Peanut butter fruit #3 – the largest one of the lot.

I had a silent battle with the birds to lay claim to the two remaining fruits on the peanut butter fruit plant – properly known as Bunchosia argentea. It looked like the plant was done flowering for the moment, so those two developing fruits were pretty precious to us, especially after losing the very first one to the birds.

How I kept the fruits safe from the birds – by wrapping some netting around the branch holding the fruit – a simple but effective method.

It was interesting to note that while the first fruit was pretty small, the subsequent ones were progressively bigger. I feel slightly better about that, for some reason.

Well, the fruits changed from green to yellowish, then darkened to orange. I thought that was when they were ripe, but apparently I was wrong. The fruit darkened even more to a reddish-orange, looking very much like a cherry tomato.

The fruit as it ripened…

When fully ripe, the fruit felt very delicate, like a tomato, and I was afraid that if I squeezed it too hard, it would squish like a tomato. The skin, however, is not smooth and waxy. It felt quite thin and a bit rough and tacky, almost like the juice from the fruit was seeping through the skin.

Cutting it open brought us back to the resemblance to a tomato. There are no cavities in this fruit, though – it’s solid flesh surrounding a couple of seeds. In terms of consistency, the flesh is like that of a date – soft and sticky. The skin also peeled away easily – like a tomato.

Cross-section of the ripe peanut butter fruits prior to the important taste test.

The taste..?

Nothing like any peanut butter I’ve ever tried! On the whole, we found it a bit bland, with no distinct flavour. I don’t know if it’s because we waited until the fruits were too ripe (really red), but I don’t think it lives up to its name. Perhaps the flavour will change as the plant matures. We’ll see. Our verdict for now? Disappointing.

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