Fruits of the Yucatan

One of the favorite activities for tourists in Valladolid, Yucatan, is visiting the local market. There, they can see the Mayan ladies in their colorful dresses selling various fruits and vegetables.

While there are many traditional fruits like bananas, oranges, and apples, there are also many new and exotic fruits. If you love trying new flavors, be sure to try the Yucatecan fruits.

We made a list of some species you can find during the fall. We hope it can help you identify some of the exotic fruits available in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Huaya, Guaya

 

Melicoccus bijugatus

These round fruits look like a shiny green olives, and it is sold in bunches that include the stems. This fruit has to be peeled carefully to find the inside a juicy whitish pulp with a mango-like flavor.

It is important to be careful when chewing the fruit, as it has a pit in the middle. The seed and the meat of the fruit are quite slippery, so make sure to dice it in small pieces when feeding children. Otherwise, it can be accidentally swallowed and get stuck in their throat, causing suffocation.

Pitahaya, Pitaya 

Hylocereus undatus

This hot pink apple-sized fruit can be found during the summer and part of the autumn in the local markets. The fruit has hard skin with scaly-looking skin, but despite its looks, it's easy to cut with a knife. You will find inside a juicy white flesh with tiny black seeds.

These pitahayas are not as sweet as the ones found in the central region of Mexico, but they are still delicious and quite refreshing as a juice or snack.

Pepino Kat

Parmentiera Aculeata

The name of this fruit is Cucumber Kat, but it has nothing to do with cucumbers and is more closely tied to sesame. This fruit grows on a tall tree all over the tropics in Mexico and is widely used for food, wood, animal feed, etc.

In the Yucatan, this plant is eaten as fruit but there is also a regional dish called salpimentado that has plenty of cooked kat slices in it.

Anona or Saramuyo

Annona squamosa L.

This fruit is the size of a peach, it is green, and it has scale looking indentations. It belongs to the Annona family, which also includes the guanabana, pox, and many other species of these fruits that grow in the tropics.

This plant is from India but has been growing in the area for centuries. Its flavor is very similar to that of soursop (annona muricata), but it is sweeter and more intense.

Pox or Pool Box

Annona Purpurea.

This enigmatic fruit is a cousin of Annona and guanabana. The tree can be found in the wild in vast areas of southern Mexico and Central America. The fruit is the size of a small melon, and the outside skin has hard thorn-like protuberances.

The fruit is very similar to a mango, as it has a sweet, juicy flesh with a stringy feel. The fruit has big, slimy seeds in the center, and its flavor is also similar but not as sweet.

Valladolid is a place where fresh fruit can be found everywhere; even the most miniature houses will have some fruit trees in the backyard. If you love fruits, you will find your local favorite very soon!