Best Central American Tropical Fruit Types
Sapote is an erect evergreen tree that contains white latex in all parts of the plant. It‘s native to the region that stretches from southern Mexico to Nicaragua, but sapote is grown throughout tropical America and in some countries in Southeast Asia.
The fruit is round to elliptic with rough skin and creamy, soft, and sweet pulp that’s said to taste like a mix of sweet potatoes and pumpkin. The pulp is enjoyed fresh or made into smoothies, ice creams, and milkshakes. Pieces of sapote are often added to green salads or made into jams and jellies.
Peach palm fruit is the edible fruit of the peach palm tree (lat. Bactris gasipaes). This tropical palm is cultivated for both its fruit and its heart of palm, making it an important crop in various parts of Central and South America.
The fruit itself is small, typically about the size of a large olive or small peach, and has a hard, thick skin ranging in color from yellow to orange to red when ripe. Nutritionally, peach palm fruit is rich in carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, and contains some protein.
Manzano banana, also known as the "Apple banana," is a small, chubby variety of banana that stands out for its sweet, fruity flavor, which has hints of apple or strawberry. Its scientific name is Musa acuminata (AA Group) 'Manzano'. This variety is shorter and thicker than the common Cavendish banana.
It's skin is thin and turns a deep yellow with black spots when ripe. Originating from Central America, the Manzano banana is grown in tropical regions around the world. It is particularly popular in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and some parts of Africa and Asia.
Goldfinger banana is a hybrid variety developed as part of a breeding program aimed at improving disease resistance and fruit quality in bananas.
This program, conducted by the Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research (FHIA), sought to create bananas that could withstand pests and diseases better than the widely cultivated Cavendish variety, which is vulnerable to several threats, including Panama disease and Black Sigatoka.
White sapote (lat. Casimiroa edulis) is an evergreen tree that’s native from southeastern Mexico south to Costa Rica. The tree produces smooth-skinned fruit with a soft pulp and white seeds. Depending on the variety, the flavor can range from bland or bitter to sweet.
When ripe, the fruits of selected varieties have a sweet pulp with a texture that’s reminiscent of avocados. The fruits are usually eaten out of hand, but they can also be made into ice cream, milkshakes, desserts, and marmalades. Interestingly enough, the poisonous seeds contain glycosides, which have been used in medicine as a sedative.
Also known as locust fruit or jatobá, stinking toe fruit is the fruit of the West Indian Locust, which is the largest Caribbean tree. The oblong fruit is encased within a big brown pod that's shaped like a toe, hence the name.
When the pod's shell is broken, often with hammers or bricks, a pungent, off-putting odor similar to foot stink is released from the powdery flesh that surrounds the seeds (usually 3 to 6 seeds). The texture of the fruit is dry and dense, while the flavor is sweet, reminiscent of powdered sugar and dried milk, with hints of herbs.
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