Fruits

All Fruits

1

Abiu

Pouteria caimito

A bright yellow Amazonian fruit with translucent jelly-like flesh and a flavor reminiscent of crème caramel — sticky white latex and all.

2

Acai

Euterpe oleracea

A small dark purple Amazonian palm berry that briefly conquered Western health foods in the 2000s — the actual fruit is mostly pit, with a thin, oily, antioxidant-rich pulp.

3

Acerola

Malpighia emarginata

A small bright-red Caribbean cherry-like fruit packed with extraordinarily high vitamin C — used in juices and supplements rather than fresh eating because of its short shelf life.

4

Ackee

Blighia sapida

A West African red-skinned fruit that opens to reveal yellow custard-textured arils — the national fruit of Jamaica, but lethally toxic if eaten before fully ripe.

5

African Cherry Orange

Citropsis articulata

A small, thick-skinned wild African citrus with intensely fragrant peel and tart pulp — used more for marmalade and traditional medicine than fresh eating.

6

Akebi

Akebia quinata

A Japanese vine fruit with a pale-purple pod that splits open along its length when ripe, exposing translucent white-grey flesh studded with tiny black seeds — eaten as a brief seasonal delicacy.

7

American Mayapple

Podophyllum peltatum

An odd umbrella-leafed forest plant with a single yellow fruit hidden under its canopy — edible only when fully ripe, and toxic in every other part.

8

Amla

Phyllanthus emblica

The Indian gooseberry — a small, translucent greenish-yellow fruit of extreme sourness and bitterness, one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C; sacred in Hindu tradition and the foundation of Ayurvedic medicine for 5,000 years.

9

Apple

Malus domestica

A pome fruit of the rose family, originally from the mountains of Central Asia, now grown in over 7,500 named varieties across the temperate world.

10

Apricot

Prunus armeniaca

A small velvet-skinned orange stone fruit with a brief season — eaten fresh, dried, or jammed across cuisines from Persian to Provençal.

11

Araza

Eugenia stipitata

A bright yellow, intensely tart Amazonian fruit too acidic to eat fresh — instead processed into juice, ice cream, and the famous Peruvian araza-pisco cocktail.

12

Atemoya

Annona × atemoya

A tropical hybrid fruit — cherimoya × sugar apple — with sweet creamy white flesh, large dark seeds, and a tropical flavor between vanilla custard and pineapple, eaten fresh in tropical regions.

13

Avocado

Persea americana

A creamy single-seeded berry from Central America, beloved for its buttery flesh and unusually high content of monounsaturated fats.

14

Bael

Aegle marmelos

A sacred Indian fruit tree — the bael (Bengal quince or stone apple) is one of the most revered plants in Hinduism, its trifoliate leaves used in Shiva worship; the fruit is a hard-shelled sphere the size of a large orange, with dry, orange, aromatic flesh inside that is eaten fresh or made into a beloved Indian drink; dried bael slices are a staple of traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

15

Banana

Musa acuminata

A tropical berry of the genus Musa, the most widely consumed fruit in the world by weight, mostly grown from a single sterile clone.

16

Bergamot

Citrus bergamia

The citrus fruit that gives Earl Grey tea its distinctive floral, perfumed flavour — a sour, pear-shaped orange-yellow fruit grown almost exclusively in Calabria, southern Italy; too bitter to eat fresh, its cold-pressed rind oil is one of the most important aromatic compounds in perfumery and flavouring.

17

Bilberry

Vaccinium myrtillus

A small dark blue European wild berry — close cousin of the blueberry, but smaller, darker, more intensely flavored, and almost impossible to cultivate commercially.

18

Black Sapote

Diospyros nigra

A green-skinned Mexican fruit whose ripe interior turns into a thick chocolate-pudding-like brown mash — eaten with a spoon or used as a vegan chocolate substitute.

19

Blackberry

Rubus fruticosus

A glossy black aggregate fruit of bramble vines — fierce wild thickets across temperate regions and the most-foraged fruit in many countries, with intense sweet-tart flavor and abundant seeds.

20

Blackcurrant

Ribes nigrum

A small intensely-flavored European berry that's a household staple in Britain and Eastern Europe but virtually unknown in the US — banned for decades to protect the timber industry.

21

Blood Orange

Citrus × sinensis

A red-fleshed orange variety from Sicily and Spain — its dramatic red color comes from anthocyanins triggered by cold winter nights, a chemistry trick most citrus regions can't replicate.

22

Blueberry

Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush) / V. angustifolium (lowbush)

A small, deep-blue North American berry famous for its high antioxidant content, eaten fresh or in baked goods, jams, and breakfast cereals.

