishes and desserts. Mango
Of the many tropical fruits, mango is still one of our favorites - it seems that you can eat as much of it as you like and never get tired of it. In Russia, we sometimes bought them in a store and the concept of different varieties did not exist for us - there are just mangoes and that’s it, imagine our surprise that, it turns out, there are several dozen types of them. India harvests about 13.5 million tons of mangoes per year (just think about the number!) and is thus the main producer (the most famous variety is mangifera indica 'Alphonso'), followed by China in second place in terms of productivity (just over 4 million tons) , in third place is Thailand (2.5 million tons), Indonesia 2.1 million tons. Ripe fruit different varieties they taste very different, most often they are sweet and have pleasant aromas of different shades from honey even to ginger 
Arriving in India at the beginning of November, we were very surprised to find no mangoes on sale - it turned out that the season begins in April. We flew away at the end of March, and literally in the last week the first harvest appeared on sale - they were small red mangoes, very fragrant and sweet, we couldn’t tear ourselves away from them for several days. We really liked the variety of mango varieties in Malaysia - from Thai light yellow ones, with beige flesh inside, to green thick-skinned ones, unripe in appearance, but with bright orange, sweet flesh. But for real, we gorge ourselves on mangoes in Bali. In May and June the choice was not very large, but in August, September and, especially, October, the variety of varieties and prices never cease to delight us. Our favorite variety is Harumanis - green mangoes with orange, sweet, honey-like flesh. Mangoes are high in vitamins and fructose, and low in acids. Vitamin A has a beneficial effect on the organs of vision, helps with night blindness and other eye diseases. Regular consumption of mango helps improve immunity and protects against colds. Green mango is also rich in vitamin C. Mango fruits are often used in home medicine, for example, in India, mangoes are used to stop bleeding, to strengthen the heart muscle, and also to improve brain function. Jackfruit
Everyone who sees jackfruit for the first time is very surprised, and there is something to be said for it - it is the largest fruit in the world that grows on a tree. The length of the fruit is 20-90 cm, the diameter is up to 20 cm, and the fruit weighs up to 35 kg (in the photo there is a mandarin duck next to it for comparison). The thick peel is covered with numerous cone-shaped spines. Young fruits are green, becoming green-yellow or brown-yellow when ripe. If the fruit falls before it ripens, it is eaten as a vegetable; in India we have tried jackfruit curry many times. But we tried fresh for the first time in Sri Lanka at the end of April, when the season had just begun there. You can find a ripe fruit from May to September; when tapped, it makes a hollow sound (an unripe fruit is deaf). Inside, the fruit is divided into large lobes that contain sweet yellow pulp consisting of juicy slippery fibers. Each lobe contains an oblong seed 2-4 cm long; one fruit can contain up to 500 seeds 
The peel and seeds of the ripe fruit have an unpleasant putrid odor, while the pulp smells pleasant, there is something in common with banana and pineapple, but the taste is still specific, not for everyone, we liked it very much. All parts of the plant, including the peel, contain sticky latex, so it is recommended to cut the fruit by lubricating your hands with sunflower oil or wearing rubber gloves :) The fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 months. In supermarkets and markets, jackfruit is sold mostly already cut, since whole fruits, firstly, are repellent with their thorns, and secondly, not everyone is ready to overcome such a giant. Due to its heaviness, jackfruit often falls from the tree and breaks. Thanks to its strong smell, it is easily found by animals, who spread seeds throughout the forest, which contributes to its active spread. Jackfruit is highly nutritious and contains about 40% carbohydrates. In particular, for this reason, and also because of its low cost and universal availability, jackfruit in India is called “bread for the poor” or breadfruit. The seeds are also nutritious - they contain 38% carbohydrates and are roasted and eaten like chestnuts. They taste a little dry, but go well with salads. Dragon fruit or dragon fruit, also known as pitaya or pitahaya
Belongs to the cactus family. Thanks to its interesting and unusual shape, as well as bright pink color, the fruit cannot go unnoticed. The fruit has white or red (depending on the variety), creamy pulp and a delicate, slightly perceptible aroma. The pulp is eaten raw, the taste is sweet. It is convenient to eat by cutting it into 2 halves and scooping out the pulp with a spoon. Some may find dragon fruit bland and not very tasty, but if you taste it properly, you will certainly like the fruit (like, for example, Mozzarella cheese, which also does not have a strong taste). The fruit grows on cacti and blooms only at night. The flowers are also edible and can be brewed into tea. The fruit is low in calories, helps with stomach pain and has a beneficial effect on the quality of vision. Rambutan
The fruits are round or oval, 3-6 cm in size, grow in clusters of up to 30 pieces, sometimes they are sold directly on the branch. As they ripen, the fruits change color from green to yellow-orange, and then to red. If you want to get the most pleasure, choose fruits that are bright red in color. Juicy white fruits are covered with a dense peel, strewn with curved, stiff yellow-brown hairs, 1-2 cm long. The pulp is gelatinous, white, very aromatic and pleasant sweet and sour taste. Inside is an inedible oval seed, up to 1.5 cm long. The seeds are poisonous in their raw form, but if they are fried, they can be eaten. The oil from the seeds is used in the production of soap and candles. Rambutans contain carbohydrates, proteins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, niacin and vitamin C. The fruits are eaten mainly fresh, sometimes preserved with sugar. Moreover, in Malaysia, these canned fruits are sold on every corner as a snack, and they are also made as cooling drinks. We first met rambutans in their homeland - Malaysia. Rambutan is translated from Malay as “hairy”. Fruits are very light in weight, so 1 kilogram can contain several dozen of them. By the way, after bananas, which we are pretty hooked on in India (not only because of taste, but also for reasons of sanitary safety), this is the No. 2 fruit that you can easily and safely eat when traveling. You can buy a bunch of rambutans at the market or on the side of the road and eat them right away, which you cannot do with papaya or mango, not to mention fruits that are eaten with the peel. You just need to tear the peel in the middle and remove the top half (the hairs are not prickly at all), then put the pulp in your mouth and stay in your hand with the second half of the peel - you don’t even need to wash your hands. In Malaysia we arrived just in time for rambutan season (May) and the cost for 1 kg was the same as for 1 kg of mangoes (about $1), but in Bali, they turned out to be 3 times more expensive, although in October they had already dropped to $1.5 . Mangostin, also known as mangosteen, mangosteen, garcinia, mangkut
The fruit is round, 4-8 cm in diameter, covered with a thick (1 cm) burgundy-purple inedible peel, under which there are 5-8 segments of white, very juicy pulp, with large seeds inside each segment. We became acquainted with mangosteens in Sri Lanka - when we saw them for the first time, we thought that there was some kind of strange persimmon here. We were not going to buy them, but the seller stopped us at the last moment, showing a clever trick, opening this fruit in a second. Seeing the juicy pulp, we could not resist the desire and tried it, and then of course we bought it. The taste of the fruit is very pleasant, creamy-sweet and slightly tart. Mangosteens are recommended to be used to combat overweight, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, kidney stones, colds, depression and a huge list of different diseases. In hot weather, this is an excellent fruit to quench your thirst. Melody (melodi), also known as pepino, melon pear or sweet cucumber
