Egg Fruit? Why is it called egg fruit, does it taste like eggs? Well yes, it kind of does. It tastes and has the consistency of a boiled egg yolk, but sweeter. Some have compared the taste to cooked pumpkin or even an egg custard. It is certainly an unusual fruit. Our tree has been growing for about 5 years, and while we’ve had flowers for a few years, we have fruit this year. We only have three, but at least we have some!
Egg fruit belongs to the sapotacea family and is also known as yellow sapote. We have both white and black sapote growing on our property, and I was somewhat surprised to find it comes from the same family as the fruits are very different. It is native to North (the southern part) and South America, but can now be found in all over the world in tropical and subtropical climates.
The picture above gives a nice scale of the size of this fruit. Egg fruit is picked when slightly soft. Some egg fruit are more round in shape; ours is a little oblong. Egg fruit was considered a delicacy among the Mayans and Aztecs. It is a fruit rich in many vitamins and nutrients. It is high in betacarotene as you may guess from its rich color, and is surprisingly high in iron.
It is rich in niacin which aids in both the treatment of hypertension as well as lowering blood sugar levels. It’s got a lot of Vitamin C and has anti-inflammatory properties as well.
There are a number of ways people utilize this fruit. It is is often eaten raw with salt and lemon juice. It is also used in in baking – think of it as a pumpkin substitute. It can be used in breads, pancakes, jams, smoothies, and custards. A friend of mine has had it in a vegan cheesecake made with lilikoi – I can’t wait to try that recipe!
I must say, it’s an acquired taste. When I first tried it years ago, I wasn’t quite the fan, but I’m excited about the possibilities and I will say I like our variety a little more than the first one I had tried years ago … probably because we grew it!
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