Mysterious fruit in the garden

August 4, 2010  •  Category:

 

One of the  aspects of life in Lebanon is the fact that your senses are constantly bombarded with stimuli. Walking in the street a few steps, the stink of  a  garbage dump will be followed by the heady fragrance  of a jasmine bush;  you never know what to expect; you accept it as a reality.


To go from the general to the specific, I was in the garden the other day and discovered this fruit; or at least I think it is a fruit. It is a lovely orange color, and inside the flesh is similar to a large raspberry.

I hope it does not contain a potent poison, as I had a few to try; pleasant taste, mildly sweet, berry-like; the climbing vine has big purple and white  flowers.

Anybody know what it is?

Comments

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  1. Heavenly Housewife says:

    Wow, it certainly is beautiful, though I have no idea what it is. My husband would NEVER let me eat something that i found growing. He is always afraid i will poison myself. You are a brave lady LOL 😀
    *kisses* HH

  2. melrose says:

    I tought you will tell us:) unfortunately – no idea!

  3. melrose says:

    At a second glimpse I think I have recognized passion flower…so maybe some sort of it fruits? Why didn’t thou ask someone who lives there? Waiting for the solution…curious M.:)

    • BourgeonsTaha says:

      It is passion fruit. It grows in Lebanon. The plant is like a vine. There is two varieties of it one is the one you had and the other is with same shape of vine and flowers but the fruits are of violet color. The fruits of both varieties are green untill they ripe.
      Sahtein

  4. Rosa says:

    Strange looking fruits! They are like a cross between apricots and grenades…

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  5. fimère says:

    ça ressemble à la fleur de passion. Est ce que c’est un fruit?
    bonne soirée

  6. Mustapha says:

    Those are called “Loquats”. In arabic we call them “Akidinia” or “Za3roor”. Good stuff. Here’s the wikipedia page:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat

  7. sunflower says:

    It’s passion fruit. I guess it’s edible, identical to this. http://healthruns.com/healthy-snacks-2/

    Love your blog btw.

  8. MaryMoh says:

    That’s a beautiful fruit….new to me. But you were brave to try without knowing it. I’m sure you are ok 😀

  9. Susan says:

    Judging from the passion flowers I see in one of your photos, I sounds like Sunflower is right. They are beautiful. The seeds look like pomegranate seeds. What a nice surprise to find in your garden and much better than walking near a garbage dump 😉

  10. goria says:

    Lovely fruits! nice pictures! gloria

  11. Shri says:

    Would relate to what you wrote about walking down a street..it might be a nook in India too! 🙂

  12. Suman Singh says:

    oh, those looks wonderful..inside of the fruit looks like pomegranate seeds..superb pics..even I am seeing this for the first time..so no idea what it is…

  13. Marina says:

    This is not loquat, this is passiflora!! Makes a beautiful sour-bittersweet thick syrup, very yummy, for an interesting cheesecake topping variation, icecream topping or to substitute grenadine in cocktails! 😉

  14. A. Benson says:

    From the picture you gave it looks like it is Blue Crown (Passiflora caerulea)

  15. joudie kalla says:

    Wow joumana you are brave! i would never have eaten something i found in my garden. Looks delicious though…. Enjoy!

  16. elra says:

    Oh heaven, they look very pretty 🙂

  17. Anita says:

    This is a passion fruit variety, like fimere said. Enjoy it!.. Lebanon climate looks like is getting more tropical 🙂

  18. Mimi says:

    It looks like a passion fruit variety.
    Mimi

  19. Doc says:

    Looks like passion fruit of the passion flower vine.

  20. Sushma Mallya says:

    It looks like a peach, but looks beautiful..

  21. spice says:

    Hi dear, I’m here after long time, looks like I’ve missed on quite a few wonderful posts here, will check them out slowly, now I’m curious to know this fruit….I don’t think it’s loquats, as far as I remember they have flesh/pulp & not pomegranate kind of seeds…but it’s been long time since I had loquats….will come back to check, take care..