The fruits are varied, differing in size, shape, color and taste. Some have an exotic color - bright yellow, others purple, which reminds them of eggplants. The pulp of a ripe fruit is light yellow or completely colorless. Melody tastes like a mixture of pear and cucumber with a melon aroma. It can be added to sweet desserts and salads (depending on the variety). Here in Bali, we love adding it to salads - the fruit costs about the same as cucumbers, and the taste is more delicate and interesting. By the way, the shades of taste are different – from sweet and sour to sweet. The melody itself is very juicy, it consists of 92% water, so it is great for quenching thirst. Vitamin C gives the fruit its sourness; the fruit is also rich in iron, keratin and a large amount of vitamins A, B1, B2 and PP. Longan or dragon's eye
The first name comes from the name of the Vietnamese province of Long An. And the second is the structure of the fruit - if you break the “berry” in half, a black seed appears, which, against the background of transparent beige pulp, resembles an eye. Longan grows in clusters on evergreen trees, the height of which can reach twenty meters. Over 200 kg of fruit are harvested from each tree over the summer. Externally, the fruits look like nuts and are easy to peel. The color of the inedible outer shell of the fruit is mottled yellowish. Lognan tends to ripen after being removed from the tree. Under the skin hides transparent juicy pulp - sweet and very aromatic with a musky aftertaste. Under the pulp there is one large bone. Longan is quite rich in vitamins, it contains a lot of vitamin C, B1, B2 and B3, as well as micro- and macroelements such as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, calcium, copper, iron, zinc, manganese and, in addition, many bioacids that are beneficial for skin. With such richness, the fruit is low in calories. Longan can be eaten fresh, or as a snack with hot and spicy dishes; a drink from it perfectly quenches thirst and improves appetite 
We tried the fruit for the first time in Bali - one day, while walking through the market with our Balinese friend Budi, we asked him about his favorite fruit and he, without hesitation, pointed to this rather inconspicuous fruit. Be from Java, and longan is very popular there. The first time we didn't really like it; the aroma was not as pronounced as we expected. We decided that we simply hadn’t tried it, and a couple of days later we bought it again - this time the longan turned out to be very tasty and juicy. Compared to other exotic, more appetizing-looking fruits, it certainly loses outwardly, but the palette of useful components included in it and the refreshing taste push us to buy it again and again. Longan is used in Chinese traditional medicine as a tonic for weakness, fatigue, tachycardia, dizziness and impaired vision. The pulp of the fruit is also used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, reduce body temperature during fever, calm down causeless anxiety, normalize sleep and improve memory and concentration. Kepundung or Asian gooseberry
In appearance it is very similar to Longan, but the taste is completely different. The peel is dense, but easy to peel. The fruits inside are white and pink, have a viscous jelly structure, there is a seed that is difficult to separate from the pulp - this is one of the reasons why kepundung is easier to use for making syrups and sauces, rather than eating fresh. The fruit tastes very pleasant, sweet and sour, refreshing with a light delicate aroma. Kepundung is a well-known source of vitamin C in Asia, making it useful for treating throat and respiratory problems. The fruit is considered sacred among Indian and Tibetan healers, who use the dried fruit to treat a wide range of problems such as indigestion, fever, liver problems and anemia. Kepundung is good for the prevention and treatment of stress, fever, arthritis. Tamarind (tamarind) or Indian date, also known as asam, asem, sampalok
In general, this is a plant of the legume family, but it is sold in the fruit department, and because of its sweet taste, many actually consider it a fruit. Under the shell lies a fruit - a brown pod-shaped bean, similar, sorry, to “turd”, consisting of soft pulp and many dense seeds. The pulp can be eaten fresh, as fruit or as a sweet for tea. It is also widely used as a spice in both Asian and Latin American cuisines. The pulp of green fruits is sour and is used in preparing savory dishes, but ripe fruits are sweeter, with a fruity taste, they are used to prepare desserts, drinks, and snacks. IN Latin America, especially in Mexico, this fruit is quite popular and is used in all sorts of ways. It was in Mexico that we first became acquainted with its taste - we tried Tamarindo candies - hard candies with seeds, with a characteristic aroma and taste. We didn’t like the sweets, but here in Bali we bought fresh tamarind, not even suspecting that we had already tried it before - this time we liked it. Due to their healing properties, the pulp, leaves and bark are used in medicine. In the Philippines, the leaves are traditionally used to make herbal tea to relieve fever from malaria. And in India, in Ayurveda - for the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract. Tamarind contains a large amount of vitamin C, as well as vitamins A and E. Protects against colds and heart diseases. The tamarind is the official tree of Santa Clara in Cuba and is featured on the city coat of arms. Papaya
Sweet juicy papaya pieces melt in your mouth. The fruit is extremely nutritious, and the most interesting thing is that papaya does not become boring at all; we happily ate it very often in India and Sri Lanka, and in Bali it has been our traditional breakfast dish for the sixth month. In India and Bali, papaya is very sweet, we especially like the California variety, but in Thailand, as our friends say, it is more watery. In Mexico, we liked it only in combination with yogurt or honey - there it is more common to eat it slightly unripe and even with salt and chili pepper. Papaya is a valuable source of beta-carotene, a third of the average size fruit satisfies daily requirement for an adult in vitamin C, and also provides the necessary amount of calcium and iron. Papaya fruits are not only in appearance, but also in chemical composition Close to melon, they contain glucose and fructose, organic acids, proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals, so papaya is sometimes called the “melon tree”. They say that when roasted over a fire, papaya fruits smell fresh bread, which gave this plant another interesting name- “breadfruit”. Green papaya has contraceptive and abortifacient properties - Asian women wishing to terminate their pregnancies ate large quantities of the unripe fruit. IN tropical countries Papaya juice is used for diseases of the spine, as it contains an enzyme that regenerates the connective tissue of the intervertebral discs. Perhaps it is precisely because of the frequent consumption of papaya that Asians are less susceptible to diseases of the musculoskeletal system, even despite the tradition of carrying heavy weights on their heads. Coconut (coconut, coconut)
Although they are often called "coconuts", they are not actually nuts, but drupes - stone fruits (like peaches). The weight of a coconut is 1.5-2.5 kg, its outer shell is green, brown or yellow, depending on the variety, riddled with fibers, and the inner, hard shell is the same “shell” that many are accustomed to seeing on store shelves. The liquid in a young coconut (coconut water) is clear and tasty; these are the kind of coconuts that are bought as a drink. Gradually, with the appearance of droplets of oil secreted by the bark inside, the liquid turns into a milky emulsion, then thickens and hardens, congealing on the walls of the shell. In Mexico, we mostly bought already hard, sliced coconuts. When eaten with chocolate, they are very reminiscent of Bounty bars. But coconut water was first tried in India. There, young coconuts are sold on every corner, and they are very cheap ($0.3 versus $1-1.5 in Bali). They are not sold in fruit trays, but often simply from a cart. Sometimes, right under the tree on the ground, there is a mountain of fresh coconuts and cracked knuckles. The sellers deftly, in 2-3 steps, cut off the top and insert the straw - the drink is ready 
