Healthy Eating Habits: Five Fun Funky Fresh Fruits

One way to spark healthy eating habits is making our meals an adventure. We can do this by trying unfamiliar and unusual fruits and vegetables now and again.

Here are five out-of-the-ordinary fruits that might not be available at your supermarket, but can likely be ordered online, or found at a produce market. Whether you try them or stick with more familiar options, enjoying a wide variety of fresh produce is a great healthy lifestyle habit to cultivate.

Five Fun Funky Fresh Fruits

Aguajefruit. Though more oblong than round, aguajefruit is approximately the size of a small plum. Traditionally, the Amazonian people removed its outer red scales by scraping the fruit over their bottom teeth. Fortunately, kitchen utensils work just as well. Aguajefruit’s sweet yellow flesh – sometimes fermented to make wine – is loaded with vitamins A and C.

Jabuticaba. Saying the word jabuticaba out loud might be as delicious as tasting the fruit. This South American purple fruit blossoms off the bark of its tree. Jabuticaba is said to be extremely sweet, similar to grapes, and is also used to create liqueur and wine.

Miraclefruit. Miraclefruit, a grape-shaped red berry, is native to West Africa. Though eating it will not miraculously cure any ills, when the juice of miraclefruit is mixed with the juice of sour fruits (e.g., limes, lemons), the sour juices become sweet tasting. This occurs because miraclefruit contains miraculin, a molecule that “magically” alters the structure of our taste bud’s sugar receptors.

Durian. If you come across a fruit that looks like a porcupine and smells like an old gym bag, it is probably durian. However, refrain from judging this Southeast Asian fruit by its thorns. Its unappealing outsides hide a delectable, edible flesh that is, according to the naturalist Alfred R. Wallace, like “a rich custard highly flavored with almonds.”

African Horned Cucumbers. It is difficult not to be curious about fruit that resembles a blowfish. African horned cucumbers are a spiky, yellow-gold, puffed-up version of our familiar green cucumbers. The edible inner flesh is green, juicy, and packed with fiber and vitamin C. This fruit is native to Africa and tastes like a zucchini-cucumber hybrid. Sounds like a great ingredient for a smoothie.

Source: Mother Nature Network
Photo credit: Antti T. Nissinen