Mamoncillo

Get to know it

Mamoncillo hides sweet-tart, juicy flesh under a green shell that stays green even when ripe. Split it open and the translucent pulp clings tightly to a large seed. Its other name, Spanish lime, is misleading: this fruit belongs with lychee and longan.

What it is

The fruit is nearly round, about 2.5 cm (1 in) long and weighing 9–22 g (⅓–¾ oz), with thin, leathery skin that is brittle enough to crack open. The jelly-like flesh ranges from whitish and yellowish to pink, somewhat fibrous and clinging to the seed. Some fruits hold two seeds.

Ripe pulp balances sweetness with tartness. It develops its best flavour on the tree, and the shell stays green when ripe. Coated in pulp, the large seed is very slippery, and in Jamaica children have choked on it.

Where it comes from

Mamoncillo comes from northern South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Margarita Island and the Guianas. It has spread through Central America and the Caribbean, and farther to the Philippines and to Florida, Hawaiʻi and California.

Most of the fruit is harvested from trees outside formal orchards. Superior trees have been gathered from Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Florida backyards to build a collection of the best varieties.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Jamaica, guinep is mostly a fresh snack, but it also makes a ginger-scented drink. Peeled fruit and grated ginger steep in hot water; once cool, the pulp is rubbed away from the seeds, strained, sweetened and chilled.

In Colombia, peeled mamoncillos soak in rum and sugar for another kind of drink. The pulp also goes into pies, jams and jellies, and the juice can join other fruits in a mixed drink.

How it's grown

Mamoncillo grows into a large, round-crowned tree that can reach 26 m (85 ft). It suits tropical and warm subtropical places, tolerates drought and needs protection from freezing and flooded soil. Seed-grown trees can take eight to ten years to bear fruit.

Male and female flowers usually grow on separate trees. Honeybees and other flying insects carry pollen between them. At harvest, pickers clip off whole clusters of fully ripe fruit.

When and where you'll find it

Florida’s harvest usually runs from June through September; in the Bahamas, the season usually lasts from July through October. Florida’s fresh fruit comes from trees outside orchards, and some is imported.

The whole fruit keeps for a few days at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Sources · 5

Get it near Detroit

What it tastes like

As sweet as a banana, as soft as a pear≈

Not sweetlemonSweet

MildbananalemonSour

SoftbananaappleCrisp

More about the taste

The sweet, translucent pulp ranges from whitish through yellowish to pinkish, and generally clings to a large seed.

Choose, ripen, store, eat

1ChooseSize
Look for
Size
Taste
Ignore
Color alone
Ripe mamoncillo can stay green, so judge maturity by size and taste rather than color alone.
2RipenMamoncillo ripens best on the tree
Mamoncillo ripens best on the tree; an immature fruit will not reliably sweeten after picking.
3StoreEat mamoncillo within a few days of purchase, kept at room temperature or refrigerated
Eat mamoncillo within a few days of purchase, kept at room temperature or refrigerated.
4EatAril
Eat
Aril
The fresh aril (pulp) around the seed is the part eaten, either fresh or made into jam or jelly.

Detroit, Michigan

When it’s good here

Grown here

Ships from other statesJun–Sep

1 growing area, 1 country

Florida
You

Grows hereOther monthsYou

0 of 1 areas · October

Promising mamoncillo trees have been selected from backyards in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Florida, not only from formal orchards.
Caribbean, Central America and Florida collection history

5 varieties

31 names in 10 languages

มามอนซิโยThai
蜜莓Chinese

Cook it

Recipes 2

Strange but true

If you like Mamoncillo

Tastes alike

Same plant family

Sources

Mamoncillo · Fruitopia · checked Sep 22, 2026