bigdog

I have heard of an Asian market here in Knoxville called Sunrise Supermarket, and that they had some tropical fruits, so I went to check ot out today. I bought FRESH mangosteens!!! That's unheard of in Knoxville! I also found longans, lychees, "burro" bananas (looked like 'Orinoco'), and some guava and such. They'll have rambutans in next week! I first tasted all of these wonderful fruits in Thailand last year (fresh), and have really missed the taste of a fresh mangosteen. What a treat!

Anybody else get tropical fruits in your area? Besides the usual mangos, papayas, etc.

Gabe15

I'll leave the fruit stories of Hawaii out of this one, it wouldn't be fair!

As for Colorado, I too have seen 'Orinoco' labeled as 'Burro' at a few different markets (a natural foods store and an Indian market), 'Manzano' bananas once, lychee, rambutan...probably a few other random things but nothing like having the wide fresh selection in Hawaii!

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

bigdog

Gabe, you have it made in Hawaii, as far as fresh, tropical fruits go, I'm sure!! That isn't fair...

That was one of the neatest things about Thailand; the open-air markets with tons of fresh fruits that I'd never seen, and some I'd never heard of. They were really cheap there too! I'm almost embarrassed to say what I paid for 2 bags of mangosteens...Let's just say that they were $5.99/lb.! Oh well. Worth every penny today. I'll probably kick myself later for spending so much on fruit, LOL.

Simply Bananas

We have a great Asian Market here in Charleston call H & L (Hand and Lung). It has been open just over a year. They have Namwah Bananas, and on occasion banana flowers of some type. They have had rambutans before and they even have frozen Durians. There is live striped bass and tilapia crabs and sometimes frogs. We have been enjoying a canned grape juice drink called Sac-Sac which actually has 20 peeled grapes in with the juice.

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Bob

In this area we get all sorts of things, frozen durian, dragon fruit. Plenty of fresh vegetables. bok choi, lemongrass etc. The only thing I havent seen is a good variety of bananas. We get Chiquita, yellow and green plantain, finger bananas and occasionally what I believe are ninos . These are just labeled organic from Ecuador and don't ripen green but are the tastiest of all. They're definitely not Orinoco's though.

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Tog Tan

Frank, come here, the mangosteens are cheaper than in Thailand - only $ 3.30 for 3 kg or 6.6 lbs! I will treat you till you drop of asthma! Well, that's what the locals believe, too many mangosteens cools the body down. The thing is, they come around the same time as the durians which heats up the body, so the mangosteens balances the body's chemistry during the fruit season.

Fyi, here are the local names for it;
Thai = Mangkut
Malay = Manggis
Chinese = Sarn Chuk

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

bigdog

I've hear the same thing about them cooling the body down. They say if you eat too much durian, you can overheat, so you're supposed to eat mangosteens afterwards. Pretty neat!

The longans and lychees I bought don't taste near as good as I remember them being in Thailand! I was especially disappointed with the longans. Real nutty-tasting, and just not that good. My girlfriend said that the lychees tasted like a mild cleaner, LOL. I liked them OK though. Still not the same as in Thailand.

I did get some frozen durian too. They are supposed to have some fresh durian and rambutans in next week! Hope the rambutans aren't as disappointing as the longans were. They have lots of the veges too, and fish, meats, etc. They had the "baby bananas," "burro bananas," and a plantain of some sort. Fun to discover something like this though!

Thanks,

Frank

musaboru

I'm the minority prefering Longans over Lychees. I love that flavor, as you describe is somewhat nutty and I like it paired with the sweetness and texture of the fruit. Lychees are kinda tart and tougher. Then again, I think lychees are overrated, I mean a fresh ripe navel orange is way better to me.

Fresh mangosteens, oh man, that is the best I would bet. Here I can only find the frozen onesé. I wish someone did mail order for fresh mangosteens.

PT DUffy

The problem is that neither are good container plants in the long run. Both seem to fruit as small trees but the Longans get to large pretty quick. I've been told that 'Emperor' Litchii is good for a couple of yrs as a container specimen, you just have to air-layer or buy a replacement every few yrs if you don't live where they can be planted out....

supermario

Here in South Florida, we are lucky enough to have a ton of different fruits that are usually not found north of Orlando. There are even varieties of Apples, Peaches, and Olives that will grow and fruit here! You can actually try most tropical fruits for free at the Fruit & Spice Park in Homestead.

Most tropicals I've tasted have come from friends or the Fruit & Spice Park. I've tasted: Sugar Apple, Custard Apple, Atemoya, Jaboticaba(awesome!), Grumichama, Lychees, Longans, Loquats, Muscadine Grapes, Starfruit, Sapodilla(my favorite), Mamey, Cashew Apple, Guava, Canistel(eggfruit), several types of Bananas, Black & White Sapote, and many many more I can't remember.

Unfortunately, I've never had the pleasure of tasting a mangosteen.

ewitte

I'm going all out seeing what I can find this time when I'm down in Peru.

ewitte

Lol surprised you found it. Saw this in a 2006 article

"In North America, fresh mangosteens can be found in Canada and Hawaii but they cannot legally be imported into continental United States due to concerns that they transport insects into the country."

oops

"There was an import ban in the US that ended in 2007"

ewitte

Yes I got a Durian too

Alexander

Fresh mangosteens are the best tropical fruit there is. And best thing is to go to some place in South East Asia where you find local variaties on the local markets.

Alexander

Ohio'sBest

I believe the reason for the ban was the fruit fly scare. Can a person grow a mangosteen tree in the USA?

ewitte

I do not see a reason why not if the temperatures are kept in check. It wouldn't like temperatures in the 40's or over 90 from what I read. Most likely greenhouse. BTW I hear they are growing them in Puerto Rico now.

Ohio'sBest

No ban on plant importation?

ewitte

They do grow from seeds as long as the fruit is not irradiated From what I hear though is several years just to ge a foot or so tall.

bigdog

We started one from seed earlier this year, and it is excruciatingly SLOW! A new pair of leaves will open every few weeks.

I have no idea about plant importation. You can check the USDA website for a list of plants that you cannot import, but I don't have a link for that. I would think that importing plants would be fine, since Mangosteen trees can't even grow in South Florida. They just can't take anything below about 50F.

Frank

ewitte

It would be really cool if they were able to be dwarfed and grown in a greenhouse. I'm thinking after my hydroponic banana goes back outside putting the seeds indoors under the LED light. It can stay there a long time if its as slow to growing as I hear lol.