  22. Anna Johnston says:

    We have what could be a vague cousin of that fruit here in Oz, but your pretty brave tasting it all the same. If its like our Loquets (I don’t think that’s how its spelt) they are a strange and beautiful concoction of several different fruits, I love them.

  23. TastyTrix says:

    My you are brave! I hope it doesn’t contain a poison as well .. though I suppose you’d know by now!!

  24. Velva says:

    the fruit is beautiful. What a great discovery.

  25. Devaki says:

    Ilove it! No idea what is is Joumana but love it! Something like an apricot that hoped to grow up to be a pomegranate?…..lol…

    Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

  26. Sridevi says:

    I think this fruit belong to Maracuja family….I have seen these flowers in the nursery, but not tried this fruit.

  27. Pauline says:

    Yes, the flower and inside definitely look like passion fruit but I don’t recognise the outside. I have only seen this looking kind of dark and shrivelled, so yours must be really fresh. In Brazil this fruit is known as maracuja and makes great juice.

  28. Grapefruit says:

    Looks like a loquat to me. They’re wonderful – and your post reminds me that I haven’t had any in years!

  29. FOODESSA says:

    I would have guessed a fruit from the same family as passion fruit. I also appreciated Devaki’s amusing guess ;o)

    Looking forward to the right response…one day maybe?

    Flavourful wishes,
    Claudia

  30. Marie says:

    I’ve never seen anything like that, I would love to try it!

  31. A Canadian Foodie says:

    It , by now, appears to be passiflora… but what does it taste like… it looks like raspberry – but it tastes like…??? Great sharing. I love finding things, too… I once found a long white raspberry-like fruit that was basically clear and transparent and tasted like sweet crisp spring water and it was fruit from what was called here (Bosnia) a DUDE tree. Eventually, I learned it was a Mulberry Tree fruit and I guess I got one on the perfect day at the perfect moment, as they go bad very very quickly and are seen as garbage most places. I do not understand why. I ate it right from the tree as it fell into my hand. Heaven!
    🙂
    Valerie

  32. OysterCulture says:

    Looks delicious and just like a package that offers new delights as it is unwrapped.

  33. Conor @ HoldtheBeef says:

    Wow, it’s like a mixture of three fruits in one. Glad to see you’ve posted again since this one so it didn’t kill you!

  34. Murasaki Shikibu says:

    Blue Crown (Passiflora caerulea) Its blue, black, white flowers smell minty, and are self fertile producing distinct orange fruit with red pulp. Fruits are not very palatable fresh but can be combined with other foods and juiced to add an interesting flavor. The flavor is somewhat berry like.
    http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/passionFruit.html

  35. maia tabet says:

    C’est des fruits de la passion, Joumana.

  36. Joe N. says:

    Most definitely a passionfruit. you can’t mistake those flowers anywhere else lol

  37. Joe N. says:

    Its mostly known as the common passion flower. Here is a sketching of the plant. hope it helps!!

    http://chestofbooks.com/flora-plants/flowers/Flower-Garden/images/28-Passiflora-coerulea-Common-Passion-Flower.jpg

  38. pedro says:

    you have a passion flower .the fruit is a variety off the passion fruit.

    (grenadine) or as we call it, Parcha in Puerto Rico!

  39. Isabelle says:

    Fruit de la passion, délicieux. Même chose que maracuja en Afrique ? Que d´exquises boissons faites avec ces fruits !

  40. Miss Haddad says:

    Yes!! that is certainly passion fruit, I have them in my garden here in London 🙂

  41. doc says:

    its a lilikoi or passion fruit. 2 kine lilikoi. this one and all yellow with super hard skin. think this one is claimed to be ono or the best.

  42. Chrisi says:

    Melrose, you are absolutely right!
    This is a passion flower. So nice to have this beautiful flower in your garden!

  43. Jana says:

    yum-yum, passion fruits! I like to photograph the blossoms-they are such a beauty!

  44. Dan says:

    It’s a ”blue crown passion flower fruit” and is wholly edible and a native to Paraguay!

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