Here are our top pics in presenting exotic fruits from across the world and India with captivating images! These hold a special place among all fruits both for how they profile for their looks as well as taste.
Explore with the exotic fruits images as well as learn curious little facts that render these 20 exotic fruits special treatment!
Meaning of Exotic Fruits
Exotic fruits refer to rare fruits that are not commonly found or grown in a particular region or country. So, what is commonplace to one maybe totally exotic to another! Here is how a fruit qualifies to be called an exotic fruit:
- An exotic fruit has a unique flavor, texture, and/or appearance compared to more common fruits.
- Exotic fruits are often prized for their novelty even if not for taste!
- This is why they may be imported from different parts of the world to cater to diverse culinary interests.
- Additionally, many times, they hold cultural significance in their countries of origin and are sometimes associated with specific traditions or ceremonies even.
Here is EnglishGeni’s 20 exotic fruits list.
| List of Exotic Fruits | ||
| Buddha’s Hand | Wood apple | Star fruit |
| Jaboticaba | Ice apple (tadgola) | Egg fruit |
| Salak | Madras thorn | Soursop |
| Durian | Kaffir limes | Water apple |
| Mangosteen | Hog plum | Red Gooseberry |
| Dragon fruit | Osage orange | Blood orange |
| Cempedak | Noni fruit | Horned Acai Melon |
See how luxurious each of these look in the exotic fruits images below and you will instantly know why we labeled them so!
Exotic fruits of the world
Let’s launch headlong into all the exotic fruits from around the world. Let’s start with this visual treat that’s good enough to serve like an appetizer before the main course! Most people would assume there would be fewer than 10 exotic fruits, but no, we’ll give you twice as many here!
Cempedak
Cempedak, has its outer body similar to jackfruit. It’s prickly-looking outer skin belies these brightly hued pods inside. That explains the large pods here!
Cempedak has a sweet, tropical flavor with a distinct aroma. It is enjoyed fresh as well as fried.
Grown in Malaysia and Indonesia, it is so popular, this is a virtual tropical explosion!
Chambaka / Jambu
Water apple, also known as rose apple or jambu, is a crisp, watery fruit with a mild, floral flavor. They come deep purple to pristine white.
Each bite hits like a refreshing burst of hydration, so have it fresh or in salads!
Water apple trees grow in tropical regions like Southeast Asia.
Orange Blood
Orange blood, known for its deep red flesh, offers a tangy-sweet flavor and is rich in antioxidants and vitamin C.
It’s color perks up any fruit or salad bowl and just looks irresistible!
When you eat you want to watch out or you’ll have blood on your hands! You know we’re kidding!
Salak / Snake Fruit
Snake fruit, also known as salak or salacca is a unique fruit with a reddish-brown, scaly skin.
The fruit itself is crunchy with a sweet-sour whitish flesh!
Snake fruit trees grow in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. Truly owns a place among rare exotic fruits, by looks and taste, it’s claimed!
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Yellow Hog Plum
Yellow plum, with its smooth skin and juicy flesh, offers a sweet-tart flavor with floral notes, enjoyed fresh or in jams.
The hog plums are one of the deepest of yellows you can find in nature, fruits and flowers put together. A well-deserved place on the exotic fruits list!
Buddha’s Hand
If there’s a fruit that figures on an exotic fruits list around the word, without exception, it is this one!
Also called the “fingered citron,” it’s a citrus fruit with a fragrant zest. It’s used for its aroma and zest to flavor dishes, make candies, and infuse beverages too.
Unlike other citrus fruits it’s rather dry and with its thick rind yields very few calories.
It’s called the Buddha’s hands as it’s unique shape resembles the depiction of Buddha’s long fingers.
Osage Orange
Osage orange look unusual, with a green, bumpy exterior. But florists fancy them as centerpieces for decor. However, they are inedible raw.
The wood of the trees found in central United States is used for crafts, stringed musical instruments, and in building boats. The flowers are used as a natural insect repellent,
Dragon Fruit
They look straight out of a fairytale, with their vibrant pink skins and scaly bodies. But cut open and you’re greeted by a visual delight!
Lovely white flesh speckled with tiny black seeds. It’s taste as light, delicate and sophisticated as a palette can get.
Indian Fig
Indian fig, also called prickly pear or cactus pear, is a spiky fruit with a sweet and juicy interior.
Its vibrant colors range from deep purple to bright orange. They’re a visual treat, and add color to desserts and salads.
Originally from the Americas, Indian figs now grow in arid regions across the globe, thriving in dry climates.
Purple Mangosteen
Purple mangosteen, with its thick, purple rind and soft, white segments, it boasts a sweet-tart flavor. It is prized in Asia for its taste and gorgeous looks, and is known to have been cultivated since long centuries ago.
Star Gooseberry
Star gooseberry is a tart tropical fruit with a greenish-yellow color and a sour taste. Like the other kinds of gooseberries, this one is rich in vitamin C as well. They grow in dense clusters. the plant itself is between a shrub and a tree.
Cashew Fruit
Cashew is a nutty fruit known for its kidney-shaped appearance, with the nut attached to the bottom of the fruit. it’s nutritious and spells luxury! The fruit is hard to find!
However, as a dry fruit, it’s available all around the world and much adored.
It’s one of the most popular as a dried fruit and is the second largest consumed in India, only next to the almond. But one can’t go overboard on eating them due to the fat content.
Abiu
Abiu is a tropical fruit with a smooth, creamy texture and a sweet flavor reminiscent of caramel and vanilla. It’s home is the Amazon and it grows in similar wet and warm climates.
