What's the sourest fruit you've ever tasted?

I hope this isn’t too far-removed from the original post, but I had no idea that pineapple’s center cores were edible! Do you chew and swallow? Or just chew it and spit it out like sugarcane?

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We have two cultivated persimmon trees, a hachiya type (very astringent, acorn-shaped) and a fuyu type (less astringent, tomato-shaped). The local squirrels mercilessly plunder the fuyu fruit when it’s small green and tough, but they wait for the hachiyas to start turning orange and slightly soft before they raid that tree. Either way, they’re willing to tolerate the fruit with a lot more tannin than a human can handle, which probably isn’t surprising given that acorns are a big part of their native diet.

It’s interesting that light, cold, heat and drying all appear to trigger the breakdown of tannins in persimmons. Ultimately, it seems that all these processes increase the presence of ethylene gas which ripens the fruit and neutralizes the tannins. [https://sciencemeetsfood.org/persimmons-incredibly-inedibly-astringent/]

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I eat it (chew and swallow). They’re denser and a little more fibrous than the outer fruit, but there’s a lot of sugar concentrated inside (but the enzymes, too, probably), so they are extra sweet. They soften a little if grilled, too, so that can make them easier to eat.

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We have the Passion fruit vine, and even after the fruit are shriveled and soft, I’m not much of a fan.

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mustang grapes (Vitis mustangensis)…

well, actually, i never tasted those grapes because i didn’t want to spend the effort trying to gather a bunch of sour grapes. :fox_face:

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From Africa, I’d vote for the sour plums - Ximenia cafra, etc. I’ve only tasted them once!

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I bit into a completely unripe apricot as a child, and it was memorably horrible!

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Ah, yeah, something I forgot about, anyway effect is the same, it hurts! Never heard about pink ones.

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Hippophae rhamnoides is cool too! Also I remember now that red currant is quite sour too, probably even more when wild.

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They are eaten. I even prefer that over the rest because it don’t cause itchy feeling in tongue. And I get a lot of pineapples as they are cultivated a lot in my state in the midlands.

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I forgot to mention about citrus. There is a kind of big lemon like fruit which grows in a tree. The inside part is whitish or the colour exactly like that of lemon. There is a similar fruit with reddish inside which are somewhat sweet when ripe and is eaten raw. The first one I said is very sour and the feeling will be in the mouth for a long time if we just lick it or eat a tiny part. This one is used to make pickles.

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from the description seems like Grapefruit / Citrus paradisi

And on Inaturalist india there is not a single entry

I know it grows and the fruit is available In India. Not as common but definitely available.

Locally know as Chakotra in Punjabi and Mat Kakri in Kumaon.

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Another option is to put them in the freezer to hurry up the process.

My dad pranked us when we were kids by picking an unripe persimmon we found in the woods (which had a great color) and giving us a little piece. I can still remember the feeling like my tongue and mouth had hair all over the inside and scraping my tongue with my fingers. Hilarious!

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Yes, I can remember gorging on pineapples, including cores, in Costa Rica and then seeing blood from mouth on the slices after biting them. Was pretty surprised, but it was worth it!

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I would have to say the sumac fruits. They often remind me of the pure vitamin C tablets my mom bought and gave us as kids(no sweetness, adult tabs).

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Pineapple cores are edible, and super delicious! It isn’t hairy and is much easier to eat.

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I don’t know that I’d say it’s easier to eat, since it is harder than the outer fruit. I’d imagine if you didn’t have good teeth, you’d have to cook it first to soften it or stick with the softer outer fruit.

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During nature walks, esp. in Autumn I often get the “walkers” to taste Himalayan Wild Pear Pyrus pashia. One bite of the the slightly raw fruit is enough to dry the tongue and mouth very rapidly. However if one persists in chewing through the fruit one can overcome the initial astringency.
A sure way of getting people to remember the fruit /plant :-)

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My experience with sour fruits depends on the region in a contradictory way, in southern Brazil Tamarindus-indica is practically impossible to bear, while Averrhoa-carambola is sweetened, however, in the Amazon region, Tamarindus-indica is sweetened and Averrhoa-carambola is very sour , not edible. Is it because of the soil, water, insolation, which alter the formation of sugars? Are they subspecies?

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