Did you know that fruits come in countless varieties? Most of them, you can easily find in grocery stores. However, there are some fruits that are so rare, they’re found only in very specific places on the planet. These unique fruits bring tastes and textures you might not even be able to imagine.
So, just how uncommon are these fruits? For some, the total global harvest for a year is so small that you could count the amount with just your fingers. A few grow in such delicate conditions that they can’t survive anywhere else, while some are so rare that they’re close to disappearing forever, struggling to hold on in their natural environments.
Are you curious to learn about the world’s most rare and exotic fruits? Let’s take a journey through this list and meet the top 15 rarest fruits on earth.
Table of Contents
1. Rambutan
The rambutan is a vibrant fruit covered in soft, hair-like spikes. This is where it gets its unique name from.
Peel away its hairy cover, and you’ll find see-through flesh with a flavor similar to grapes. Watch out for the big, non-edible seed inside.
Native to Southeast Asia, and related to the lychee, rambutan is grown in tropical climates. However, it’s not widely produced – the yearly global harvest is under 200,000 tons.
In places like the U.S. and Europe, it’s uncommon to find fresh rambutan. If you’re eager to try this fruit, you may need to travel to Thailand or Indonesia.
2. Ackee
The ackee fruit has a rough, red skin that looks nothing like other fruits. Inside, it holds large black seeds surrounded by a soft, yellow flesh that’s creamy and has a nutty taste.
Coming from West Africa’s tropics, ackee is now a symbol of Jamaican culture and is a key ingredient in their national dish, ackee and saltfish.
However, be careful: Unripe ackee contains a dangerous toxin, which means it must ripen fully before it’s safe to eat. Jamaicans grow about 500 tons of ackee each year, and while still uncommon outside the Caribbean, it’s starting to be sought after by adventurous fruit enthusiasts.
3. Cupuaçu
Cupuaçu can be found in the Amazon rainforest, looking similar to a short, chubby cacao pod. Crack open its tough, wooden shell and you’ll find a sweet, delightful pulp that’s got hints of citrus.
This fruit isn’t just for humans – in Brazil, it’s used for desserts, juices, and even in beauty products, and rainforest animals, like the capybara, also enjoy its sweet flesh and seeds.
Since cupuaçu needs very particular conditions to grow and is harvested by hand, it’s not produced in large quantities. The yearly harvest is typically less than 1,000 tons.
Yet, its unique taste is catching on across the world, and you might find products made from cupuaçu at health food stores.
4. African Horned Cucumber
This fruit could be mistaken for something out of a fantasy with its spiky appearance. But don’t let its looks deceive you.
The African horned cucumber gives off a tangy lime flavor with a hint of banana, and is packed with nutrients behind its spiky shell.
Finding the right conditions to grow this fruit is not easy, as it’s native to sub-Saharan Africa and is harvested by hand. It also doesn’t stay fresh for long, with a life of just one to three weeks after being picked.
The yearly global production is less than 500 tons, but through air transport, some supplies are now creeping into global markets, so you might spot it in well-stocked stores.
5. Mangosteen
Mangosteen is often called the “Queen of Fruits” and is one of the rarest out there. Fresh mangosteen is virtually impossible to find outside of Southeast Asia.
It’s a small, round, purple fruit with a thick skin. When you open it, you’ll see white, juicy segments that are very sweet with a bit of sourness.
Mangosteen is very difficult to grow. Trees can take over ten years to start bearing fruit and only yield two harvests annually, with global production around 600,000 tons.
Because of strict import rules, fresh mangosteen is rare in places like the U.S. and Europe. You might find the fruit in juice form or canned.
6. Miracle Fruit
The miracle fruit from West Africa might look normal, but it’s far from it. It has a natural chemical called miraculin that can make anything sour taste incredibly sweet. Imagine lemons tasting like sugary lemonade!
The effect of miraculin only lasts around an hour and the fruit itself isn’t that flavorful. It’s really known for its surprising effect on your tastebuds.
The Miracle Fruit is a small, unusual berry that can change how things taste. It grows in tropical places and needs a lot of care. Usually, people don’t need many berries at once, so not much is made — only about 130 tons a year worldwide.
You can now enjoy Miracle Fruit at your own home, thanks to some dedicated farmers. Some restaurants also serve it as a natural treat after meals.
7. Durian
Durian is really popular in Southeast Asia, even though it smells very strong. The fruit is big like a cantaloupe and has a spiky cover. Inside, it has a creamy yellow part that you can eat and big seeds. Growing durian is difficult because it needs a very specific type of tropical forest and it’s hard to get lots of it. Every year, countries like Malaysia and Thailand grow about 2.6 million tons.
8. Monstera Deliciosa Fruit
Did you know that the Monstera Deliciosa, a popular indoor plant, actually grows a fruit that you can eat? It takes one full year for the fruit to become ripe enough to eat, and it tastes a bit like pineapple and banana mixed together.
Finding a Monstera fruit is extremely rare because the plant needs just the right amount of light, temperature, and humidity. Even though it’s hard to grow Monstera for fruit, you can find it sometimes in special gardens or in some restaurants as a unique menu item.
