Cherimoya Fruit and Juice Benefits

The cherimoya is called the the tree of ice cream and the fruits taste like a blend of pineapple, mango and strawberry flavors. Ripe fruits are black-green and give to slight pressure, like an avocado or peach. When buying cherimoya, choose firm, unripe fruit that are heavy for their size, then place them somewhere out of the sun and allow to ripen at room temperature. Check your cherimoya every couple of days for softness. The fruit should feel as soft as an almost ripe avocado, with a little give but not squishy. The skin may turn brownish as the cherimoya ripens.



Cherimoyas have an unusual, multi faceted, almost pre historic appearance that belies their exquisite and sophisticated flavor. The velvety flesh is a delicious, custardy blend of banana, pineapple and strawberry notes. Mark Twain once characterized the cherimoya as deliciousness itself Always buy Calimoya brand cherimoyas to ensure perfect texture and flavor. The heart shaped cherimoya is considered to be a romantic fruit. Great to eat with your boy or girlfriend, just like the Incas did in ancient times. They used it as an aphrodisiac and to improve fertility.



Fat free, cholesterol free, very low sodium, excellent source of vitamin C, good source of potassium and fiber.The fruit is fleshy and soft, sweet, white in color, with a sherbet-like texture, which gives it its secondary name, custard apple. Some characterize the flavor as a blend of banana, pineapple, papaya and strawberry. Others describe it as tasting like commercial bubblegum. Similar in size to a grapefruit, it has large, glossy, dark seeds that are easily removed. The seeds are poisonous if crushed open and can be used as an insecticide.An extractive of the bark can induce paralysis if injected. When ripe the skin is green and gives slightly to pressure, similar to the avocado.



herimoyas originally come from Peru and Ecuador. People in those countries say that cherimoyas don’t like to touch the snow but they like to see the snow in the distance. That’s why this fruit adapts pretty well to Mediterranean climates with cool but temperate winters. I’m familiar with cherimoyas because in Chile, where I lived, cherimoyas are considered the national fruit. Everybody loves cherimoyas in Chile, and cherimoya is one of the most preferred flavors of Chilean yoghurt and ice cream! If cherimoyas like to see the snow inthe distance, I can understand why they grow so happily in Chile.

In the early 1980s, almost no one in North America had heard of the lumpy fruit with white flesh known as the cherimoya. But Americans were yearning for new and exotic flavors. For many of California's rare fruit growers, the cherimoya, which had been introduced almost 100 years earlier, seemed like a natural solution.

The fledgling California cherimoya industry faced a number of challenges. Not the least of these was the puzzle of the different cherimoya varieties. Growers recognized that the different cherimoya varieties, propagated by bud grafts, had different properties. Some varieties bore mature fruit as early as December; others, as late as March. One variety bore well only north of Los Angeles. The flavor of another was spectacular in Orange County and south, but insipid further north. The puzzle came from the fact that the different varieties are difficult to tell apart--impossible when not bearing fruit. Collections of marked trees had all but disappeared from Southern California.

Did you know that 

Cherimoya is part of the Custard Apple family which includes the sweetsop, soursop and Pawpaw, (made famous in the children’s rhyme). It has soft, sweet, white flesh with several large black seeds and a tropical flavor that is described as a mixture of many fruits.
 
How to Select
Choose unblemished, firm cherimoyas with green skin.
 
How to Store
Ripen cherimoyas at room temperature until they “give” slightly when lightly pressed. Refrigerate ripe fruits for 1-2 days.
 
Nutrition Benefits
Fat free, cholesterol free, very low sodium, excellent source of vitamin C, good source of potassium and fiber.

i miss this place with lots of fruits and vegetables, very affordable and fresh.

The fruit should feel as soft as an almost ripe avocado, with a little give but not squishy. The skin may turn brownish as the cherimoya ripens.

strange looking fruit but nutritious...thanks for sharing

it's like guyabano too