List of fruits

Here are lists of all the edible fruits (CUISINE). Note that many true fruits are considered to be vegetables in the culinary sense, and hence do not appear in this article.

Table of contents

1 Temperate fruits 2 Mediterranean and subtropical fruits 3 Tropical fruits 4 A nonedible fruit 5 See also

Temperate fruits

Fruits of temperate climates are almost universally borne on trees or woody shrubs or lianas. They will not grow adequately in the tropics, as they need a period of cold (a chilling requirement) each year before they will flower. The apple, pear, cherry, and plum are the most widely grown and eaten, owing to their adaptability. Many other fruits are important regionally but do not figure prominently in commerce. Many sorts of fruit on this list are gathered from the wild, just as they were in Neolithic times.

The Family Rosaceae dominates the temperate fruits, both in numbers and in importance. The pome fruits, stone fruits, brambles, and strawberry are all members of Rosaceae.

The pome fruits:

• Apple
• Chokeberry (Aronia spp.)
• Haw, the fruit of the hawthorn
• Juneberry or saskatoon
• Medlar
• Nannyberry or sheepberry (Viburnum spp.)
• Pear, European and Asian species
• Quince
• Rowan or mountain ash
• Sorb or sorb apple, the fruit of the service tree

The stone fruits, drupes of genus Prunus:

• Apricot
• Cherry, sweet, sour, and wild species
• Plum, of which there are several domestic and wild species; dried plums are called prunes
• Peach and its variant the nectarine
• Hybrids of the preceding species, such as the pluot

The bramble fruits, compound fruits of genus Rubus, loosely called berries:

• Blackberry, of which there are many species and hybrids, such as boysenberry and loganberry
• Raspberry
• Cloudberry

The true berries are dominated by the family Ericaceae, many of which are hardy in the subarctic:

• Bearberry
• Bilberry or whortleberry
• Blueberry
• Cranberry
• Crowberry
• Huckleberry
• Lingonberry

Other berries (not in Ericaceae):

• Barberry
• Currant (Ribes spp.)
• Elderberry
• Gooseberry
• Honeysuckle: the berries of some species are edible, others are poisonous
• Seaberry or sea buckthorn

Some fruits native to Asia that were not common elsewhere until the 20th century:

• Cornelian cherry
• Goumi
• Jujube
• Kiwi fruit
• Loquat
• Persimmon, Diospyros kaki

Some tree fruits native to North America:

• Juneberry or saskatoon
• Pawpaw
• Persimmon, Diospyros virginiana

Several cacti yield edible fruits, which are important traditional foods for some Native American peoples:

• Prickly pear
• Saguaro

Some exceptions to the statement that temperate fruits grow on woody perrenials are:

• Melon (Cucumis melo): cantaloupe and other muskmelons, honeydew
• Sunberry or wonderberry (Solanum spp.)
• Watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris)

The false fruits are not botanically fruits at all but are used as fruits in the kitchen:

• Rhubarb
• Strawberry

Mediterranean and subtropical fruits

Fruits in this category are not hardy to extreme cold, as the preceding temperate fruits are, yet tolerate some frost and may have a modest chilling requirement. Notable among these are natives of the Mediterranean:

• Fig
• Grape, called raisin, sultana, or currant when dried
• Pomegranate
• Date
• Mulberry

In the important genus Citrus some members are tropical, tolerating no frost. All common species of commerce are somewhat hardy:

• Citron
• Grapefruit and its predecesor the pummelo (also known as the shaddock)
• Kumquat
• Key Lime
• Lemon
• Lime (an important hybrid of the Key Lime and the Citron)
• Mandarin, clementine, tangelo, tangerine, and similar
• Orange, of which there are sweet and sour species
• Ugli fruit, a hybrid

Other subtropical fruits:

• Guava (Psidium guajava)
• Longan (Euphoria longan)
• Lychee (Litchi chinensis)
• Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis)

Tropical fruits

Tropical fruit grow on plants of all habits. The only characteristic that they share is an intolerance of frost.

• Akee (Blighia sapida))
• Banana and its starchy variant the plantain (Musacea spp.)
• Carambola (Averrhoa carambola), also called star fruit
• Cempedak (Artocarpus champeden)
• Custard apple (Annona cherimola), also called cherimoya
• Coconut (Cocos spp.)
• Durian (Durio zibethinus)
• Guarana (Paullinia cupana))
• Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), also called nangka
• Langsat (Lansium domesticum), also called longkong or duku
• Mamoncillo (Melicoccus bijugatus), also known as the quenepa or genip
• Mango (Mangifera indica)
• Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)
• Papaya (Carica papaya)
• Pineapple (Ananas comosus)
• Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)
• Rose apple (Syzygium aquem), also called Malay apple
• Salak (Salacca edulis), also called snakefruit
• Sapodilla (Achras/Manilkara zapota), also called chiku
• Soursop (Annona muricata)
• Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)

A nonedible fruit

• Osage orange

See also

• List of vegetables
• Food