23

Boysenberry

Rubus ursinus × idaeus

A large dark purple hybrid berry created in 1920s California — half blackberry, half raspberry, with logan and dewberry mixed in — that became a Disneyland concession and Knott's Berry Farm legacy.

24

Breadfruit

Artocarpus altilis

A large green tropical fruit with starchy white flesh that bakes to a bread-like texture — staple food across the Pacific Islands and Caribbean, the cargo that triggered the famous Mutiny on the Bounty.

25

Buddha's Hand

Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis

A bizarre yellow citrus that splits into long finger-like segments — all peel and pith with no juice or pulp, used purely for fragrance and zest.

26

Cactus Pear

Opuntia ficus-indica

A magenta-fleshed prickly cactus fruit (also called prickly pear or tuna) with a sweet melon-watermelon flavor — heavily harvested in Mexico, Sicily, and the American Southwest.

27

Calamansi

Citrus × microcarpa (syn. Calamondin)

A tiny citrus from Southeast Asia — a cross between mandarin orange and kumquat, producing a small round fruit with orange flesh and a thin green skin; intensely sour with aromatic orange notes, indispensable in Filipino and Malaysian cooking.

28

Canistel

Pouteria campechiana

A bright orange Caribbean fruit (also called egg-fruit) with the dry mealy texture of a hard-boiled egg yolk — eaten fresh, in shakes, or as a chilled custard.

29

Cantaloupe

Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis (European); var. reticulatus (American)

An orange-fleshed netted melon — the muskmelon of summer markets, named after a papal estate in Italy, eaten chilled with prosciutto or as a breakfast staple.

30

Carolina Reaper

Capsicum chinense

A bred-for-extreme chili pepper that held the Guinness record as the world's hottest from 2013 to 2023, with an averaged 1.6 million Scoville heat units.

31

Caviar Lime

Citrus australasica

An Australian rainforest citrus whose elongated finger-shaped fruits burst with translucent pearl-like vesicles — a high-end garnish that exploded in popularity with molecular cuisine.

32

Cempedak

Artocarpus integer

A close cousin of jackfruit grown across Malaysia and Indonesia — smaller, sweeter, more pungent, and rarely seen outside Southeast Asia because of its overpowering smell.

33

Cherimoya

Annona cherimola

A heart-shaped Andean fruit with green dimpled skin and creamy custard-like flesh — described by Mark Twain as "the most delicious fruit known to men," with a flavor that combines banana, pineapple, and strawberry.

34

Cherry

Prunus avium (sweet) / Prunus cerasus (tart)

A small stone fruit of the rose family, with sweet eating varieties and tart pie varieties — pitted and bright in pies, preserves, and liqueurs.

35

Chico Fruit

Manilkara zapota

Another name for sapodilla — a small brown Mexican-Filipino fruit with grainy sweet flesh tasting of brown sugar and pear, tied to the same tree that produces chicle (chewing-gum sap).

36

Chile Pepper

Capsicum (genus, multiple species)

A diverse family of fiery fruits from the Capsicum genus — used fresh, dried, smoked, ground, and fermented across nearly every world cuisine.

37

Citron

Citrus medica

The ancient ancestor of all citrus fruits — a large, rough-skinned yellow fruit valued more for its thick, fragrant pith and essential oil than its sparse, acidic juice; the etrog used in Jewish Sukkot ritual and the source of candied peel worldwide.

38

Clementine

Citrus × clementina

A small, easy-peeling, seedless winter mandarin — accidentally created in an Algerian orphanage garden in 1902, now the most popular winter snack citrus in Western countries.

39

Cloudberry

Rubus chamaemorus

A rare orange-amber Arctic berry that grows in remote bogs across the boreal north — Scandinavia's most prized wild berry, with no commercial cultivation despite decades of attempts.

40

Coco-de-Mer

Lodoicea maldivica

The largest seed in the plant kingdom — a giant Seychelles double-coconut weighing up to 25 kg, so rare that each individual fruit is government-tracked.

41

Coconut

Cocos nucifera

The seed of a tropical palm, technically a drupe rather than a nut, source of oil, milk, water, flesh, and one of the most-used ingredients in tropical cooking.

42

Crab Apple

Malus sylvestris (European wild crab); Malus hupehensis and others (ornamental crab varieties)

The wild ancestor of all cultivated apples — small, intensely sour or bitter fruits from wild and ornamental trees, generally too harsh to eat raw but exceptional for making jelly, cider, and crab apple wine; the pectin-rich juice gels easily and the flavour — honeyed, floral, and tart — is unlike any cultivated apple.

