Fruit Review: Acerola Cherry

“I’m very into these acerola cherries (Malphigia emarginata), but they’re apparently quite common in like every tropical and subtropical region of the world so I’m just late to the party. There are a few of them on the farm and each plant tastes pretty different, which is cool, but this one’s my favorite: it tastes like a sharper-flavored cherry jolly rancher. The fruit is much softer than that of our temperate cherries and the skin doesn’t have the same snap, but instead of sweet and musky the flavor is incredibly bright and acidic. The skin on its own has an interesting spiced flavor that makes me think of mulled wine (?) and the pit is actually three disconnected brainy lobes like the one you can see in the first pic. It has one of the highest concentrations of vitamin C of any plant!

The mature plant is a gangly shrub, and a pollinator favorite. It’s not quite as majestic as some of the other plants but I like it!!

8.5/10” Caleb O’Reilly