Exotic Fruits

Kiwano (Horned Melon)

Cucumis metuliferus, horned melon, spiked melon, or kiwano, also African horned cucumber or melon, jelly melon, hedged gourd, melano, is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family, Cucurbitaceae. Its fruit has horn-like spines, hence the name “horned melon”.

NATAL PLUM

ACKEE

The ackee, also known as achee, ackee apple or ayee is a fruit of the Sapindaceae soapberry family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa.

The Ackee fruit is the National Fruit of Jamaica, and forms the key ingredient in the National Dish of Jamaica, Ackee and Saltfish. However, the tree is also deadly. The fruits are highly poisonous, even having a specific illness named after them (symptoms include severe vomiting, coma and death). The Ackee tree is so toxic it is banned in the USA, with it being illegal to sell or commercially serve Ackee fruit.

PULASAN

The pulasan, Nephelium ramboutan-ake (family Sapindaceae), is a tropical fruit closely allied to the rambutan and sometimes confused with it. It has various common names, including pulasan in English, Spanish and Malay, kapulasan in Indonesia, ngoh-khonsan in Thailand, and bulala or panungayan in the Philippines.

Usually eaten fresh, it is sweeter than the rambutan and lychee, but very rare outside Southeast Asia.

JABUTICABA

Plinia cauliflora, the Brazilian grapetree, jaboticaba or jabuticaba, is a tree in the family Myrtaceae, native to Minas Gerais, Goiás and São Paulo states in Brazil.