A young coconut contains approximately 2 cups of "coconut milk". After the natural container is empty, you can ask to split it into 2 parts and with a spoon, made right there by the seller from one cut along the outer layer, scrape out the pulp - a translucent jelly liquid. In Bali, there are plenty of different varieties of both young and hard coconuts, and the latter are sold already shelled, which is very convenient. The Philippines ranks first in the world in coconut production, with about 20,000 thousand tons of fruit per year. Indonesia and India are in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. Coconut is a strong aphrodisiac; it normalizes the functioning of the reproductive system. Milk and coconut pulp restore strength well and improve vision. Coconut oil is generally a universal product; it is used in cooking, for medical and cosmetic purposes. Strengthens and nourishes hair, and also moisturizes and softens the skin, smoothing out wrinkles; improves the functioning of the digestive system and liver; normalize thyroid function; relaxes muscles and helps with joint problems; increases immunity and resistance to various infections, reduces the adaptability of bacteria to antibiotics. The pulp normalizes cholesterol levels in the blood; helps with colds, diarrhea, and gallbladder diseases; has antimicrobial, antiviral wound healing effects; reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and other diseases of the cardiovascular system, as well as cancer and degenerative processes. Hard coconuts contain B vitamins and vitamins C and E, as well as various mineral salts. In general, not a fruit, but a whole natural pharmacy. Pineapple (ananas, pineaple)
The largest pineapple plantations are concentrated in the Hawaiian Islands, accounting for about 30% of world production. Did you know that pineapples grow on bushes, not on trees? We were in Sri Lanka for the first time to see them grow, and we were very surprised. Pineapple, along with bananas, is one of the most popular fruits in Asia, we find them in every country - different varieties and sizes. We ate the most delicious pineapples in Sri Lanka - bright, sweet and juicy, with a rich aroma, just a heavenly pleasure. Our friends even brought these pineapples from Sri Lanka home to Russia as souvenirs. And in India we liked the way of cleaning pineapples on the beaches. In the states of Kerala and Goa, saleswomen carry fruits for sale in large basins on their heads, including pineapples. They are turned upside down, the skin is deftly peeled with a knife, and literally a minute later they are handed over like an ice cream cone. Pineapple is low in calories, and its high content of potassium salts helps get rid of excess liquid and even several kilograms of weight. Pineapple dessert improves the digestion of fatty foods and improves metabolism. Thanks to a complex of biologically active substances, pineapple stimulates digestion and reduces blood viscosity. Pineapple contains vitamins A, B and C, as well as numerous microelements, including bromelain, which improves the body's absorption of protein substances. Passion fruit (marakujya), also known as edible passionflower, or edible passionflower, or purple granadilla
We tried this passion fruit for the first time in Bali, and I must say that the first time it didn’t make much of an impression on us, but the second time we tried it – passion fruit is indeed very tasty and unusual. The color of the fruit, depending on the variety, varies from light yellow to dark burgundy; the jelly-like pulp can be transparent, beige, or greenish. The flavors are also quite different - from sweet and sour to very sweet. We have not yet become addicted to a specific variety, we are trying different ones. Simply cut the fruit in half, after which the aromatic, sweet pulp can be eaten with a spoon. Passion fruit seeds are also edible and are used to decorate cakes and other confectionery products. Sweet and sour passion fruit juice is valued in cooking, and since it also has good tonic properties, it is used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetology. The fruit is very effective in relieving headaches, muscle tension and insomnia. Guava (guava) or guava
The fruit is usually round, oval or pear-shaped, with a pleasant musky odor. The color of the fruit is very different - yellowish-white, bright yellow, reddish, greenish-white or completely green, the skin is always very thin. The fruits vary in size - from very small to large, depending on the variety. The pulp is white, yellow, pink or bright red, filled with hard seeds. The number of seeds ranges from 112 to 535 (and some fruits contain no seeds at all). Guava produces one main harvest, up to 100 kg per tree - and 2-4 additional, much smaller ones. The best mature trees yield 200-250 kg. in a year. The first time we tried guava was in India, where they prefer to eat it unripe and green. It is cut in half and sprinkled with pepper (we refrained from this addition). The taste is unusual, we liked it, but our stomachs didn’t really like the unripe fruit. In Bali we tried a different variety of guava, and this time we ate ripe fruit. These fruits are similar in size and color to Asian lemons, and the pale pink, tender pulp tastes like strawberries. 
Guava is a storehouse of health; it is the only fruit that contains 16 vitamins, minerals, salts and trace elements. Interesting fact: guava contains 5-10 times more vitamin C than orange. Guava fruits are widely used not only in food (jelly, jams, sauces, marmalade, juices), but also in the production of alcoholic beverages. Guava juice has a psychostimulating effect; in ancient times it was added to the drinks of warriors and hunters to give them vigor and strength, and Cuban women fed their lovers with these fruits; they contain aphrodisiacs - substances that strengthen “ male strength"and enhance sexual desire. Guava is also used as an air freshener - if the cut fruits are brought into a smoky room, the smell of tobacco will disappear after 10 minutes. Yellow watermelon
In appearance, this is an ordinary striped watermelon, only inside it is an unusual, bright yellow color. This watermelon was born as a result of crossing a wild watermelon (which is yellow) with a regular one. In addition to the unusual color, this watermelon contains very few seeds compared to red ones - sometimes we come across no seeds at all. The first time we tried yellow watermelon was in Malaysia and it was not very sweet, but in Bali we buy them often and always come across sweet ones. Once we bought both red and yellow to compare tastes, but the red one turned out to be less sweet, it even seemed watery, although if you eat it separately from the yellow one, it is quite aromatic and sweet 
Despite the fact that it is a hybrid, yellow watermelon, like regular watermelon, contains many vitamins and perfectly helps regulate the excretory system. Sapodilla (sapodilla) aka savo, aka chiku, aka ahra
A brown-green fruit, egg-shaped, up to 5 cm in size. Smaller fruits look like small potatoes, and larger ones look like kiwi. The peel is soft and easy to peel with a knife. The pulp is yellow-brown, juicy, very sweet with a caramel-date taste, sometimes even cloyingly sweet if the fruit is ripe. It is better to choose soft fruits, even if they are a little “shrunken”, they will definitely be sweeter. We first tried this fruit in India and it immediately became our second favorite (after bananas). In India it is called "chiku", so we are more used to this name. In Bali it is known as "savo", or "Balinese kiwi". The fruit is eaten both raw and cooked - in the form of jams and salads, also stewed with lime juice and ginger, put in pies and even made into wine based on it. Chiku is rich in plant proteins, carbohydrates, iron, potassium and calcium, as well as vitamins A and C. The beneficial properties of chiku are used by cosmetics manufacturers - the fruit has antiseptic and regenerating properties. Durian
In Southeast Asian countries, durian is considered the king of fruits. It is ovoid or round in shape, about 15-30 cm in diameter, weighing from 1 to 8 kg. Durian is completely covered with pyramidal hard thorns and is somewhat similar to Jack fruit; many tourists, due to inexperience, even confuse them. The fruit is a five-leaf capsule, each of the 5 chambers of the fruit contains one pale yellow seed with pulp, having the consistency of pudding and an incomparably “delicious” aroma. The smell of ripe fruit is really peculiar, very corrosive, sweetish-putrid. The raw pulp of ripe durian fruits is considered a delicacy; the fruits are eaten with hands, breaking them at the seams and removing the pulp with seeds from the chamber. 