43

Cranberry

Vaccinium macrocarpon

A small, intensely tart red berry of North American wetlands — turned into Thanksgiving sauce by colonial Americans and into urinary-tract-infection folklore by mid-20th-century medicine.

44

Damson

Prunus domestica subsp. insititia

A small, intensely tart purple-blue plum almost too astringent to eat fresh — the British countryside fruit of choice for jam, gin, and preserves.

45

Date

Phoenix dactylifera

The sweet sticky fruit of the date palm, dried and energy-dense, a staple of Middle Eastern and North African cuisine for thousands of years.

46

Dragon Fruit

Hylocereus undatus, H. costaricensis, H. megalanthus

The visually striking fruit of a Central American climbing cactus — bright pink-red shell with green spiky scales, opening to white or magenta flesh dotted with tiny black seeds.

47

Durian

Durio zibethinus

A spiky-shelled Southeast Asian fruit with intensely pungent custard-textured flesh — banned from many hotels and public transit in Asia for its smell, but called the "King of Fruits" where it's eaten.

48

Elderberry

Sambucus nigra (European); Sambucus canadensis (North American)

A small dark purple-black berry from the elder shrub, eaten cooked into syrups, wines, and preserves — toxic when raw, beloved when properly prepared.

49

Falsa

Grewia asiatica

A small purple-black South Asian summer berry beloved for its tangy-sweet juice that's said to ward off heatstroke — a Pakistani-Indian street-food staple.

50

Feijoa

Acca sellowiana

A small green ovoid fruit (also called pineapple guava) with intensely fragrant, jelly-textured flesh — a New Zealand orchard staple but virtually unknown elsewhere because it doesn't ship.

51

Fig

Ficus carica

A teardrop-shaped fruit with soft sweet flesh and tiny seeds, technically an inverted flower; one of the oldest cultivated plants and central to Mediterranean cuisine.

52

Finger Lime

Citrus australasica

An Australian native citrus shaped like a small finger that releases tiny "caviar pearls" of tart citrus juice when cut open — a fine-dining garnish prized for its visual drama and crisp acidity.

53

Galia Melon

Cucumis melo var. reticulatus

An aromatic Israeli muskmelon hybrid created in the 1970s — netted yellow skin with pale green sweet flesh, considered the most fragrant of the supermarket melons.

54

Gooseberry

Ribes uva-crispa

A small translucent green or red berry — once Britain's favorite hedgerow fruit, the subject of competitive gooseberry-growing societies, and the base of classic English fool desserts.

55

Grape

Vitis vinifera (Old World) / Vitis labrusca (American)

A small berry of a woody vine, eaten fresh, dried as raisins, or fermented into wine — one of humanity's oldest cultivated fruits.

56

Grapefruit

Citrus paradisi

A large bitter-tart citrus, a hybrid of pomelo and sweet orange that emerged in 18th-century Barbados, eaten fresh or juiced and famous for drug interactions.

57

Grapes

Vitis vinifera

Small clustered berries from a woody vine — eaten fresh, dried into raisins, pressed for juice, or fermented into the world's most important beverage, wine.

58

Greengage

Prunus domestica italica (Reine Claude group)

The most complex and honey-sweet of all plums — a green-skinned, golden-fleshed European plum with a flavour of remarkable depth, described as combining honey, apricot, and fresh cream; considered by many to be the best-tasting plum variety, though its thin skin, tendency to split, and small size make it commercially unviable.

59

Grewia Asiatica

Grewia asiatica

The botanical name for falsa — a small purple South Asian summer berry, also known as Phalsa, used in cooling drinks and Ayurvedic medicine across the subcontinent.

60

Guava

Psidium guajava

A round green or yellow tropical fruit with intensely fragrant pink or white flesh — a global tropical orchard staple that ranges from sweet snack fruit to ingredient for pastes, juice, and preserves.

61

Hala Fruit

Pandanus tectorius

A spectacular spiked Pacific Islander fruit that looks like a colorful pineapple-grenade hybrid — eaten fresh in some islands, used as floss thread or paint brush in others.

62

Honeyberry

Lonicera caerulea

A long blue Siberian honeysuckle berry (also called haskap) that ripens before strawberries, survives -40°F winters, and tastes like a blueberry-raspberry-blackberry hybrid.

63

Honeydew

Cucumis melo (Inodorus group)

A pale-green melon with smooth white-yellow rind and pale-green flesh, milder and sweeter than cantaloupe — a summertime hydration fruit.

64

Huckleberry

Vaccinium membranaceum and others

A wild dark berry of the western North American mountains — beloved by hikers, hunted by bears, and impossible to cultivate, sustaining a regional Pacific Northwest jam-and-pie economy.