9. Red Bayberry
Red Bayberry is a juicy fruit that looks similar to a red raspberry and has a crunchy texture much like an apple. It’s sweet and sour at the same time. This special fruit grows mainly in mountainous areas of China and they only produce about 70 tons of it every year.
In China, people love Red Bayberry because they believe it keeps them healthy, and they use it to make jams, wines, and natural medicines. But it’s so delicate and hard to keep fresh that it barely ever leaves the country.
If you’re visiting southern China in the summertime, don’t miss out on trying this fruit that’s both rare and delicious.
10. Cherimoya
Cherimoya, which Mark Twain said was the tastiest fruit ever, has a creamy texture and a flavor that’s like a mix of pineapple, banana, and strawberry. Although it’s not well-known, this heart-shaped fruit only grows well in certain tropical areas by the coast or at high elevations.
Cherimoya is now grown in South America, South Asia, and even in parts of California, but not much is produced — only about 500,000 tons a year — and it’s seldom shipped far from where it’s grown.
If you come across fresh cherimoya at a specialty store, give it a try. Just remember to take out the poisonous seeds before you dig into the yummy fruit.
11. Sapodilla
Sapodilla might not look very exciting on the outside — it appears similar to a tiny, rusty potato. But inside, it’s really sweet and tastes a bit like brown sugar.
This fruit comes from Central America and is also grown in parts of Asia and Africa. Even so, there isn’t a ton of it being made — around 126,000 tons a year.
It’s hard to find fresh sapodilla unless you’re in a tropical area, but you might find juices, jams, and other products made from it that capture its sweet taste. Try looking in natural food stores, especially for sapodilla from Mexico or Florida.
12. Purple Mangosteen
Purple Mangosteen is a special fruit, different from the regular mangosteen, and it’s known as the “Queen of Fruits” in Thailand because of its delightful sweet and sour juice.
It’s a small fruit with a deep purple covering and looks a bit like a grape. Inside, it has soft, tasty sections. The Purple Mangosteen only grows in Thailand and some other Southeast Asian countries. With less than 10,000 tons grown every year, it’s quite rare to find it in other parts of the world.
Recently, some companies have started importing Purple Mangosteen juice and pulp. If you’re lucky, you might find these products and get to taste this exquisite juice.
13. Jabuticaba
The Jabuticaba is a unique berry tree from Brazil. Its fruits are shiny and purple, looking somewhat like grapes, and they grow right on the trunk of the tree. Jabuticaba is not well-known, and not many people have tried its succulent, grape-like berries.
These berries can be eaten fresh, made into jellies and wines, or used as a garnish. In Brazil, they’re quite a treat, but you won’t find them easily elsewhere since they spoil quickly after picking and don’t travel well.
Despite its rarity, Jabuticaba fruit might sometimes be available in tropical fruit markets. If you ever get the chance to try them, you’re in for a memorable taste experience!
Jabuticaba’s skin is thin and when you bite into it, you find sweet, jelly-like inside with seeds.
The strange thing about jabuticaba is that it grows its fruit right on the tree’s trunk and branches, instead of hanging from them.
The trees are very hard to take care of and can easily get sick with fungus. In Brazil, where it’s from, people don’t grow a lot of it, less than 20 tons a year. You almost can’t find it in other countries.
If you do get to try fresh jabuticaba, it tastes a bit like a sweet wine, with a hint of red grape flavor. Remember to spit out the seeds when you’re eating this unusual snack.
14. Salak
Salak, which is also known as snake fruit, comes from Indonesia and looks like it’s covered in snake scales. Peel off the skin, and you’ll find sweet and sour inside that breaks into pieces similar to cloves of garlic.
Salak grows in very specific conditions that can really only be found in the mountains of Indonesia. Farmers there grow about 66,000 tons a year, but it’s almost all produced on just one island, and they hardly send any to other countries.
There are people who really love this not-so-well-known fruit because it has a fruity taste that’s a little bit like a savory dish. If you find salak at a special grocery shop, it’s worth trying.
15. Cloudberry
The cloudberry is a golden-yellow fruit that looks chubby like a raspberry. It tastes gentle and fresh, like a mix of sweet flowers and tangy cider.
Cloudberries grow in the cold, wet areas of Northern Europe, Asia, and North America. They grow by themselves in the wild and people haven’t had success growing them on farms.
Every year, people only collect about 3,000-6,000 tons of them because picking them is hard and slow. It’s very hard to find them fresh if you’re not where they grow naturally.
If you want to taste cloudberries, you probably will have to buy jam, alcoholic drinks, syrups, or other products made with cloudberries to get a hint of their special flavor. But if you really like trying new foods, looking for cloudberries in the forest up north could be a great adventure.
Wrapping Up
Are you now excited to try these rare and special fruits?
For most of us, the tough growing conditions and the very small amounts grown make it hard to experience these fruits ourselves. We’re left to wonder about them.
But maybe that’s what’s so exciting about them. These rare fruits keep us interested and feeling like they’re mysterious because they’re so hard to get.
Maybe one day, we’ll get better at shipping things and growing them, and we’ll all get to try these interesting fruits. Until then, we can just think about what they’re like and enjoy their mystery from a distance.