Jaboticaba
Jaboticaba, known for fruiting on its trunk, offers sweet-tart, grape-like berries, often used in jellies and wines.
They can cover nearly the entire branches and trunk of huge trees, like endless strings of black beads encircling them.
Cocoa Fruit
Cocoa fruit is the pod that contains cocoa beans, used in the production of chocolate and cocoa products.
If it weren’t for this fruit, the world would be deprived of one of its greatest joys: chocolate and its myriad forms!
Kaffir lime
Kaffir lime, like the Osage orange, has its distinctive wrinkled skin and aromatic leaves. It adds a citrusy zing to Southeast Asian cuisine.
Canistel / Egg Fruit
Egg fruit, also called canistel, is one of the brightest colored fruits you’d come across- vibrance that will throw you away!
The canistel has a custard-like texture and sweet flavor reminiscent of baked sweet potatoes. Though available in India, it is not the easiest to find at regular stores
Horned Melon or Kiwano or Acai Berry
Horned melon, also called kiwano, is a quirky fruit with bright orange skin covered in spiky horns.
Inside, its jelly-like flesh is tart and refreshing, like a mix of cucumber and banana. Now, that’s an exotic fair!
Originally from Africa, horned melons now grow in warm climates around the world, adding a touch of whimsy to fruit salads and desserts.
Carambola
Starfruit, also known as carambola, is a tropical fruit that boasts a unique star-shaped cross-section. it has a pleasant sweet-tart flavor. It’s like a taste of the tropics in every slice!
Starfruit trees grow in warm climates like India, parts of Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, where they’re enjoyed fresh or used to garnish salads and desserts. They are widely available in India.
Soursop
Soursop, with its prickly green skin and creamy flesh, has a sweet-tart flavor and is used in beverages and desserts.
Custard apple, sugar apple, cherimoya belong to the same family as the soursop and taste nearly the same, which is delicious!
Durian
Known for its strong smell and unique flavor, durian is sometimes called the “king of fruits.”
It has a custard-like texture and a complex taste that people either love or hate. You’d be hard-pressed to find ones who are neutral to this fruit!
The Most Exotic Fruits in India
We are not done with surprises yet! These curious exotic fruit from India are perhaps not well-known but they are indeed tasty, unique, and a wonderful addition to our curated list of exotic fruits name, taste profiles, and geographies!
Coming first up is the rather rustic exotic fruit, the Indian dweller, the Ice apple or sometimes called the Palm apple or the sugar apple.
Ice Apple
Ice apple is also called palm fruit or tadgola, is a unique fruit with a jelly-like texture and a subtle, refreshing taste similar to coconut water.
Encased in a yellow-brown husk, its translucent flesh is a cool respite on hot summer days.
Ice apples are harvested from palm trees in regions like India and Southeast Asia, where they’re enjoyed as a natural way to beat the heat.
Its scientific name is Borassus flabellifer, a species of palm is indeed native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
Madras Thorn
The Madras thorn trees get laden with endless bunches of these sweet, juicy fruit.
Not always available in the cities but grows wild in Indian villages.
The pods inside go from dark green, to pale green, to white, and then appears streaks of pink, to finally bright crimson pink when overripe!
The tree is also popular in tropical regions for its shade and edible pods. That’s its round-winded path to becoming one of the exotic fruits in India!
Wood Apple
It is a hard-shelled fruit with aromatic pulp, used in beverages and traditional medicine for its health benefits.
It is savored with a dash of salt or when more ripe, with sugar. It has plenty of seeds that are lightly crunchy in the gooey pulp.
It is often a part of religious offerings, especially during the Ganesh festival in some parts of the country. The bael/bilva/maredu fruit shares similarity with the size, shell and texture inside. However, the bael tree fruit is considered medicinal unlike the wood apple.
Sapodilla / Chocolate Pudding Fruit
Sapota, as it’s called in India, is also known as the chocolate pudding fruit. It’s a tropical gem that looks rather dull but tastes like creamy custard.
This divine-tasting fruit is looked upon by chefs around the world as a truly exotic dessert delicacy! You can see why these fruits deserve to be termed exotic fruits in India, and the world too!
Here are some other worthy mentions among the exotic fruits!
Pulasan
Pulasan, resembling rambutan, has a sweet, creamy flesh with a hint of acidity, enjoyed fresh in tropical regions. Certainly, an exotic fruit!
Santol
Santol, with its sour-sweet taste and fibrous texture, is enjoyed fresh or pickled, popular in Southeast Asian cuisine. A one of a kind fruit again!
Gac Fruit
Gac fruit, known for its vibrant red-orange color, is rich in antioxidants and commonly used in Asian cuisine.
Jungle Jack
Jungle Jack is a wild relative of jackfruit, found in tropical forests, with smaller fruits and a similar taste.
Conclusion
If seeing these wonderful exotic fruits makes you want to learn more about fruits, visit our other articles on fruits and dry fruits even!
Fruits Name in English With Pictures
Color Riot: 20 Festive Green Fruits Yellow Fruits Red Fruits
Single Fruits Rule: King of Fruits Mango
Discover Seasonal Fruits: Summer Winter & Rainy
All About 28 Dry Fruits Name, Picture and Fun Facts
Or, try some picture based tasks or vocabulary boosting exercises:
- Picture Composition- 40 to fit any level (Links to 6 posts for Grade 1 to Grade 6)
- Master Pillar page for Picture Descriptions (Links to 5 Basic to Intermediate picture-tasks for adults)