65

Imbe

Garcinia livingstonei

A small bright orange African fruit related to the mangosteen, with a thin skin enclosing tart-sweet juicy flesh — eaten fresh or fermented into a drink.

66

Jabuticaba

Plinia cauliflora

A Brazilian wonder fruit that grows directly on the trunk and branches of its tree — dark purple berries that look like grapes glued onto bark, with mild grape-lychee flavor and a brief shelf life.

67

Jackfruit

Artocarpus heterophyllus

The largest tree-borne fruit in the world — up to 35 kg — with sweet yellow flesh when ripe and a meaty texture used as a vegan meat substitute when unripe.

68

Jalapeno

Capsicum annuum

A medium-hot Mexican chili pepper with thick walls and bright vegetal heat — eaten fresh, pickled, smoked into chipotles, or stuffed and breaded.

69

Jambul

Syzygium cumini

A purple-black Indian summer fruit (also called jamun, java plum) with bright purple juice that stains everything — a beloved street snack and a classic Ayurvedic remedy for diabetes.

70

Japanese Plum

Prunus salicina

An East Asian plum species that's the basis for most modern American supermarket plums — large, juicy, with red or yellow skin and easily separated flesh from a small pit.

71

Jostaberry

Ribes × nidigrolaria

A 1970s German hybrid combining blackcurrant and gooseberry — thornless, vigorous, productive, and almost unknown commercially despite decades of championing by horticulture writers.

72

Jujube

Ziziphus jujuba

A small Asian fruit (also called Chinese date or red date) that turns from apple-crisp green to wrinkled-skinned brown-red as it dries — eaten fresh, dried, or simmered in tonics.

73

Juniper Berry

Juniperus communis

Not actually a berry but the female cone of the juniper tree — a small dark blue spice used for centuries to flavor gin, game meats, and northern European preserves.

74

Kaffir Lime

Citrus hystrix

A bumpy-skinned Southeast Asian citrus whose **leaves matter more than the fruit** — fragrant double-lobed leaves are an essential herb in Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian cooking.

75

Kiwano

Cucumis metuliferus

An African horned melon with bright orange spiky skin and electric-green jelly flesh — striking enough to be sold as decoration, with a mild banana-cucumber-lime flavor.

76

Kiwifruit

Actinidia deliciosa

A small fuzzy brown fruit with vivid green flesh and tiny black seeds, originally a Chinese gooseberry, rebranded by New Zealand growers to global fame.

77

Kumquat

Citrus japonica (formerly Fortunella spp.)

A miniature olive-sized citrus eaten whole, peel and all — sweet skin, tart flesh, and a contradiction in your mouth that makes them addictive snacking fruit across East Asia.

78

Langsat

Lansium parasiticum

A small, grape-sized tropical fruit of Southeast Asia — langsat grows in tight pendant clusters on the trunk and branches of tall trees, with thin, yellow-brown skin that releases a milky latex when broken; the translucent, jelly-like flesh is divided into segments, varying from sweet-tart to slightly bitter depending on how the seed is handled when eating; a beloved fresh fruit in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

79

Lemon

Citrus limon

A bright yellow citrus with sharply acidic juice and aromatic peel — possibly the single most-used fruit in the global kitchen for its capacity to brighten everything.

80

Lime

Citrus aurantiifolia (Key); Citrus latifolia (Persian); others

A small, intensely acidic green citrus — the namesake of "limey" sailors, the soul of margaritas and ceviche, with the Persian and Key versions producing distinct flavors despite similar appearance.

81

Lingonberry

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

A small, tart red berry of the boreal forests of Scandinavia, North America, and Russia — similar in appearance to cranberry but smaller and sharper; the essential condiment of Swedish cuisine, served with meatballs, game, and pancakes.

82

Loganberry

Rubus × loganobaccus

A 19th-century California garden hybrid — half blackberry, half raspberry, dark red, intensely flavored, and the historical ancestor of modern boysenberries and tayberries.

83

Longan

Dimocarpus longan

A small Asian fruit related to lychee but smaller, milder, and with a clear translucent flesh — the "dragon eye" of Chinese markets, eaten fresh or dried as a tonic ingredient.

84

Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

A small orange-yellow Asian fruit with sweet-tart flesh and a few large seeds — common in Mediterranean and Asian gardens but rarely in supermarkets, eaten fresh, in jam, or in liqueur.

