Tropical Fruits of Australia

13 years ago

I've been in Australia for a few weeks and enjoying the tropical fruits here.

I've picked up some kensington pride mangoes are farmer's markets in Melbourne. The markets source goods from all over the country so it is tough to say where they fruit actually came from - the sellers generally didn't know.

In sydney I found a huge indoor market with most sellers selling roughly the same things.

Of interest are the "custard apples". They are huge. I bought a few that were easily 3 - 4 pounds, maybe more. They looked like sugar apples to me but everywhere I went (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns) they call them custard apples. From reading the australian custard apple association website, apparently these fruit are actually "derived" from atemoyas.

Sweet, juicy, large. Seeds are coming home with me for sure.

A number of aussie association sites, including the custard apple, can be see here: http://www.australiantropicalfruits.org.au/.

Other items of interest are rambutan (maybe imported), dragon fruit, longans, and jackfruit.

I am in the north now where mangosteen and lychee also grow. They are not in season now though. It was a pleasant site exited the Cairns airport to see so many mango trees lining the streets (plus field after field of sugar cane). In fact the city itself has fruit trees and almond trees along sidewalks - a model for others to follow!

84F in April (their fall) is great too. They tell me this area rarely falls below 75F.

Today in Cairns, I came across the first jackfruit (3 actually) and the fruit stand operator says she will cut them tommorow. She says they are the "crunchy" type, which I have never had. I'll be going back tommorow. (This maybe the first jackfruit I've seen where I resisted the urge to buy the whole thing).

The longans here are sweet and juicy, as are the pineapples. Cairns/Palm cove is our last stop before heading home via Melbourne...and it has been a sweet, juice tropical trip so far.

There are hundreds of wild edibles (so called bush tucker) here of interest too. Looking to get my hands on as many seeds of local fare as I can...

I've also picked up some locally grown vegetable seed such as australan pumpkins, tomatoes etc.

Comments (10)

abayomi
Original Author
13 years ago
Oh. And I forgot to mention Durian. Not that I have bought or eaten one but I did stumble upon the, in the huge (Asian dominated) market. These are imported from Thailand whole but frozen as part of that process. Thanks to all the talk about the smell, I didn't work up the nerve to buy one, take it to a park (not the hotel!) and hold my breath and eat it....and it looks like my window of opportunity has closed for that.

I did also find them in the Asian supermarket in the same building and got close enough to smell them....and they do smell. Even my Malaysian friends who grew uo around them say they smell awful yet insist they remain the King of Fruits.
ohiojay
13 years ago
I wouldn't waste my money on the frozen durian. Be sure to seek out the Aussie's Achacha fruit. Not sure of the season.
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mango_kush
13 years ago
yes, achacha is a good garcinia, and its more cold hardy than mangosteen. My friend has a seedling growing he offered me.

i think Australian achacha is actually garcinia laterifolia or achachairu from brasil in the link below
http://www.cixel.com/rarefruit/letsfigureoutthegarcinias.htm

heres a site for Australian achacha
http://www.achacha.com.au

anyway, enjoy your trip, do they let you bring back any seeds with you?
abayomi
Original Author
13 years ago
I posted a lengthy piece yesterday but my laptop or web connection failed me.

In summary:

I doubled back to get the crunchy jackfruit but the fruitstand was closed. However, a farmer owned relatively large supermarket up the stree not only had jackfruit but also abiu.

Sweet.

Later that day we drove to Mossman and I happened to find a fruit stand (see link below).

"Dee", the +70 year old proprieter of the 300 acre family farm is amazing. we bought mamey sapotesm huge biriba, huge custard apples and more. But the list she has of her fruit trees is even more amazing.

She grew up among Asians and thus got a taste for tropical fruit. She has scores of varieties, some I have never heard of (even after seeing seemingly everything of this site!). Much are straight from the Asian tropics.

Champedak, marang, mango, sapodilla, jackfruit, rambi, rambutan, wax jambu - she has it all. And a whole bunch of items unfamiliar too me. Awesome. My only regret was not taking a picture of the chalkboard list she had of her trees. She did show me her scrapbook with pictures of harvests...delightful.

She says her are 4 family members alone pick all the fruit.

Can you imagine?

The tropics in Australia, btw, are as tropical as tropical gets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scomazzons Roadside Stall
berto
13 years ago
Mango Kush,
Achachairu is an exotic fruit in Brasil. Achachairu is native to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. However it adapted very well in Recife, Brasil where a friend of mine is a commercial grower.
abayomi
Original Author
13 years ago
Where can one get seeds? I did not find this in Australia.

One other interesting this I cam across was a tazziberry.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tazziberry
aroideana
12 years ago
Dierdre is great isnt she ? I lived further north in idyllic Whyanbeel Valley , home to many iconic collectors and characters , Alan Carle of Botanic Arc would be the best known, also Diane Cilento , once Mrs Sean Connery and a famous actress . She has a property called karnak with a playhouse and a large fruit orchard . There is also 'High Falls' fruit farm
and much further nort , were the tarmac ends at Cape Tribulation there is a few big growers of exotic fruits.
abayomi
Original Author
12 years ago
Good to know. I'll see who I can contact if we visit again. In the mean time I am sprouting my Aussie seeds!
Dvr22999874
9 years ago
I have a friend from Sg coming here to live and she LOVES Durian. Does anybody know where I can get the seedlings around the Sunshine Coast or mailed from any place else in Australia ? So far I have hit a blank and I would like to surprise her when she arrives. After that SHE can take care of them !!
tropicbreezent
9 years ago
You won't get durian to grow on the Sunshine Coast. You'd need to be a bit closer to Cairns.