Tasting Palm Fruit

[Palmsbro]

  What do different palm berries taste like, besides coconuts and dates (referring exclusively to Phoenix dactylifera) (most of us have eaten some coconuts and dates, right?), as most palm fruits are said to be edible?

Here is what I know (or at least think I do, I have not tasted any of these myself):

Sabal palmetto and Washingtonia robusta fruits taste like prunes.

Washingtonia filifera fruits taste like a mixture of prunes and dates.

Butia ssp. and Syagrus romanzoffiana fruits are said to have a 'tropical' flavor.

Jubaea Chilensis fruits taste like coconuts.

 

[Fusca]

Butia and Syagrus romanzoffiana fruits are very good - I eat them by the handful when I can, but don't have a good description on the taste for you.  Both make excellent jelly.  I also like the fruit from Acrocomia aculeata, Euterpe oleracea, Jubaea chilensis and Mauritia flexuosa.  I've read that Brahea edulis has tasty fruit also, but haven't tried that one personally.

Jon

[GottmitAlex]

Has anyone ever tried B. Alfredii, mad or fenestralis fruit?

Foxtail or King palm fruit?

[PalmTreeDude]

I have had Butia capitata fruit before and it was sweet. But you kind of have to pick them at just the right time. 

[dwfl]

Bactris gasipaes (Peach palm, Pejibaye) is good when boiled like a potato. Very popular in Costa Rica, often served as a creamy soup dish. From what I understand, the spiny varieties tend to produce bigger fruits more fit for eating whereas the spineless varieties are grown more for heart of palm and usually produce smaller fruits. 

[Palmsbro]

4 hours ago, Fusca said:

Butia and Syagrus romanzoffiana fruits are very good - I eat them by the handful when I can, but don't have a good description on the taste for you.  Both make excellent jelly.  I also like the fruit from Acrocomia aculeata, Euterpe oleracea, Jubaea chilensis and Mauritia flexuosa.  I've read that Brahea edulis has tasty fruit also, but haven't tried that one personally.

Jon

The squirrels and birds seem to love them too (Syagrus romanzoffiana and Butia fruits).

I forgot about Euterpe oleracea for my post, and the flavor of the pure fruit is hard to describe (I have never had the pure fruit itself, but I have had chocolate-covered "Blueberry-Açai berry flavor" snacks [The actual Açai juice was among the last ingredients though]).

4 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Has anyone ever tried B. Alfredii, mad or fenestralis fruit?

Foxtail or King palm fruit?

I haven't tried any of these.

4 hours ago, PalmTreeDude said:

I have had Butia capitata fruit before and it was sweet. But you kind of have to pick them at just the right time. 

So this means that Butia capitata has a narrow window for when fruits should be harvested? Can you further describe the taste of it (the Butia capitata fruit)?

3 hours ago, dwfl said:

Bactris gasipaes (Peach palm, Pejibaye) is good when boiled like a potato. Very popular in Costa Rica, often served as a creamy soup dish. From what I understand, the spiny varieties tend to produce bigger fruits more fit for eating whereas the spineless varieties are grown more for heart of palm and usually produce smaller fruits. 

I think I have heard about this before... but I can't find what it actually tastes like.

[frienduvafrond]

When you see the Butia fruit dropping to the ground they are ripe. In my opinion they taste a bit tart like a crabapple or loquat. I have one customer who has a Butia that the fruit taste like a combinaton of pineapple, banana, and strawberry. My son and I wait each year for that thing to fruit!, so there is some variance. You just have to get out and try different ones I guess. Happy hunting!

[kinzyjr]

I haven't tasted syagrus romanzoffiana or butia capitata, but I have always wanted to try a PB&J sandwich with butia jelly.  For now, I'll stick with Medjool dates and coconuts.

[Missi]

Syagrus schizophylla fruit smell like they would taste amazing. Never tried them before, though.

