The fruit, called avocado, alligator pear, or, in Spanish, aguacate has a high oil content. There are over 500 varieties of avocados worldwide, with the most popular being the Hass varieties. Avocados are climacteric, meaning it matures on the tree but ripens off the tree. It is eaten fresh, great in salads and as dips like guacamole.
Passionfruit is a pepo, a type of berry, round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds. The fruit is grown to be eaten raw and for its juice, which is often added to other fruit juices, desserts and yoghurt to enhance aroma.
The inside of a lychee consists of a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh, rich in vitamin C, with a texture somewhat similar to that of a grape, longan and rambutan. The centre contains a single glossy brown nut-like seed. Lychee is a non-climacteric fruit which means it can only be harvested after attaining full maturity on the tree.
The most frequently consumed fruit in the world is the mango. The ovoid shaped fruit has a smooth rind, sweet juicy flesh, and a flat one-seeded stone. Mangoes are widely used in cuisines and eaten both ripe and when still green. With over 400 varieties worldwide, mangoes come in various shapes, sizes, flavours and colours including yellow, orange, red and green.
Classified as a super fruit, pomegranate derived from an old French word, means apple with many seeds. About the size of an orange, the reddish pomegranate has a tough, leathery skin which allows the fruit to travel well. The skin encases six segments, each containing many seeds with pulpy crimson arils of tart flavour. Pomegranates can be stored up to 2 months in the refrigerator and the trees can live for over 200 years.
Guava is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. A fruit that has fairly dense texture with a strong flavour but a mild taste. The fruit’s taste is said to be a combination of pear and strawberry. The seedy flesh of the guava contains 100 to 500 edible seeds, mostly concentrated in the center. A super fruit in its own right, guavas have more vitamin C than oranges and more Potassium than bananas.
