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Here are lists of all the fruits considered edible in some cuisine. Note that many true fruits are considered to be vegetables in the culinary sense (for example, the tomato), and hence do not appear in this article. There exist also many fruits that are edible but for various reasons have not become popular.
Temperate fruits
Fruits of temperate climates are almost universally borne on trees or woody shrubs or lianas. They will not grow adequately in the tropics, as they need a period of cold (a chilling requirement) each year before they will flower. The apple, pear, cherry, and plum are the most widely grown and eaten, owing to their adaptability. Many other fruits are important regionally but do not figure prominently in commerce. Many sorts of small fruit on this list are gathered from the wild, just as they were in Neolithic times.
Rosaceae family
The Family Rosaceae dominates the temperate fruits, both in numbers and in importance. The pome fruits, stone fruits, brambles, strawberry, and rosehip are fruits of plants in Rosaceae.
The pome fruits:
The stone fruits, drupes of genus Prunus:
- Apricot (Prunus armeniaca)
- Cherry, sweet, sour, and wild species (Prunus avium, P. cerasus, and others)
- Plum, of which there are several domestic and wild species; dried plums are called prunes
- Peach (of the normal and white variety) and its variant the nectarine (Prunus persica)
- Hybrids of the preceding species, such as the pluot
Berries
In non-technical usage, berry means any small fruit that can be eaten whole and lacks objectionable seeds. The bramble fruits, compound fruits of genus Rubus, are some of the most popular pseudo-berries:
The true berries are dominated by the family Ericaceae, many of which are hardy in the subarctic:
Other berries not in the Rosaceae or Ericaceae:
Fruits of Asian origin
Some fruits native to Asia that were not common elsewhere until the 20th century:
Fruits of American origin
Some other tree fruits native to North America that are eaten in a small way:
- Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argenta; Elaeagnaceae), which grows wild in the prairies of Canada
- American grape: North American species (e.g., Vitis labrusca; Vitaceae) and American-European hybrids are grown where Vitis vinifera is not hardy and are used as rootstocks
- Pawpaw (Asimina triloba; Annonaceae, not to be confused with Carica papaya, which is called pawpaw in some English dialects)
- American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana; Ebenaceae)
- Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco; Rosaceae)
- False-mastic (Mastichodendron foetidissimum; Sapotaceae)
Cacti
Several cacti yield edible fruits, which are important traditional foods for some Native American peoples:
Melons
Some exceptions to the statement that temperate fruits grow on woody perennials are:
Accessory fruits
The accessory fruits, seed organs which are not botanically berries at all::
Vegetables
A few vegetables are sometimes colloquially, but incorrectly, termed as "fruit" in the kitchen:
Mediterranean and subtropical fruits
Fruits in this category are not hardy to extreme cold, as the preceding temperate fruits are, yet tolerate some frost and may have a modest chilling requirement. Notable among these are natives of the Mediterranean:
In the important genus Citrus (Rutaceae), some members are tropical, tolerating no frost. All common species of commerce are somewhat hardy:
Other subtropical fruits:
Tropical fruits
Tropical fruit grow on plants of all habitats. The only characteristic that they share is an intolerance of frost.
- African cherry orange (Citropsis schweinfurthii)
- Akee (Blighia sapida)
- Amazon Grape (Pouroma Cecropiafolia)
- Banana and its starchy variant the plantain (Musacea spp.)
- Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra L.), also called Acerola, West Indian Cherry
- Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
- Burmese grape (Baccaurea sapida)
- Calabash (Crescentia cujete)
- CamuCamu (Myrciaria dubia), also called guavaberry
- Carambola (Averrhoa carambola), also called star fruit
- Cempedak (Artocarpus champeden)
- Cherimoya (Annona cherimola)
- Coconut (Cocos spp.)
- Custard apple (Annona reticulata), also called Bullock's Heart
- Damson Plum (Chrysophyllum oliviforme), also called Satin Leaf
- Dragonfruit (Hylocereus spp.), also called pitaya
- Durian (Durio spp.)
- Elephant apple (Dillenia indica)
- Guarana (Paullinia cupana)
- Indian Prune (Falcourtia rukam)
- Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), also called nangka
- Keppel fruit (Stelechocarpus burakol)
- Langsat (Lansium domesticum), also called longkong or duku
- Mabolo, (Diospyros discolor) also known as a velvet persimmon
- Mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota)
- Mamoncillo (Melicoccus bijugatus), also known as quenepa or genip
- Mango (Mangifera indica)
- Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)
- Marang (Artocarpus odoratissima), a breadfruit relative
- Papaya (Carica papaya)
- Peanut butter fruit (Bunchosia argentea)
- Pineapple (Ananas comosus)
- Poha (Physalis peruviana)
- Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)
- Red momblin (Spondias purpurea)
- Rose apple (Eugenia/Syzygium aquem), also called Malay apple
- Salak (Salacca edulis), also called snakefruit
- Sapodilla (Achras/Manilkara zapota), also called chiku, mespel, naseberry, sapadilla, snake fruit, sawo
- Soursop (Annona muricata), also called guanabana
- Star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito), also called caimito
- Sugar apple (Annona squamosa)
- Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uniflora) also called Brazilian Cherry, Cayenne Cherry, Pitanga
- Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
Nonedible fruit
See also
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