85

Lucuma

Pouteria lucuma

A subtropical Peruvian fruit with pale yellow flesh, a sweet flavour of maple, sweet potato, and vanilla combined, and very low sugar content despite its sweetness — a pre-Inca sacred fruit now popularised as a health-food sweetener globally.

86

Lulo

Solanum quitoense

A bright orange Andean fruit (also called naranjilla) that looks like a small tomato but tastes like a tart pineapple-citrus-rhubarb mash — a Colombian and Ecuadorian breakfast-juice essential.

87

Lychee

Litchi chinensis

A small Chinese fruit with rough red shell and translucent white flesh of perfumed sweetness — a 2,000-year-old delicacy referenced in Chinese poetry and one of the most prized tropical fruits.

88

Magellan Barberry

Berberis microphylla

A small dark Patagonian berry (also called calafate) — Tierra del Fuego's iconic fruit, with a folk legend that whoever eats one will return to Patagonia.

89

Mamey Apple

Mammea americana

A large Caribbean fruit (Mammea americana, distinct from mamey sapote) with intensely fragrant orange flesh — eaten fresh, stewed, or fermented into Antillean wines and liqueurs.

90

Mamey Sapote

Pouteria sapota

A large football-shaped Mexican fruit with brown rough skin and dense salmon-pink flesh — the defining flavor of Cuban-Mexican milkshakes and tropical ice cream.

91

Mandarine

Citrus reticulata

A small loose-skinned orange citrus — the original ancestor species behind clementines, satsumas, tangerines, and most modern winter snack-citrus varieties.

92

Mango

Mangifera indica

A tropical drupe known as the "king of fruits" in South Asia, prized for its sweet, juicy flesh and grown across more than 100 countries.

93

Mangosteen

Garcinia mangostana

A purple-shelled tropical Asian fruit with snow-white segmented flesh of intense sweet-tart flavor — the "queen of fruits" to many connoisseurs, banned from U.S. import for decades, now slowly returning.

94

Marionberry

Rubus 'Marion'

An Oregon-bred blackberry hybrid, named for Marion County — the defining berry of Pacific Northwest pies, jams, and ice cream, prized for its complex sweet-tart flavor.

95

Medlar

Mespilus germanica

An ancient European fruit that must be eaten after it has partially rotted (bletting) — small, brown, and unprepossessing, with a sweet, apple-butter-like flesh consumed only after frost has softened it; beloved in medieval Europe, nearly forgotten today.

96

Melon

Cucumis melo

The general category covering hundreds of *Cucumis melo* varieties — cantaloupes, honeydews, galias, casabas, and dozens more — eaten across cultures from breakfast to dessert.

97

Meyer Lemon

Citrus × meyeri

A sweeter, thinner-skinned lemon with floral orange notes — a natural hybrid of lemon and mandarin orange discovered in China and popularised in California; prized for its edible skin, minimal bitterness, and fragrant juice.

98

Miracle Fruit

Synsepalum dulcificum

A small West African red berry that **temporarily makes sour foods taste sweet** — chewing one transforms lemon and vinegar into sugary treats for about an hour.

99

Momordica Fruit

Siraitia grosvenorii

A bumpy bright-orange East Asian fruit (also called luo han guo or monk fruit) — its concentrated extract has become a popular zero-calorie sweetener that's hundreds of times sweeter than sugar.

100

Monstera Deliciosa

Monstera deliciosa

The fruit of the Swiss cheese plant — a fragrant tropical curiosity that ripens over 12 months, tastes like pineapple-banana, and is mildly toxic until fully ripe.

101

Mouse Melon

Melothria scabra

A grape-sized Mexican vine fruit (also called Mexican sour gherkin or cucamelon) that looks exactly like a tiny watermelon but tastes like a tart cucumber-lime.

102

Mulberry

Morus alba, Morus nigra, Morus rubra

A long, blackberry-like fruit grown across temperate regions of the world — often available free from neighborhood trees, vital for silkworms, and beloved by birds.

103

Musk Melon

Cucumis melo var. reticulatus

The catch-all category for fragrant netted-skin melons including American cantaloupes — named for the musky aroma of fully ripe fruit, central to summer fruit traditions worldwide.

104

Nashi Pear

Pyrus pyrifolia

The Asian pear — round, apple-shaped, with golden-yellow skin and exceptionally crisp, juicy, grainy white flesh; doesn't soften like European pears but is eaten firm and crunchy, with a clean sweet flavour.

105

Nectarine

Prunus persica var. nucipersica

A smooth-skinned variant of the peach, the same species genetically with one gene difference, often slightly more tart and aromatic than its fuzzy cousin.

