Cherimoya or custard apple (Annona cherimola) is a warty green tropical fruit. It is rough exterior skin hides delicious creamy flesh. But some people confuse when selecting cherimoya. Hence this article will help you to choose good cherimoya fruit from the market.
How to choose good cherimoya
To choose good cherimoya fruit, you should squeeze it genteelly in the palm of your hand. If cherimoya texture is not firm, those fruits are good to eat. But in here, do not use your fingers because it can bruise the fruit.
Moreover, cherimoya does not have a promising appearance. It has dingy green skin, and there are often dark stains. You can select uniformly green, cracks free fruits to eat.
Usually, well ripe fruit’s outer skin is brown. Overripe fruit has quite a dark appearance. Hence, do not buy those types of fruits.
Besides the above simple methods, you can select a good cherimoya fruit from the market by following these steps.
Step 1: Select slightly large fruit.
Because we assumed all fruits are picked from the same plant. Then large fruits are well-matured ones.
Step 2: Shake the fruit
If you heard a rattling sound, it is a good sign. Because most probably, these cherimoya fruits are picked after fully mature.
Step 3: Check the smell of the fruit
If you need to eat cherimoya fruit immediately, you should check the smell. If you smell a pleasant aromatic cherimoya odor, that fruit is suitable to purchase.
Step 4: Give slight pressure to the fruit.
This is the basic method we practice to check whether the fruit is fully ripened or not. People check mangoes and avocados in the same way.
Step 5: Look at the cherimoya stem
If the fruit stem is ready to separate from the fruit, it is a good sign. Because the stem is loose from fruit when it gets ripen.
The appearance of Cherimoya fruit
Cherimoya fruit has an irregular oval or conical shape. Also, its outer skin has an overlapping scale or knobby warts-like appearance.
Furthermore, this oval shape fruit is 4 to 6 inches tall. The weight of cherimoya ranges from 0.5 pounds to 2.5 pounds or 150-500 grams. But some extra-large fruits have around 2.5 to 2.7 Kg weights.
Taste of good Cherimoya
The cherimoya fruit has a creamy sweet flavor. Moreover, its taste is a bit similar to the taste of banana and pineapple.
Besides the taste, it is rich in fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Also, cherimoya is good for immunity, inflammation, and eye and heart health.
When to pick cherimoya
Generally, this fruit is picking in the spring and early summer seasons. Harvest the cherimoya fruit when it turns into a pale yellow-green color. Also, the texture becomes slightly soft in this stage.
Usually, people pick cherimoya fruit before it is fully ripe. Then store these fruits at room temperature. The indoors that have bright indirect light is ideal for storing cherimoya fruit.
Additionally, the cherimoya tree starts to bear when it gets 3.5 to 5 years old. After that, this plant increases its production till ten years old. Also, a healthy cherimoya tree can give around 25 fruits per season.
How to ripen cherimoya faster in a home?
You can follow these simple steps to ripen cherimoya within a short period.
Step 1: First, place the raw fruit in a paper bag
Step 2: Then, keep cherimoya fruits in an airtight container
Step 3: Add some ripened fruit like banana, apple, and papaya.
Then, within a short time, your cherimoya fruit will ripen. You can ripen the cherimoya fruit within 24 hours by using this method.
Moreover, you can place the cherimoya fruit inside uncooked rice. It also increases the fruit ripen rate.
How to eat cherimoya
The cherimoya outer skin is inedible. It has a bitter taste. Therefore, you can only eat the middle white color flesh. Also, there are several ways to eat this delicious fruit. You can select one method according to your preference.
First, cut the cherimoya fruit in half using a sharp knife. Then you can carefully remove the seeds. After that, you can eat custard apple as a raw fruit.
In here, you can use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. If not, you can peel and cube it. Then you can enjoy cherimoya flesh with a fork.
Furthermore, try the below methods to enjoy this delicious fruit.
- Remove cherimoya seeds, chop, and add to the fruit salads
- Use cherimoya pulp to prepare ice cream and yogurt
- Create pulp cube and eat with fresh orange segments for breakfast
- Prepare jam and jelly
- Add cherimoya pulp to pastry and cookies.
Make sure to remove cherimoya seeds from the fruit before eating. Because this seed has a poisonous compound and can harm humans.
How to store cherimoya
Cherimoya, or crusted apple, is a tropical fruit. Hence, it is very susceptible to chill damage. Therefore, you should store it at a 45 o F – 55o F warmer temperature to prevent too cold.
Also, the storing location should have bright indirect lighting conditions.
But if you need to keep them for more than a day, you can store them in the refrigerator. If not, it will spoil. Usually, you can store this fruit in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Can dogs eat cherimoya fruit?
Yes, you can feed your dog with cherimoya pulp. As it is a delicious fruit, dogs like to eat cherimoya. Before add cherimoya pulp or flesh to your dog, you should remove outer skin and seeds from it. The soft, ripe cherimoya will give a great feel to your dog.
Cherimoya seeds
Generally, one cherimoya fruit has around 40 seeds. Also, these seeds release poisonous compounds when crushed and opened. Hence, you should be aware when eating cherimoya fruit.
Moreover, cherimoya belongs to the Annonaceae family. Thus, as with other family members, cherimoya’s entire plant contains a small quantity of neurotoxic acetogenins.
Does cherimoya cause to paralyze?
No, cherimoya is a delicious fruit that consumes billions of people all over the world. Also, it does not cause paralysis. Thus, you can eat ripe cherimoya fruits without any fear after removing the seeds.
Conclusion
Cherimoya is a delicious fruit that bears in the evergreen low branched tree. These fruits have a pale green color appearance. When it is ripe, it smells a strong fruity odor.
Most people know about this fruit. But they do not know how to select good fruit and how to eat it. I believe after reading this article. You may have good knowledge about cherimoya fruit. Hence, use this awareness in real life to experience good quality cherimoya fruit.