[Palmsbro]

6 hours ago, Missi said:

Syagrus schizophylla fruit smell like they would taste amazing. Never tried them before, though.

Maybe you should try it . What could possibly go wrong, especially considering the tasty fruits of Syagrus schizophylla's relatives like Jubaea chilensis, Butia palms, and Syagrus romanzoffiana (colsely related genuses and species)?

[Josue Diaz]

The fruit of butia taste and smell like ther fruit of Byrsonima crassifolia (known in El Salvador as nance.) My parents grow butia here in the states as an alternative to nance because nance is a tropical fruit and doesn't grow here. Syagrus fruit has a similar fragrance but lacks in flavor and the fruit is too fibrous for me to enjoy. 

[Palmsbro]

12 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

The fruit of butia taste and smell like ther fruit of Byrsonima crassifolia (known in El Salvador as nance.) My parents grow butia here in the states as an alternative to nance because nance is a tropical fruit and doesn't grow here. Syagrus fruit has a similar fragrance but lacks in flavor and the fruit is too fibrous for me to enjoy. 

I thought the fibers were only in the part of the fruit nearest to the seed and that this (eating tons of fiber) could be avoided.

[caixeta]

The fruits of Bactris ferruginea are delicious .they resemble jabuticabas .

[Palmsbro]

On 4/14/2018, 9:14:10, caixeta said:

The fruits of Bactris ferruginea are delicious .they resemble jabuticabas .

So they taste like grapes? I am now interested about other Bactris palm fruits.

[caixeta]

44 minutes ago, Palmsbro said:

So they taste like grapes? I am now interested about other Bactris palm fruits.

They are quite sweet , but have little pulp .

[rprimbs]

I've never tried it but I've heard that Parajubaea torallyi fruit are like little coconuts.

[dwfl]

I've read reports that the fruit of Dypsis decaryi are sometimes consumed in Madagascar.

"While Dypsls decaryi is less frequently used now by the Tatsimo for construction, it continues to be used in another and rather different way. It is a favorite sweet and snack for children and occasionally adults. Young boys who tend to the family cattle, head each morning into the hills and collect large baskets of the fruits (during the months of January-March). The small green fruit, which is about the size of a large marble, has a smooth, thick epicarp that peels away to display a thin, custard-like mesocarp covering the fibrous endocarp. Children either gnaw on the fruit as a snack, or bring home the baskets of fruit and empty them into a large rice mortar. Small amounts of water are added to the mortar, and as the fruits are pounded, the epicarp separates and the custard-like mesocarp is loosened and mixed. After all the fruits have been opened and thus processed, the mixture is served in large bowls and eaten with spoons. It tastes like a sweet vanilla-coconut custard."

[caixeta]

6 hours ago, caixeta said:

They are quite sweet , but have little pulp .

6 hours ago, caixeta said:

Photos of fruits.

[Palmsbro]

On 4/12/2018, 5:44:06, Palmsbro said:

  What do different palm berries taste like, besides coconuts and dates (referring exclusively to Phoenix dactylifera) (most of us have eaten some coconuts and dates, right?), as most palm fruits are said to be edible?

Here is what I know (or at least think I do, I have not tasted any of these myself):

Sabal palmetto and Washingtonia robusta fruits taste like prunes.

Washingtonia filifera fruits taste like a mixture of prunes and dates.

Butia ssp. and Syagrus romanzoffiana fruits are said to have a 'tropical' flavor.

Jubaea Chilensis fruits taste like coconuts.

 

I haven't tasted these either, but now I know (or at least think I do, and these are besides the other ones mentioned on this thread)...

Astrocaryum vulgare fruits taste 'sweet' like apricots.

Serenoa repens fruits taste 'soapy' and generally not very pleasant overall (at least from in my opinion from what I have heard about its taste), and this it is even recorded that the early colonists of North America did not find the taste pleasant, but that the Native Americans did and even consumed large numbers of them.