Lulo

A nightshade, not a citrus

Lulo is a member of the nightshade family — the same family as tomato, eggplant, and potato. The scientific name Solanum quitoense honors Quito, Ecuador, where the fruit has been cultivated for centuries.

Despite the citrus-like flavor and orange color, lulo is genetically closer to tomatoes than to oranges. The hairy skin (which must be removed before eating) is also typical of some Solanaceae fruits.

Colombia’s morning juice

In Colombia, lulo juice (jugo de lulo) is essentially the national breakfast beverage — competing with tamarillo and guava as the morning fresh juice of choice. It’s blended with water (not milk) and sugar, producing a tart-sweet, vivid green refreshment.

The Cali specialty drink lulada takes this further: lulo pulp mixed with crushed ice, water, sugar, and lime, served in tall glasses on hot afternoons. It’s iconic to the Valle del Cauca region.

A high-altitude fruit

Lulo grows at 1,500 to 2,500 meters elevation in the Andes — the cool subtropical zone. The plant doesn’t tolerate frost or heavy heat, which is why production has stayed concentrated in the Andean highlands.

Attempts to grow lulo in the Caribbean lowlands or Florida have largely failed; the plant needs the specific cool tropical mountain conditions of its native range.

Tart, tropical, complex

The flavor is hard to compare to anything Western consumers know — most descriptions land on a tart cross between pineapple, lime, kiwi, and rhubarb. The fruit is too acidic to eat fresh; almost all consumption is processed into juice, sorbet, or sauce.

Outside the Andes, lulo is essentially unknown except in Colombian and Ecuadorian diaspora communities. Frozen lulo pulp is sometimes available in Latin American grocery stores in major US cities.