Its taste is reminiscent of sweet almond cream with the addition of cream cheese, onion gravy, cherry syrup and other difficult-to-combine ingredients. Durian, if it is not overripe, smells only when cut, and the smell appears only half an hour after the fruit has been cut. The smell of durian is sometimes described as a mixture of rotten onions, cheese and turpentine. Because of this, in many countries in Southeast Asia it is prohibited to bring durian into public places and transport; in many hotels in countries where durian grows, there is even a poster with a crossed out image of the fruit. We saw a lot of such posters in Singapore, there is even a fine for it's supposed to. Durian contains a rich set of minerals - potassium, calcium, magnesium and zinc; these are vital elements for the functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, immune and other body systems. A decoction of durian leaves and roots is used as an antipyretic, and the pulp as an anthelmintic. It is eaten fresh, added to confectionery, as a filling in chocolates, ice cream, drinks, fried as a side dish, or mixed with rice. We first decided to get acquainted with the taste of durian in Malaysia by trying ice cream with this flavor. We didn’t like it at all, although it hardly had anything in common with the taste of a real fruit - it contained soy milk and a dozen flavorings, stabilizers, etc. We have never met anyone who is indifferent to this fruit – we either love it dearly or are disgusted by it. Previously, we avoided even talking about trying durian, but recently we finally decided to do this feat. Our verdict - durian has a very rich taste with many shades, we really liked it, so we will definitely buy it in the future. Carambola or star fruit
There are mainly 2 types: sour, usually green, and sweet, yellow. The fruit of both varieties is very juicy and slightly herbaceous. Sour varieties have a pronounced tonic effect; we tried them for the first time in Bali; these varieties are ideal for preparing salads. We became acquainted with sweet varieties a long time ago, while traveling around Europe, and especially fell in love with them in the Canary Islands. The juicy pulp most resembles a harmonious combination of gooseberries, apples and cucumbers. Sweet varieties are very tasty raw, they can also be added to fruit smoothies, or used as an edible decoration for ice cream and cakes - when cutting the fruit you get cute stars. Thanks to its juiciness, carambola is ideal for quenching thirst. Mineral and vitamin complex The fruit contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, beta-carotene and vitamins B1, B2, B5, and C. The aroma of carambola is greatly enhanced if it is lightly boiled in syrup until soft. Asian lemons
Of course, lemons are everywhere, and it’s a stretch to classify them as tropical fruits, but we decided to write about them anyway, because in appearance they are very different from the usual ones. Asian lemons are small, round, yellow-green or green, which makes them resemble the lime with which tourists often confuse them. By the way, lemon very well changes or transforms the taste of familiar fruits. Try, for example, sprinkling lemon juice on papaya and you will get an unusual taste; papaya will seem even sweeter. We also often use lemons to make lemon-ginger-honey tea. Lemon contains so much vitamin C that even when lemon juice is briefly heated to 100°C, the vitamin C content almost does not decrease, which allows you to add it to tea without losing it. useful properties(the main thing is not to boil it). Lemon juice is a preventative against heart attacks, strokes, and can also kill several dozen viruses. Chompu, jambolan, iambozaili or Malay apple, also called wax apple, rose apple, mountain apple or water apple
The fruits are oblong, bell-shaped. Although the fruit is called an apple, in appearance it more closely resembles a small pear 4-8 cm long. The fruit has a pink-red or dark red, sometimes red-green waxy skin, inside there is white juicy crispy pulp and 1 or 2 inedible brown seeds, although there are fruits and without seed. The ripe fruit has a pleasant, sweet aroma, and the fruit itself is good for quenching thirst. We first tried it in Bali - we bought it several times, and each time the tastes are different, from very sweet to tasteless watery, apparently we have not yet learned to determine the ripeness of the fruit. Ripe wax apple fruits are edible not only fresh, but also stewed with cloves and other spices, in cream. Unripe fruits are suitable for making preserves, jams and marinades. White and red wine are also made from these fruits. Malay apple contains bioactive substances that reduce blood sugar levels, so it is very useful for diabetics. It is also actively used in folk medicine in many tropical countries. For example, a decoction of the tree bark is used for intestinal disorders, a decoction of the root is used as a diuretic, and the juice from the leaves is used as a facial lotion or taken in a bath. The fruit has an antimicrobial effect and is used to regulate blood pressure and treat colds. Sirsak, guanabana, annona prickly or soursop
The fruits are heart-shaped or oval, irregular in shape, 15-20 cm in length and weighing up to 3 kg. The peel is thin and hard, has small fleshy spines arranged in a mesh pattern, the color is dark green, sometimes with black spots, the ripe fruit turns slightly yellow. The pulp is juicy, fibrous, light cream, similar to custard, divided into segments, has an aromatic unique smell reminiscent of pineapple, the taste is sweet with a slight sourness, nutmeg. The fruit is eaten both fresh and used to make drinks, desserts, fruit salads and ice cream. The fruits are collected unripe and hard, because if they are allowed to ripen on the tree, they fall and are damaged. At room temperature they ripen and become soft. In Indonesia, unripe fruits are used as vegetables. We eat it fresh; we tried it for the first time in the Canary Islands, but we didn’t appreciate the taste then and didn’t buy it for a long time. And just recently, when we wanted something exotic and bought sirsak, I liked the taste. We simply cut it in half, similar to pitaya, and eat the pulp with spoons, but you can cut it into cubes and eat it with a fork, whichever is more convenient for you. Sirsak contains important minerals - calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, as well as vitamin C and B vitamins. The fruit is good for intestinal microflora, improves liver function, normalizes stomach acidity, removes uric acid from the body, so it is recommended for people suffering from such diseases such as rheumatism, arthritis and gout. In folk medicine, the bark and leaves are used as an antispasmodic and sedative; they are used for insomnia, cough, flu, asthenia, asthma and hypertension. Bananas
