Fruits in Peru
The fertile lands of Peru produce a large number of fruits. Some of them are familiar to us, such as bananas, oranges and apples, but there are also fruits that you hardly met elsewhere.
Let’s talk about the top-7 fruits of Peru that you should definitely try!
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Lúcuma:
If you will ask which fruit is the most Peruvian, so it will be lucuma, also known as “Gold of Incas”.
The raw lucuma fruit has a green skin and bright yellow flesh inside. The taste of it reminds taste of sweet potato.
But locals rarely eat it raw. In the stores you can find yogurt or ice-cream with lucuma taste.
Also this fruit used as a healthy sweetener.
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Maracuya:
Maybe you saw this fruit in other countries, but you will be surprised when you will see it in Peru.
Peruvian Maracuya is a big yellow or green fruit with yellow or orange pulp inside. It has sour taste, so the most common way how to use it is juice.
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Granadilla:
This fruit is related to maracuya, but it has more sweet taste.
Granadilla is yellow or orange fruit with translucent pulp inside. It’s is a great source of fiber, calcium and essential vitamins.
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Chirimoya:
Chirimoya is a fruit with thin green (also can be dark green) skin with white creamy flesh and dark seeds inside.
The taste of it reminds mix of banana, strawberry, pineapple and peach.
The fruit is sweet, that’s why the most common way how to eat it is raw.
Cherimoya is loaded with antioxidants and vitamins.
But don’t confuse it with another fruit- guanabana, it’s also green or dark-green fruit, but with prickles.
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Tuna:
Did you know that cactus has fruits? Yes, it has.
Tuna is a fruit of fig cactus, contains a lot of vitamins and oxidants, that making it very healthy product.
The tuna fruit has a thin green, orange or pink skin with spines and yellow or pink pulp with small eatable seeds inside.
It has sweet taste and used for jams, cocktails or just eating raw.
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Pepino:
Don’t confuse it with a cucumber which in Spanish also is pepino.
Pepino or pepino dulce is one of the types of melon. It has a yellow skin with purple lines and light-yellow flesh inside.
The taste is sweet and highly juice. Pepino dulce is loaded of vitamins, especially vitamin A and helps normalize blood sugar.
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Pacay:
The fruit is also called as ice-cream beads because of the flesh resembling the taste of vanilla ice cream.
It grows in long pods resembling green beans and more common for jungle regions of Peru. Inside the pods are big black seeds surrounded by delicious white edible flesh.
Pacay contains many vitamins, amino acids and minerals, therefore it widely used in medicine.
You will see much more kinds of fruits in Peru, but we highly recommend to try at least these 7 fruits to know more about unique Peruvian taste.
Also read about cremolada– refreshing fruit drink.