106

Noni

Morinda citrifolia

A striking, waxy, pungent tropical fruit — the noni (Indian mulberry) produces lumpy, white-yellow fruit year-round on small trees throughout the Pacific and Indian Ocean tropics; the ripe fruit has a powerful, distinctively unpleasant smell that has earned it nicknames including cheese fruit and vomit fruit; despite this, it has been consumed by Pacific Islander peoples for millennia and became a major health food fad in the early 2000s.

107

Olive

Olea europaea

A small drupe whose **inedible-fresh** bitter flesh becomes an essential Mediterranean food only after curing — eaten as table olives or pressed into the world's oldest culinary oil.

108

Orange

Citrus sinensis (sweet) / Citrus aurantium (bitter)

A bright citrus with sweet juicy flesh and aromatic peel, the world's most widely cultivated fruit by tonnage and the namesake for the color itself.

109

Papaya

Carica papaya

A tropical melon-like fruit with vivid orange flesh, central black seeds, and an enzyme that tenderizes meat — eaten ripe and unripe in different cuisines.

110

Paradise Pear

Pyrus communis

A Russian heritage cultivar of small ornamental-style pears, often used for preserves and country-style cookery, prized for hardiness in cold climates.

111

Passion Fruit

Passiflora edulis

A small purple or yellow tropical fruit with intensely fragrant pulp full of crunchy edible seeds — the wow ingredient of cocktails, sorbets, and Latin American desserts.

112

Pawpaw

Asimina triloba

An unexpected native North American tropical-tasting fruit — soft custardy yellow flesh, banana-mango flavor, and a baffling absence from American grocery stores despite being a beloved Appalachian forest fruit.

113

Peach

Prunus persica

A fuzzy-skinned stone fruit of the rose family with sweet aromatic flesh and a single woody pit, originating in China and now grown in temperate orchards worldwide.

114

Pear

Pyrus communis (European); Pyrus pyrifolia (Asian)

A pome fruit of the rose family — closely related to apples but with grittier flesh and a teardrop shape, with thousands of varieties and a unique post-harvest ripening behavior.

115

Persimmon

Diospyros kaki (Asian); D. virginiana (American)

An orange-red fall fruit with two distinct varieties — astringent (must be fully ripe) and non-astringent (eaten firm) — central to Korean and Japanese autumn traditions, dried into kaki sticks.

116

Physalis

Physalis peruviana

The golden berry in a papery lantern — physalis (cape gooseberry) is a small, bright orange berry enclosed in a papery husk that peels back like a Chinese lantern to reveal the sweet-sharp fruit inside; used as a decorative garnish on desserts, eaten fresh, and made into jam; not related to the gooseberry despite the name.

117

Pineapple

Ananas comosus

A tropical multiple fruit with spiky armor and a crown of leaves, sweet and acidic, eaten fresh, juiced, grilled, or canned.

118

Pineberry

Fragaria × ananassa

A white strawberry with red seeds and intense pineapple-vanilla flavor — a re-bred near-extinct South American wild strawberry that's become a viral specialty fruit since 2010.

119

Pitaya

Selenicereus undatus

A stunning cactus fruit from the Americas — sold worldwide as dragon fruit — with brilliantly pink or yellow skin and speckled white or vivid red flesh dotted with tiny edible seeds, mild in flavor but extraordinary in color and nutrition.

120

Plantain

Musa × paradisiaca

A starchier cousin of the banana, eaten cooked across tropical cuisines from West Africa to Latin America to South Asia — fried, mashed, boiled, or grilled, but rarely raw.

121

Plum

Prunus domestica (European); Prunus salicina (Japanese)

A small to medium-sized stone fruit of the rose family, with hundreds of varieties from the deep purple Damson of Britain to the golden Mirabelle of Lorraine — eaten fresh, dried into prunes, or made into liqueurs and sauces.

122

Plumcot

Prunus salicina × Prunus armeniaca

A 50/50 plum-apricot hybrid created by Luther Burbank in the 1880s — the original parent of pluots, apriums, and the entire modern stone-fruit hybrid family.

123

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

A tough-skinned fruit packed with hundreds of jewel-like seeds (arils), each surrounded by tart-sweet juice — a Persian native steeped in mythology.

124

Pomelo

Citrus maxima

The largest of all citrus fruits — a yellow-green Southeast Asian giant with thick pith and sweet, mild grapefruit-like flesh, an ancestor species of the modern grapefruit.

125

Quandong

Santalum acuminatum

Australia's native peach — a small, bright red fruit with tart, tangy flesh and a large deeply ridged stone; a staple of Aboriginal Australian diet for thousands of years, now increasingly used in Australian native cuisine and bush food products.

