Field of Science

Fruit ID revealed

Well, nobody suggested nuthin'.  This doesn't surprise TPP because it was not easy to find online, but out of a long list of tropical fruits grown on Kauai, the first name that was unknown was googled and it turned out to be correct.  That would be the caimito or star apple, Chrysophyllum canito (Sapotaceae).  This means the caimito is related to the sapote and several other fruits in the same family, none of which are high on TPP's list of favorites.  But a new fruit is a new fruit, and it grows on a large handsome tree.  If you cut this fruit in half you can avoid the outer fruit wall and skin where most of the latex is located by spooning out the central pulp, which has a sweet, creamy taste.  This is a neotropical fruit that is grown in Florida, and probably Costa Rica, but had escaped TPP's attention.  

3 comments:

Nathan said...

Fascinating! I love these introductions to new plants - did you like the caimito more then a sapote?

The Phytophactor said...

TPP has tried both mamey sapote and black sapote. I guess the mamey is the one I think is best but none of them are high on my fruit list. And local rambutan were ripe, and TPP was eating a lot of them.

The Phytophactor said...

Sorry, jet lag. Lost my train of thought. The caimito is closely related to the sapotes.