PEPINO

Common Name: Pepino
Vernacular Name: Pepino dulce, Pepino melon, Melon pear
Botanical Name: Solanum muricatum
Specimens From: China
Specimens Weight: 185 gm [6.52 oz] (Average weight per fruit)

Pepino, the exotic multi-colored fruit, native to South America in the region of Peru, Chile and Colombia. Although it is sometimes known as a melon, it is not a melon at all. Some cultivars only look and taste like a melon. It is in the same family as the popular tomato instead.

Pepino is a Spanish word, meaning "cucumber" But why would they want to name it 'cucumber' when it does not even looks like one? Probably, some taste like one.

Pepino is an attractive fruit as it differs greatly in colors, shapes and sizes. It can be purple, green, yellow or cream colors, with or without purple stripes. (Specimens shown above is the cream with purple stripes). The flesh is either from yellow to orange or green to white.

The shape may be round, oval, oblong or teardrop shapes. Seeds count ranging from numerous seeds, few to none.

The taste is sweet, similar to honeydew but the poorer quality fruits can be totally tasteless with an unpleasant soapy aftertaste. Though the skin is edible and thin, it is tough to bite on it.


Fruit: Pepino; Solanum muricatum; Solanaceae.


Other fruit in the same family: Cape Gooseberry


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CAPE GOOSEBERRY

Common Name: Cape Gooseberry
Vernacular Names: Golden berry, Physalis
Botanical Name: Physalis peruviana
Specimens From: Colombia
Specimens Weight: 6 gm (Average weight per fruit)

Cape gooseberry, an unusual fruit with the leafy-liked husk surrounding its berry, is ideal for decorative purposes.

It is native to South America, believes to be from Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru and it is now cultivated in many tropical, subtropical countries.

Don't be mistaken by the name, "gooseberry". It is misleading as it is not a gooseberry at all as it does not even belongs to the gooseberry family. It is related to the tomato and potato instead.

This fruit is a small round berry, about the size of a grape. It is orange-yellow when ripe and covered with a layer of shiny, waxing oil. Every berry is protected by the papery husk, that looks like dried leaves.

Do not peel off the inedible, papery husk until you are ready to eat, as it can help protect the berry when kept dry. The taste is similar to grapes. It has a unique sweetness with a tangy taste. There are many small seeds but it is edible and most of the time, it is soft enough to eat.


Fruit: Cape Gooseberry; Physalis peruviana; Solanaceae.


Other fruit in the same family: Pepino


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