Exotic Fruits of India

MANGOSTEEN

My personal favourite fruit the Mangosteens original native location is unknown, but has had many failed attempts at growing it in many places in the world. You can only find mangosteen trees in certain parts of India such as the Nilgiri Hills, mostly places in southern India. It was introduced to India in the 1800's where the first tree was planted in Ceylon. The fruit has a very sweet flavour, and luckliy it is also very good for you, containing many nutrients. Mangosteen is hard to grow and produce in large orchards. It is also hard to export because it decmposes quickly after it is picked, so you won't find any in New Zealand. In India, you can really only get mangosteen near places where it grows, with some rare exceptions. But, you can find mangosteen juice in all sorts of places around India. It is hard to grown on large scales because it is a very sensitive plant. It cannot tolerate erratic climate changes, and soil changes, and is exclusively tropical. 

DRAGONFRUIT

The Pitaya, more commonly known as the Dragonfruit, is the fruit of a type of cacti. The taste of Dragonfruit differs from person to person. Some find the fruit bland and watery. Other find it mildly sweet. It is generally eaten chilled as it improves the flavour. It is often served in fruit salads in the tropics. The texture to Dragonfruit is similar to kiwifruit.

RAMBUTAN

The rambutan is a very odd looking fruit. Rambutans originally came from Malaysia, but were cultivated in India. The skin is not edible, but under the skin is a white, yet almost clear firm pulp which is sweet, covering a pitch black seed. Rambutan isn't as largely produced as are other fruits in India, but there are just random trees scattered throughout.

JACKFRUIT

 Native to the Western Ghats of India, the Jackfruit has spead throughout India, and parts of Asia. It is the largest fruit in the world that comes from a tree. There are a rlelative amount of plantations of Jackfruit in India, mainly in Ceylon. You can't get Jackfruit here in N.Z.

STARFRUIT

The Starfruit has a very fresh flavour. It has a very crisp texture. The true name for the Starfruit is actually 'Carambola'. The starfruit is supposedly originated from India. There are many plantations of starfruit in india. It is very juicy, and the taste is sort of a combination between a papaya, grapfruit and a orange.

DURIAN

Durian. This fruit is very different to many fruits. If you've ever been around a Durian, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Durian smell absolutely awful. Most hotels dont allow durians inside beacause the 'westerners' (that's us) don't like the smell. To be fair, nether do the natives. The smell of durian is like a rotting carcass, and a pineapple. That's what it smelt like to me. Other people have different definitions on what they think durian smells like but really, none of them are pleasant. And it's not just the smell that is overpowering, the taste! The taste is also overpowering. It took me lots of mints just to get rid of the taste. The taste to me was half sweet, half savoury. It wasn't that great. But the thing is, some people can live on the stuff, they just love it! They literally have 'Durian Clubs' where lots of durian fanatics get together, and well, eat durian. I wouldn't want to be friends with one of them to be honest. The breath would not be very pleasant! The husk of the Durian also has spikes than can draw blood is not held correctly. The Durian is native to borneo, but can be found in India. In India, there are no orchards or commercial plantings of Durian.

GUAVA 

The Guava's native origins are unknown as they have been spread by birds, animals, and us for thousands of years, although it is thought to have originally came from somewhere in South America. The tree flourishes in India. In India there is an estimated 125,327 acres of Guava cultivation, making over 27,000 tonnes of the fruit annually.  Usually, the Guava tree is a home plant, a tree that people hav in their backyard or something, but in india it is cultivated on a large scale. To India, Guava is a major commercial product. The taste of the fruit depends on the species of the fruit as there are many species (the most common being the apple guava) but they are mostly all sweet. Guava is also known as the "Superfruit" because it is one of the most nutritional fruits there are, also the amount of nutrients varies on the species. Some Indians use the leaves for medicinal properties to help with cerebral ailments. You can get guava juice here in New Zealand, but it is usally mixed with other fruits.

ROSE APPLE 

Supposedly the best fruit in the world the Rose Apple is not an apple, nor a rose. It is not as largely produced in India as some fruits. It is very sweet.