Today I planted a Rollinia deliciosa tree also called biribá in Brazil. The fruit looks like its from an alien planet. It will start off green and then it turns yellow like a banana as it ripens. The best rollinias are tree ripened and they have a really short shelf life of less than a week which is probably why you don’t see it for sale aside from the farmers markets.
Rollinias are very creamy, delicately sweet and slightly sour like a lemon yogurt with other tropical flavors mixed in. Among all the strange tropical fruits I tried rollinia definitely ranks very high on the list. We already planted three trees and they are starting to flower now. Usually they take about 3 to 4 years to start producing so its fairly quick for fruit tree standards.
Originally posted on 2021-09-29, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.