This is definitely one of the most popular fruits on the planet. It’s hard to believe when looking at a pile of identical bananas in Lenta or Auchan, but there are more than 40 all over the world various types. We saw the most varieties on sale at the same time in India (about a dozen). They sell bananas there different colors, shapes and sizes from very small ones, the size of a little finger, to gigantic ones up to 30 cm, and of course, each of them has its own, unique taste. In India, bananas were our number one fruit. Firstly, they are incredibly tasty, most of all we loved the yellow, finger and red ones, they are very sweet. Secondly, because of their ease of cleaning and safety in unsanitary conditions. Thirdly, they are very cheap - $0.3-0.5 for a large bunch, weighing 1.5 kg. By the way, red bananas are practically not exported because they are very soft and delicate and can be easily damaged during transportation. Ecuadorian bananas, which everyone is accustomed to in Russia, cannot be compared with Asian varieties in terms of sweetness and aroma. Bananas are conventionally divided into two main groups: dessert bananas, which are consumed raw or dried, and platanos, which require heat treatment. The pulp of dessert varieties is very sweet in taste, contains a large amount of sugars, carbohydrates and a small amount of proteins and fats, so they are often used in sports nutrition. Platano is a fruit with green or red skin, with starchy, hard, often unsweetened pulp; it is fried, boiled or steamed before consumption. Most often in markets and cafes they are sold as a snack - banana chips or dessert "bananas in batter." Bananas contain more vitamin B6 than other fruits; it is this vitamin that is responsible for good mood, and due to its high phosphorus content, banana is called a fruit for intelligence. By weight, the banana harvest ranks second in the world, ahead of grapes (third place) and behind oranges (first place). India grows the largest number of bananas in the world. Dried bananas - "banana figs" - can be stored for quite a long time. In addition to fruits, young shoots of plants can be eaten; for example, in India they are used to prepare curry. In Bali, we tried to make our own curry from young shoots, but apparently we didn’t take something into account - it turned out to be very bitter in taste. By the way, you can buy bananas unripe and they will ripen at home, but you should not store them in the refrigerator, where they quickly turn black. Banana leaves serve as decorative elements in ceremonies of Buddhist and Hindu cultures. They are also used as plates for traditional South Asian food in India and Sri Lanka. In Kerala we ate from such a leaf many times; Indians believe that the leaf on which dinner is served gives the food a distinctive taste. Fun fact: the world record for eating bananas is 81 bananas per hour! The world's largest collection of bananas, including more than 470 varieties and about 100 species, is located in Honduras. Cocoa
Now we are not talking about dried cocoa beans, but about the plant itself and its fruits. We first encountered it in Bali, and can sometimes be found in fruit stands or coffee plantations. The ripe fruit is bright yellow, large, 15-20 cm, shaped like a lemon, equipped with longitudinal grooves, inside there are many large seeds, arranged in several rows and surrounded by white juicy pulp, which you can enjoy. We wrote more about the cultivation, drying and production of cocoa butter and cocoa powder, which are subsequently used to make chocolate, in the article “Chocolate trees or how cocoa is grown in Bali.” Conclusion
In this article, we told you only about those fruits that we ourselves managed to become quite familiar with and taste thoroughly. There are still so many interesting fruits in Asia that we are just looking at or have tried once, but have not yet understood the taste, that the fruit topic is not yet closed
What fruits do you like? Or perhaps you have tried some interesting exotic fruit that we have not written about? Share this in the comments, we’ll be happy to read it! List of green fruits that you can find anywhere. Some fruits are well known, while some are known only in vacation spots, at resorts. Others are not known to ordinary people at all. But these fruits have one thing in common - they are all green.
Of course, some fruits may have a different color, for example, yellow, orange, red, etc., but this depends on the variety and type of fruit and the time of ripening.
It is a fruit that resembles a vegetable rather than a fruit. Avocado pulp is very rich in vitamins. You can find out more about him.
Annona squamosus, sugar apple
The fruits are 5-10 centimeters in diameter. The peel is covered with scales. The pulp has a sweet taste. The seed grains are poisonous.
This fruit has very soft flesh. It's edible. Various products are made from the fruit. The seeds are poisonous. Distributed in the tropics.
A pineapple
Watermelon
This fruit is known to everyone. You can find out more about him.
Banana
This fruit is known to everyone. You can find out more about him.
The pulp of white sapota is juicy, with a sour taste. The fruits are similar to an apple. They are eaten raw. Grows in the subtropics.
Grape
Delicious berries that are well known in post-Soviet countries.
Voavangi berries are small in size, 5x4.5 centimeters. Ripe voavanga has a sweet and sour taste. Voavanga is grown in warm countries, mainly in tropical Africa.
Guava fruits are eaten raw. Various products are also prepared from them. Guava berries range in size from 4 to 12 centimeters. Today, guava is grown in the subtropics and subtropics. There are many different varieties that differ in many ways.
This fruit has huge fruits. Can reach a weight of up to 25 kilograms. The taste of jackfruit is peculiar with a fresh-sweet taste. It gives off a sweet smell.
Durian is an unforgettable fruit or “King among fruits”. You can read a detailed article about durian.
Cainito, star apple
Cainito berries reach sizes of up to 10 centimeters. Cainito grows in warm countries. Mainly grows in Central and South America. They eat its pulp with a spoon. The crust is inedible.
The carambola fruit in cross section resembles a star, which is what makes it memorable. Eating carambola should be done with caution, because there are contraindications for certain types of diseases.
Coconut palm
Everyone knows what a coconut is. When fresh, coconut is green in color. A wide variety of products are made from coconut food products. They drink the juice from an unripe coconut by making a hole in the coconut. Not only the palm drupe is used, but all parts as well. For example, wine, vodka, vinegar, syrup and sugar are made from palm sap. Coconut grows in the tropics all over the world.
Corilla, cyclanthera
This is a climbing tree up to 5 meters long. Berries can be up to 23x7 centimeters in size. The pulp is juicy with a pleasant taste, similar to cucumber. Grows in the tropics on mountains and subtropics.
Lime
Lucuma tree up to 15 meters high. Turkish delight berries are similar to tomatoes, with a diameter of 10 centimeters. The pulp is not very juicy, but tastes sweet. The collected ripe fruits are kept for several days and then only eaten. Grows in South and Central America.
Mango is one of the most delicious fruits. Each variety has its own unique taste. You can read more about it.
passion fruit
Passion fruit is mostly brown in color, but there are also greenish varieties. It grows all over the world in the tropics and subtropics. You can read more.
Momordica, bitter cucumber
Momordica is a climbing plant. The fruits, similar to cucumbers, are collected in their unripe green form. When the fruit is ripe, it turns bright yellow or orange. It is more of a vegetable than a fruit. The fruits are bitter, they are first processed and only then prepared for food. The sap of the plant is poisonous in its raw form. This fruit grows in Russia, follow the link and find out where. Grows throughout the world in warm climates.
This is a small tree up to 6 meters. Fruits up to 15 centimeters in size. Unripe fruits are eaten raw; they do not taste very good. Grows in the tropical zone.
