Bacupari-do-cerrado

What it is

This bacupari is Salacia crassifolia. Its fruit reaches 3–5 cm (1.2–2 in) long, with a rounded or pear-like shape. The rind is thick and leathery, sometimes smooth and sometimes bumpy, with colours from yellow to deep orange.

Inside, the pulp ranges from white to orange and feels like jelly. It wraps one to three large seeds, each 12–20 mm (about ½–¾ in) long.

Where it comes from

Bacupari-do-cerrado grows across almost all of the Cerrado, the savanna country of central Brazil, and also in eastern Paraguay. In Brazil its range includes Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia, Minas Gerais and São Paulo. It grows among grasses and scattered trees as well as in denser Cerrado woodland.

How it's eaten where it grows

In rural Cerrado communities, the fruit is eaten fresh, with the soft pulp taken from around the seeds much as with a lychee. In Goiás it also becomes juice. Both ways of eating it use the mildly tart flesh inside the thick rind.

How it's grown

The plant has a short, crooked trunk and thick bark that flakes away. Small wild bees visit its flowers, and the fruit takes about four months to mature.

New plants grow from fresh seeds after the slippery pulp is removed. Seedlings and young plants grow slowly. In Goiás, the species favours relatively undisturbed Cerrado and can disappear when that vegetation is cleared for pasture.

When and where you'll find it

In Goiás, bacupari-do-cerrado usually fruits from September through December. It is a fruit of the countryside, much enjoyed by rural people of the Cerrado. The rind can hide fruit-fly damage: the pulp may turn dark brown while the only outside sign is the hole where a larva has left.