The star fruit, also known as Carrabolla, is abundant in Southeast Asia and widely grown. Although it’s eaten raw or prepared worldwide, the yellow fruit is native to India, Asia, South America, Australia, and the southern United States. It lends a sweet flavor to various meals, including salads and cocktails, and is widely used as a garnish due to its unique shape. Star fruit has a sweet, somewhat tangy flavor and a juicy, firm texture similar to grapes. The fruity flavor is hard to explain, but it tastes like ripe pear, green grape, and orange. Unripe fruits are more complex and tarter, with a flavor similar to a green apple.
The Carrabolla plant is said to be indigenous to Indonesia and thrives in hot, humid environments. It is harvested twice a year, in late fall and late spring, but is available all year. The yellow, oval-shaped fruit has ridges and resembles a star when sliced. Depending on the type, it can range in size and color from light yellow-green to bright yellow. The entire star fruit, including the waxy skin, can be eaten, making it simple to prepare and ideal for eating raw or decoration. Star fruit is more expensive than more familiar fruits like apples due to its lack of cultivation and appeal in the United States.
What is a Star Fruit?
It is a tropical fruit popular in Asia and other tropical places, and it has a unique flavor that makes it popular among customers. Citrus star fruit is a citrus fruit that grows on Citrus trees.
Its five tips, which are petals termed “segments,” give it its appearance. The star-shaped fruits are green when unripe, but they turn yellow or orange when ripe. You can eat the star-shaped fruit whole, including the skin, or peel it before eating for added tartness. Depending on the variety, the star fruit flesh might be white or yellow. It comes in two varieties: one with a sour flavor and one with a sweet flavor.
What are the Benefits of Eating Star Fruit?
Anticancer potential- According to a preliminary study, star fruit may aid in cancer prevention. The fruit’s fiber helps to lessen toxin levels in the body, lowering your cancer risk.
Anti-inflammatory Ability- This fruit’s antioxidant solid content makes it a good anti-inflammatory that can assist with psoriasis and dermatitis symptoms.
Weight loss promotion- Star fruit’s high fiber content can help you lose weight by speeding up your metabolism. You can also enjoy star fruit as a pleasant snack without worrying about gaining weight because each serving is minimal in calories.
Immunity boosting ability- Vitamin C is abundant in star fruit, ensuring that your body produces the proper amount of white blood cells for a healthy immune system.
Improved respiratory Health- This fruit’s anti-inflammatory properties can aid in the relief of a sore throat. Its juice cuts through mucous and phlegm, making it a popular remedy for respiratory infections and overall health.
Improved Heart Health- It contains a lot of salt and potassium, which work as electrolytes in our bodies and help us keep our blood pressure in check. This also ensures a steady heartbeat and good blood circulation.
Star fruit’s calcium can also assist in relaxing tension in your blood vessels and arteries, lowering your chance of a heart attack or stroke.
Improved Digestion- Constipation, bloating, cramps, and diarrhea can be relieved by the fiber in star fruit, which helps transport stool through the digestive tract.
What are the Health Risks?
Eating star fruit may harm people with kidney disease.
Furthermore, while it has many beneficial nutrients, it also contains neurotoxins, which are poisonous compounds. These can create neurological problems by affecting the brain. Persons with healthy kidneys can process and move this toxin out of their systems, but people with renal disease cannot do so. The poison lingers in the body of patients with these conditions and causes serious illness.
The symptoms of star fruit poisoning include the following:
- Hiccups
- Mental confusion
- Seizures
- Death (in severe cases)
If you have renal problems, you should avoid eating star fruit and speak with your doctor about the consequences of star fruit and any other fruits you are concerned about. Prescription drug users should also get medical advice before consuming star fruit.
How to Eat it?
Ripe star fruit has the most excellent flavor. Unripe star fruits can have a sour, even bitter flavor.
Allow a green-ribbed star fruit to mature until it becomes yellow before eating it. Keep the fruit at room temperature, turning it occasionally until it develops a fragrant “perfume.” You’re searching for a solid floral-fruity aroma, suggesting the fruit is at its peak. If you plan on serving the fruit within a day or two, you can keep it at room temperature. If not, keep the ripe fruit refrigerated to extend its shelf life.
You can prepare star fruit by simply doing the following:
- Cleaning it with water
- Cutting off the edges
- Not peeling the skin
- Slicing it horizontally
Try combining the fruit with avocados, kiwis, mangoes, and bananas in a fruit salad or puree. To make an edible garnish, sauté star fruit slices for a few seconds and then glaze with sugar. Serve this with fish and poultry, or use it to garnish cold beverages instead of lemon or lime slices.
What does a Star Fruit Taste like?
It features an oval form with five or six projecting points from the center. The flesh is translucent and delicious, with many tiny seeds or “seeds” embedded.
It comes in two varieties: one with yellow skin and one with green skin. The yellow-skin variety has a sweet flavor, but the green-skin variety has a sour flavor. The star-shaped fruit has a juicy, acidic flesh that tastes similar to citrus fruits like oranges and lemons. Some describe the flavor as being akin to grapefruit or pineapple. It can be eaten raw or cooked, but it is not a particularly substantial fruit.
Snacks, salads, and desserts like apple pie with fresh whipped cream all contain it. It can also be used in various drinks, such as green smoothies made with blended star fruit and additional components such as milk or yogurt. The leaves of this plant have been proven to be medicinally beneficial because they contain chemicals that suppress the growth of germs linked to stomach ulcers. You may substitute star fruit for pineapple in any recipe to make desserts with it.
Where to Buy Star Fruit?
It is a tropical fruit found in the United States, although it isn’t always easy to come by. It’s becoming more common in larger grocery stores due to its popularity. Shopping at local Asian supermarkets or specialty produce shops that provide a varied assortment of fruits worldwide is one method to find it. You might get lucky at your local grocery store or farmers market, but there are plenty of possibilities if you want to buy it online. Amazon Prime Fresh and Walmart Grocery Pickup are two examples. Try searching on Google Shopping for a specific variety of star fruit, such as yellow or purple.
This Asian fruit tree is native to the region. Carrabolla trees are thought to have originated in Sri Lanka and Indonesia’s Moluccas Islands. These trees can now be found in Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Taiwan, portions of China, Hawaii, and even South Florida in the United States.
Conclusion
Look for one with some color and not too many brown or white blotches on its skin. Give a star fruit the sniff test to see whether it’s ripe. The fruit is probably past prime harvesting time; the sugar level has dropped, leaving you with only watery flavors. The trick is to find one with bright yellow skin and green stripes on the outside. Finally, it is abundant in vitamin C and has a low glycemic index, making it beneficial to people with diabetes. This fruit is also high in calcium and iron, making it a good source of minerals. Their flavor is acidic, sweet, and tart. It is a super food that should be included in everyone’s diet because it delivers a tremendous nutritional boost to those who consume it regularly. Don’t be afraid to give them a shot and see what you think!