Papeda is a tree up to 12 meters high. Papeda fruits are 7 centimeters in diameter. The pulp of the fruit has a sour or bitter taste. Externally similar to lime. Grown in South and Southeast Asia.
Pomelo tree up to 15 meters high. The fruits can be up to 50 centimeters in diameter. The fruits do not taste bitter, even pleasant. Grows in the tropics and subtropics.
This tree is up to 20 meters high. The fruits are 15 centimeters in diameter and are very tasty. This fruit is considered one of the best tropical fruits. Grows in Central and South America.
The plant reaches a height of 3-8 meters. The fruit reaches sizes up to 25x5 centimeters. The pulp tastes like peas. Grows in Central America.
Closely related to chayote. The fruits are not big. It tastes like cucumber. Cooked like vegetables.
Pumpkin tree, calabash tree
The tree reaches a height of 10 meters. The fruits are round and up to 40 centimeters in size. The pulp of young fruits is pickled in vinegar. The seeds are fried and eaten. Fresh fruits cannot be eaten; they are poisonous. Grows in Central America. Previously, dishes were made from shells, but now plastic has replaced it.
Philippine rose apple
The tree reaches a height of 40 meters. The fruits are 6 centimeters in diameter. The fruits are eaten raw and cooked. Grows in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
The fruit of this plant is similar to durian. The fruits are tasty and are considered a staple food in the tropics. Grows in the tropics.
Chayote, Mexican cucumber
Chayote is a climbing plant up to 20 meters. The berries reach a length of 7 to 20 centimeters. The pulp is similar to a cucumber. It is used throughout the world as a vegetable, in tropical and subtropical areas.
Cherimoya, Annona Cherimola
Distributed throughout the mountainous regions of the tropics, in subtropical and Mediterranean climates. This fruit has fruits refined taste. It is eaten by cutting it into two parts and eating the inner pulp with a spoon. The seeds are poisonous. Made from cherimoya various dishes and products.
Black sapota or black persimmon
Tree up to 25 meters high. The berry is similar to a tomato, measuring 10x13 centimeters. It has a mild sweetish-nutty taste. Grows in tropical countries.
Exotic fruits photos with names: 15 most interesting
Today, in the refrigerator of the average resident of the post-Soviet space, exotic fruits have become commonplace, the existence of which we only heard about thirty years ago, but not all of which we have tried. This includes kiwi, pineapple, avocado, persimmon, and, of course, bananas. Moreover, we learned to grow some of the tropical fruits at home. Others have been replenished with species and varieties that can withstand the low winter temperatures of our climate zone, so they can grow here, next to apple and pear trees.
Exotic fruits.
But there is Exotic fruits, which even in megamarkets are a huge rarity, because they cost “too decent” money as a result of complex transportation due to the short storage period. But in tropical countries these gifts of nature are part of daily diet local residents. And... definitely tourists, because it would be a sin, having visited an exotic country, not to get acquainted with the fruits of its plants. In our list you will find 15 of the most interesting, in terms of tasty/healthy, exotic fruits that you definitely need to try, for example, on vacation.
Exotic fruit Carambola
This fruit is called differently in different parts, but the most popular names are “carambola” or “carambola”. You can try it on vacation in the countries of Southeast Asia. Carom is also grown in the American states of Florida and Hawaii. The yellow-green ribbed tropical fruit is known primarily for its non-standard “shape”. If you cut the carambola crosswise, you will get a pronounced star shape - a ready-made decoration for the festive table.
The taste is, as they say, not for everyone. Like gooseberries with a taste of apple and... cucumber? Carom contains so much liquid that it is better to drink than to eat. The fruits are rich in vitamin C, calcium, iron, and sodium. Calorie content is only 35 kcal per 100 grams. A dream for those who want to lose weight!
Carambola.
Dragonfruit or pitaya
If you love growing cacti, you should definitely enjoy their fruits at least once in your life. Dragonfruit, or dragon fruit, or pitaya, or pitahaya, grows on a vine-shaped cactus in Central and South America, where it comes from, as well as in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia, where it has been successfully cultivated for many years. Dragon fruit looks very exotic - a bright pink elongated “apple”, covered with scales, with bright light green ends. Its delicate pulp comes in different colors, each variety has its own.
Pitaya fruits can be almost tasteless. But it is still noticeable in bright red specimens - it is an approximate mix of banana and kiwi flavors. Pitaya pulp is very watery, rich in small seeds containing tannin, an essential substance for good vision. Another “usefulness” of this tropical fruit is that people with diabetes can eat it without restrictions, since dragonfruit reduces blood glucose levels. True, “without restrictions” is not about this exotic, since overeating pitahaya leads to diarrhea.
Dragonfruit or pitaya
Guava, or psidium
These tropical fruits, having a round or oval shape, they are from 4 to 12 cm in length, grow in the tropics of India, Mexico, Africa and in the countries of Southeast Asia. Guava has a pleasant smell of lemon zest, and its pulp tastes sweet or sour. It is recommended to consume only fresh, ripe psidium fruits. They are very rich in pectin, a substance that removes toxins from the body. Unripe guava is sour and can negatively affect kidney function.
This tropical fruit is eaten with the peel, but if you bought it in a supermarket in Europe or Russia, you should still peel the guava before eating. For long-term storage, guava is treated with chemicals that will not bring any benefit to your body.
Guava, or psidium
Acai, or euterpa vegetable
“Fountain of youth”, “superfood”, “Amazonian pearl” – these are all the names acai berries are called today in advertising publications recommending them as a panacea for rejuvenating the body and losing weight. True, in nature, the Euterpe palm tree, the fruit of which is the acai berry, grows only on the Brazilian shores of the Amazon, and is cultivated only in countries with a tropical climate. The berries themselves have a shelf life of only a few hours! That is, most consumers are familiar with vegetable euterpa from capsules, juices, dietary supplements and nutritional mixtures.
If you have the opportunity to try acai bowl somewhere on vacation in a hot country, be sure to do it! First of all, it's delicious. Each berry tastes like wine with a slight hint of chocolate. And, secondly... No, these are - firstly - the tropical acai berries healthy berries in the world! It is believed that these fruits contain a unique concentration of antioxidants, the energy of which is incomparable to any other fruit or berry.
Acai berries, or euterpe vegetable
Star apple or kainito
You can enjoy these tropical fruits while relaxing in the countries of Southeast Asia, South America, West Africa and India. They have an oval or round shape, up to 10 cm in diameter. The skin of the star apple is either green, purple or brown, depending on the variety. It is thin, but underneath it is a layer of the same color, thicker and also inedible, that protects the sweet and sticky, jelly-like juicy pulp. It tastes like our apple. If you look at a cross-section of kainito, you will see its flesh in the shape of a star.
Only ripe fruits are tasty; they have a slightly wrinkled rind. The star apple is stored at temperatures from +2 to +8 degrees for about three weeks and easily tolerates transportation. So you can bring a couple of these overseas apples as souvenirs from your trip. Cainito is eaten chilled. These are very nutritious tropical apples with a high content of vitamin C.