126

Quince

Cydonia oblonga

A pear-shaped, fragrant, hard-fleshed fruit eaten almost exclusively cooked — the basis of Spanish *membrillo* paste and a foundational ingredient in Mediterranean and Persian sweets.

127

Raisin

Vitis vinifera (dried)

A dried grape — concentrated sweetness from the most ancient food-preservation method, central to baking, snacking, and cuisines from Persian to Mexican to American school lunchboxes.

128

Rambutan

Nephelium lappaceum

A small Southeast Asian fruit with a fluorescent red shell covered in soft pliable spines, opening to reveal lychee-like translucent flesh — visually startling, mild and sweet to eat.

129

Raspberry

Rubus idaeus (red European); Rubus occidentalis (black North American)

A small, intensely-flavored aggregate fruit of a thorny rose-family bramble, eaten fresh or cooked into preserves, sauces, and brandy.

130

Redcurrant

Ribes rubrum

A small, jewel-like red berry — translucent, intensely tart, and a classic Northern European garden fruit used in jellies, sauces for game, and showcase dessert garnishes.

131

Rhubarb

Rheum rhabarbarum

The vegetable that acts like a fruit — rhubarb's bright red-green stalks are so acidic they cannot be eaten without sugar, but when cooked with sugar they produce a tart, uniquely flavoured ingredient for pies, crumbles, and jam; forced Yorkshire rhubarb, grown in dark sheds, is a protected food with a distinctive pale pink colour and more delicate flavour.

132

Rose Apple

Syzygium jambos and Syzygium samarangense

A pear-shaped Southeast Asian fruit (also called wax apple or jambu) with crisp pale flesh, sweet rosewater scent, and a near-empty hollow center — eaten fresh as a hot-weather refresher.

133

Rose Hip

Rosa canina (and other Rosa species)

The fruit of the rose plant — a small, red to orange oval berry produced after the flower fades; one of the richest plant sources of vitamin C; made into syrup, jam, herbal tea, and soup, most famously as rose hip syrup distributed to British children during WWII rationing.

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Salak

Salacca zalacca

An Indonesian fruit (also called snake fruit) with reddish-brown scaly skin like a snake's, garlic-pineapple flavor, and deep ties to Balinese cultural ceremony.

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Salal

Gaultheria shallon

A small dark Pacific Northwest forest berry — central to Coast Salish foodways, more ornamental than commercial today, but a foundation of Indigenous coastal cuisine for millennia.

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Salmonberry

Rubus spectabilis

A bright orange-pink Pacific Northwest forest raspberry — eaten fresh by hikers, cooked traditionally by Coast Salish peoples, a key indicator of healthy temperate rainforest ecology.

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Sapodilla

Manilkara zapota

A small brown tropical fruit with grainy sweet flesh tasting of brown sugar and pear — the same species as chico fruit, with an even longer history as the original chewing-gum source.

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Sapote

Multiple genera (Casimiroa, Pouteria, Diospyros)

A general Spanish-language category covering several unrelated tropical fruits with soft sweet flesh — the most common are white sapote, mamey sapote, and black sapote, each from a different botanical family.

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Satsuma

Citrus unshiu

A small seedless Japanese mandarin variety — easy to peel, low in acid, the iconic Japanese winter fruit and the dominant mandarin in much of the American South.

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Sea Buckthorn

Hippophae rhamnoides

A thorny coastal shrub producing dense clusters of tiny bright orange berries — extraordinarily rich in vitamin C (ten times more than oranges), omega-7 fatty acids, and carotenoids; the astringent, intensely sour berries are too sharp to eat raw but make vivid orange juice, jams, and syrups popular across Northern Europe and Russia.

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Serviceberry

Amelanchier canadensis (and other Amelanchier species)

North America's versatile wild fruit — small, blueberry-sized purple-red berries from the Amelanchier shrub/tree, with a sweet, almond-flavoured flesh beloved by birds and foragers; also called Juneberry, Saskatoon, or Shadbush.

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Seville Orange

Citrus aurantium

The bitter orange used for the world's most celebrated marmalade — too sour and pungent to eat fresh, its thick peel and intensely flavoured juice are perfect for jam-making; the brief winter season (January–February) is eagerly awaited by British marmalade makers, and the orange's history in Spain stretches to the Moorish period.

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Sloe

Prunus spinosa

The fruit of the blackthorn — a small, purple-black berry so astringent when eaten raw that it causes involuntary puckering; almost exclusively used to make sloe gin by macerating the frost-damaged berries in gin with sugar for months.

