I came upon some interesting fruit trees at the International Rare Fruit Orchard in San Jose, Ca.  The place had a good variety of rare fruits, from Jujube to Brazilian guavas.  You are allow to taste the fruits, but not allow to take any home with you.  Unfortunately many of the fruits were not ready for picking yet.

Of those ready for picking were these Suriname Cherry.  Suriname was once part of the Dutch colonies and located on the top northeast tip of South America, near French Guiana and Brazil.  According to The Fruit Hunter, Brazil has the richest varieties of rare fruits on the globe.

It is also called Brazilian Cherry and Cayenne Cherry.  A close up of the Suriname Cherries above.  They are naturally glossy.  The taste is really difficult to describe as it has a strong smell of herbs (rather then fruit).  And it is very tangy too.  I tried some of the green ones and surprisingly love it more than the ripe ones.  Most people think they taste awful green, but the taste reminded me of crunchy green mango.

Purdue University Horticulture also states that this fruit is very high in Vitamin C.  And children love to just eat them off the bushes.  I think maybe the school had field trips here.  As all the trees and shrubs had only a few cherries left on them.  This is nature’s Skittles candy.

I also noticed the shrub had a very strong smell that I can’t put in words.  A pleasant and familiar kind of citrus.  It was actually the citronella oil (which is used as a mosquito repellent).  But it was not as strong.  I wanted to eat the leaves (since they smell so good) but didn’t dare.  It turns out that the leaves are made into medicinal herbal teas.

Here are some other uses of this plant from Purdue University Horticulture:

The leaves have been spread over the floors of Brazilian homes. When walked upon, they release their pungent oil which repels flies. The bark contains 20 to 28.5% tannin and can be used for treating leather. The flowers are a rich source of pollen for honeybees but yield little or no nectar.

Medicinal Uses: In Brazil the leaf infusion is taken as a stomachic, febrifuge and astringent. In Surinam, the leaf decoction is drunk as a cold remedy and, in combination with lemongrass, as a febrifuge. The leaves yield essential oil containing citronellal, geranyl acetate, geraniol, cineole, terpinene, sesquiterpenes and polyterpenes.

More photos:

Trade Winds Fruit

Papaya Tree Nursery - Harvesting Suriname Cherries photo gallery.