Star apple, or kainito.
Exotic Jackfruit
The largest tree fruits in the world are jackfruits. India and Bangladesh are considered to be their homeland. There, jackfruits are revered as bread, and the trees on which they grow are called Indian breadfruit trees. They also grow in almost all countries of Southeast Asia. The length of jackfruit can vary from 20 to 90 cm (!), and its weight reaches 34 kg. When tapped, ripe fruits make the same sound as our ripe watermelons. Inside, the jackfruit is divided into large lobes filled with sweet and aromatic pulp. True, there is one “but”. In the bouquet of the aroma of cut fruit, next to the pronounced notes of banana and pineapple, there is also a subtle smell of... acetone.
Ripe tropical fruits are very filling. They contain up to 40% carbohydrates. They are also a source of vitamin A, sulfur, potassium, calcium and phosphorus. The seeds are also tasty and nutritious. Usually, they are roasted like chestnuts. Ripe jackfruit is consumed fresh, while unripe fruits are fried, steamed and boiled like vegetables.
Jackfruit
Exotic fruit Longan
The longan tree grows in Taiwan and China, Indonesia and Vietnam, but you can enjoy its fruits while relaxing in other Asian tropical countries. For example, in Thailand it grows in the northern regions. The thin skin of longan is easily removed. Its color can vary from yellowish-red to brown. The pulp of this fruit is very juicy and sweet, slightly musky. Longan grows in clusters on trees.
They also sell it in bunches, like the grapes we are used to. If you buy one, try one first. There are varieties that are more sour or sweeter. It is not freshly picked longan that is considered tastier, but one that has been sitting for a couple of days. This fruit is an extremely rich source of magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A and C, and is considered a powerful antioxidant.
Longan.
Rambutan
Outwardly it resembles something walnuts, but it has a hairy skin that protects the tasty and very tender pulp. Rambutan is mainly grown in Southeast Asian countries. The peel of its fruits can be different: either red, or yellow, or white, its color depends on the variety. But, in any case, the peel is not edible.
Ripe rambutan is a rich source of carbohydrates, proteins and beta-carotene. It also contains phosphorus, calcium, copper and iron. This tropical fruit is also one of the record holders for the presence of vitamin C and the B group of vitamins (so necessary for beauty).
Rambutan.
Tropical fruit Langsat
Langsat, or longsat, grows in almost every corner of the Earth with a tropical climate. But this fruit is especially popular in Thailand, which exports it to almost every country in the world. Externally, the fruits look “so-so”, reminiscent of new potatoes. But inside, ripe langsat is very sweet, although there are also sour varieties.
Langsat is an essential ingredient in Asian cuisine. It has a specific taste that can add non-standard shades to different dishes. It is boiled and canned, but langsat can also be eaten raw. It makes very tasty drinks. The fruits are widely used in Thai medicine. They are rich in vitamin C, calcium and carbohydrates.
Langsat.
Tropical fruit Papaya
Papaya today is grown in almost all tropical countries, although its homeland is considered to be the south of Mexico and Central America. It has also been found in our supermarkets lately. However, those who bought it most often rate this fruit as a rare dislike. At the same time, papaya is one of the most delicious plant fruits in nature! But this can only be said about ripe fruits. They are firm to the touch and have a slightly wrinkled greenish-orange skin. Papaya, as a rule, ends up on the shelves of European stores in an unripe state.
And when ripe it is sweet, juicy and tasty. It only has 39 calories per hundred grams! The beneficial properties of papaya have been known since ancient times. The fruits are rich in papain, a substance that helps the body extract maximum benefits from food. In addition, papaya is a source of calcium and sodium, iron and phosphorus.
Papaya
Exotic fruit Lychee
The fruit of an evergreen tree growing in tropical countries is called differently in different regions: linchi, liji, lyzhi, laysi or Chinese plum. The harvest ripens in clusters in May-June. Lychee is a red oval “plum” about 4 cm long. Its peel has sharp tubercles, and inside it is a light jelly-like mass, tasty, like sweet grapes.
Fresh liji fruits are always bright. They darken over time and, accordingly, their taste deteriorates. The lychee skin is inedible, but can be easily removed with your fingers. Most European tourists consider the Chinese plum to be the most delicious tropical fruit. But it is valuable not only because of its excellent taste. Lychee berries contain huge amounts of B vitamins. Therefore, by eating them on vacation, you have an excellent opportunity to “heal”, among other things, your nails and hair.
Lychee.
passion fruit
This tropical vine is cultivated in hot and humid countries, primarily for its valuable juice. It is very aromatic, so it is added to many other industrially produced juices. Ripe passion fruit is an oval dark purple fruit from 6 to 12 cm in length. To enjoy the aromatic pulp, simply cut the fruit into two parts. Passion fruit seeds are also tasty and edible. They are often used to decorate confectionery products. Passion fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week.
A very valuable food product due to its ability to remove uric acid from the body. In addition, it is an excellent antipyretic and sedative. They say that one fruit at night helps a lot to fall asleep after a busy day of tourism. When you're in the tropics, be sure to check it out!
Passion fruit.
Mangosteen or mangosteen
There are tropical fruits in nature that contain almost a complete set of vitamins and microelements, in varying quantities included in all the others, known to mankind, fruit. These include mangosteen. If you eat a couple of mangosteen fruits a day, you will fully meet your vitamin and mineral needs. It’s not for nothing that mangosteen is called the king of fruits.
This hybrid, in the creation of which man was not involved, is the so-called polyploid of two tree species. Mangosteen contains not only carbohydrates, proteins, but also fats. And most importantly, it also contains 39 of the 200 natural antioxidants known to medicine today. These tropical fruits taste like strawberries, grapes, cherries and pineapple at the same time.
Mangosteen or mangosteen
Exotic Durian
You still need to look for something as exotic as durian throughout the tropics. Its fruit is huge - up to 30 cm in length and up to 8 kg in weight. It is all covered with pyramidal spines, and inside there is juicy tender pulp, divided into five chambers. Very popular in its homeland - in the countries of Southeast Asia, in Central Africa and Brazil. You will probably never hear such conflicting reviews about the same fruit again. For some, the taste of durian is reminiscent of nut-cheese paste, others claim that it is similar to custard, others think that durian tastes like a banana seasoned with spices, or dried persimmon with strawberries... In general, try it and share your opinion .
Durian is a rich source of vitamins B and C and is the only edible fruit containing organic sulfur. It’s important to know one more thing about durian – it has a very unpleasant smell! In fresh form, it is not allowed to be brought into a hotel or public transport. Durian is exported only dried or canned. And at least a few hours before and after eating durian, you should refrain from drinking alcohol. This is fraught with health complications!