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Soursop

Annona muricata

A spiky-skinned tropical American fruit with creamy, intensely sweet-tart white flesh — the *guanábana* of Latin American smoothies, with an aroma combining strawberry, pineapple, and citrus.

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Star Apple

Chrysophyllum cainito

A large round Caribbean fruit with milky-sweet white pulp arranged in a star pattern around the seeds — a Jamaican and Cuban favorite eaten fresh or in the elegant Cuban dessert "matrimonio."

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Star Fruit

Averrhoa carambola

A tropical fruit with a distinctive five-ridged shape that produces a perfect five-pointed star when sliced crosswise — crisp, juicy, and sweet-tart, and widely used in Asian cooking as much as a vegetable as a dessert fruit.

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Strawberry

Fragaria × ananassa

A small red aggregate fruit with seeds on the outside, a hybrid that emerged in 18th-century France from a chance crossing of North and South American species.

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Surinam Cherry

Eugenia uniflora

A small red ribbed Brazilian backyard fruit (also called pitanga) with intense complex flavor between cherry, raspberry, and tropical resin — extreme polarity between underripe (terrible) and ripe (delicious).

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Tamarillo

Solanum betaceum

A small egg-shaped tropical fruit also called tree tomato, with tangy red-orange flesh that bridges fruit and vegetable in cooking.

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Tamarind

Tamarindus indica

A sticky brown pod-fruit with intensely tart-sweet pulp — fundamental to Indian, Southeast Asian, Mexican, and Caribbean cuisines, providing sour acidity in pad thai, chutneys, and chamoy.

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Tangelo

Citrus × tangelo

A tangerine-pomelo hybrid with a distinctive nipple-like bump at the stem end — juicy, sweet-tart, easy to peel, and the genetic ancestor of several modern grocery citrus varieties.

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Tangerine

Citrus tangerina (a mandarin variety)

A small, sweet, easy-to-peel citrus fruit, a member of the mandarin orange family that gives most modern citrus hybrids their sweetness.

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Tayberry

Rubus fruticosus × idaeus

A 1970s Scottish blackberry-raspberry hybrid named for the river Tay — long sweet-tart wine-red fruit with intense flavor, popular in home gardens but virtually absent from supermarkets.

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Ugli Fruit

Citrus reticulata × paradisi

A bumpy, lopsided Jamaican citrus hybrid of grapefruit, orange, and tangerine — the trademarked name reflects its homely appearance, which conceals juicy, sweet flesh.

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Umeboshi

Prunus mume

Japanese salt-pickled sour plums — not actually a plum but a pickled ume apricot, intensely sour and salty, eaten as a rice accompaniment, used as a natural preservative, and believed in Japan to cure everything from hangovers to bacterial infections.

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Victoria Plum

Prunus domestica 'Victoria'

Britain's most beloved plum — a large, oval, red-yellow plum with sweet yellow flesh and a clingstone; named after Queen Victoria, and accounting for the majority of all plum trees grown in British gardens and orchards.

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Voavanga

Vangueria madagascariensis

A small, tart-sweet African fruit (also called Spanish tamarind) eaten fresh or made into juice, with bright orange flesh around large flat seeds and a flavor between apple and tamarind.

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Watermelon

Citrullus lanatus

A large, water-rich melon with a thick striped rind and bright pink-red flesh — a summer staple worldwide and originally an African crop.

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White Currant

Ribes rubrum (white-fruited variant)

A pale translucent variety of redcurrant — sweeter, less acidic, eaten fresh more than its red sibling, and once a fixture of Victorian dessert tables for its jewel-like appearance.

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White Sapote

Casimiroa edulis

A green-skinned Mexican fruit (Casimiroa edulis) with creamy custard-like flesh and a banana-vanilla-pear flavor — citrus family relative, despite the deceptive sapote name and total lack of citrus character.

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Ximenia

Ximenia americana

A small, sour-sweet yellow-orange fruit known as wild plum or sea lemon, eaten across African savannas and used for its oil-rich seed in traditional cosmetics.

162

Yumberry

Myrica rubra

Also called yangmei or Chinese bayberry — a knobbly red or purple fruit native to East Asia with sweet-tart flavor, high antioxidant content, and a brief, fragile fresh season.

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Yuzu

Citrus junos

A small bumpy yellow Japanese citrus that's all aroma and almost no juice — used for zest and a few drops of intensely fragrant juice, central to Japanese cuisine and increasingly to Western cocktails.

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Zucchini (botanical fruit)

Cucurbita pepo

Botanically a fruit (a *pepo* berry) though treated culinarily as a vegetable, the zucchini is the most-grown summer squash and a green-skinned, tender-fleshed kitchen workhorse.