Durian
Mango
Among other exotics, mango has recently seemed less and less exotic to us. We are starting to get used to it, just as we once got used to kiwi and pineapples, because more and more often you can buy mangoes in supermarkets major cities Russia and near abroad. In India and Pakistan, where mangoes come from, this tree is considered national symbol. This crop is cultivated in almost all countries with a tropical climate. 300 species of mango have been bred, 35 varieties of which are grown on an industrial scale.
Therefore, it is difficult to say about the ripeness of this tropical fruit by its color; the color of the fruit depends on its variety. Mangoes are also eaten unripe; many people like these fruits even more than ripe ones. If desired, the mango can be placed in a dark place at room temperature and the fruit will “reach the desired condition” in a week. The main difference between mango and all other fruits is that its fruits are rich in essential amino acids, which a person can only obtain from food. And it contains five times more carotene than tangerines! Well, of course, a whole range of vitamins and microelements is also available. By the way, some nutritionists consider the mango-milk diet to be the most balanced.
Mango
But, we hope, you won’t lose weight on vacation... Therefore, remember that mango, first of all, is simply very, very tasty!
Attention! Write in the comments to the article, which of these exotic fruits have you tried? Which ones did you like and which ones did you not? What does this or that fruit taste like?
Fruits imported from hot countries have long ceased to be considered exotic. In the supermarket you can buy products from anywhere in the world. Bananas, which once seemed like a miracle, have become the same as apples or pears. However, there are also exotic fruits on store shelves, photos with names of which are difficult to find even on the Internet. There are also those that are well-known, but you can only buy them in countries with a tropical climate.
The most unusual fruits in the world
- Passion fruit. This is not the rarest exotic fruit. It came to Europe from South America. Thanks to his unusual taste Passion fruit is used in the production of confectionery products. The juice of this fruit is often used in making cocktails, including alcoholic ones.
- Salak. The herring received its second name “snake fruit” because its dark brown peel resembles the skin of a reptile. The peeled fruit is similar to garlic. Its flesh is light brown in color and has a sweet, specific taste. Cleaning herring is not easy. This requires special skill to avoid cuts on your hands.
- Atemoya. The most exotic fruits in the world are often hidden under an inconspicuous shell, without attracting much attention. Atemoya is one of these inconspicuous fruits. The fruit tastes like cream made from pineapple and mango.
- Durian. Not everyone will risk trying it. The fact is that this fruit has such a disgusting smell that it is forbidden to bring it into public places. A person who has managed to overcome disgust may be surprised at how excellent this green, foul-smelling exotic fruit tastes.
- Pitaya. The second name is “dragon fruit”. It grows in many countries around the world, but Mexico is considered its homeland.
- Hand of Buddha. The bright yellow fruit is often used to make perfume. In China, the Hand of Buddha is considered a talisman. It is kept in the house as a talisman.
- Akebia quintuple. The inedible lilac fruit is otherwise called the “climbing cucumber.” Most often, the fruits can be found in China, Japan and Korea. Akebia pulp tastes like raspberries. In addition, cucumber has many beneficial properties.
- Rambutan. The red exotic fruit is well protected by a dense peel with soft needles. Despite its menacing appearance, rambutan is easy to clean. Its pulp tastes like grapes and has a jelly-like structure. It is no coincidence that rambutan fruits are used to make jelly. The seeds of this fruit are fried and also eaten.
- Pandanus. Its second name is wild pineapple. Pandanus is found on the Malaysian islands. This red exotic fruit, similar in taste to pineapple, is used to make paint.
- Kiwano. The fruit can be found not only in exotic countries, but also in Europe. Under the bright yellow shell with spikes lies light green flesh, similar to cucumber. Kiwano has a melon scent. The fruit tastes like a mixture of kiwi, lemon and banana.
Exotic fruits of Thailand
If you dream of trying as many exotic fruits as possible, go to Thailand.
It is not always easy for foreign tourists to navigate the Thai market, since not every foreigner knows how to eat this or that fruit. Even pineapples and bananas, which are well known to Europeans, are important to be able to choose correctly. For example, some varieties of pineapples remain green after reaching maturity. Tourists believe that they are dealing with unripe fruit. The most delicious pineapples come from Chang Rai. They can be recognized by their miniature size. However, finding such fruits is quite difficult, since they are not sold everywhere. Bananas at the Thai market are also presented in a large assortment: large, small, green, yellow, with pits, etc. Local residents know hundreds of recipes for preparing this fruit. Bananas are dried, fried, boiled, and seasoned with spices.
- Guava is a fruit that looks like an apple. Inside there are light seeds and loose pulp. Tourists who decide to try the green exotic fruit will be disappointed. Guava is practically tasteless. Thais eat it with sugar or spices. To avoid disappointment, you should only buy fruits soaked in sugar syrup.
- Jackfruit is considered one of the largest fruits in the world. They sell it peeled, since without special skills it is impossible to peel the fruit yourself. Jackfruit tastes like marshmallow. The seeds removed from the fruit are sold separately, baked or boiled.
- The graceful carambola fruits are shaped like a starfish. In Thailand, they are widely used in the preparation of salads, drinks and sauces. You can determine maturity by taste. It should be sweetish (not cloying). Unripe fruit is usually sour.
- Among the most popular exotic fruits of the abundant Thailand is mango. In this country you can find a huge number of varieties of the fruit, which is well known to Europeans. Depending on the variety, the color can range from light green to bright red. The taste also varies. Mango is highly valued as a source of vitamins. It is used in the treatment of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as diseases of the cardiovascular system. The fruit is also recommended for those who suffer from oral diseases.
- The dirty green fruit “pomelo” is not considered exotic on European shelves. Despite its external unattractiveness, it has a pleasant taste. You don't have to go abroad to try this fruit prepared in Thai style. Just mix sugar, red pepper and salt in equal proportions. Eat the pomelo by dipping the slices in this mixture.
- The pink apple is of considerable interest to tourists. This fruit got its name due to a misunderstanding, since the fruit has nothing to do with real apples. The shape of the fruit is similar to a bell. Their color can hardly be called pink. It's more of a pale red. The smell of the fruit is reminiscent of roses. The skin of the fruit is thin and easy to peel. The pulp is loose and is mainly used for making desserts.
- Huge brown beans are actually exotic and very tasty fruits of Thailand. These are tamarinds. This species has a sweet and sour tart taste. Thais eat tamarinds raw, as most of the fruit is edible. In addition, the fruit can be used to make a refreshing drink. Sauces are also prepared from them. But for this you need to choose a special, sour variety of the fruit.
You can buy unusual fruits in Thailand not only at the market. Not every tourist wants to waste their time visiting a noisy bazaar. You can buy the coveted jackfruit or guava right on the beach. Teenagers with huge baskets walk along the coast and buy fruits and drinks made from them. However, it should be borne in mind that everything on the beach will cost much more than on the market. Fruits are also sold in special stalls in the city. When going to mysterious Thailand, do not forget to carefully look at the exotic fruits sold there in a book or on the Internet; photos with names will be an excellent guide to the Thai market.