In the shared images, you can see that when hanging loosely on the tree, this fruit looks like a mango, but it has a purple skin. When cut open with a knife, the inside surprisingly resembles that of a banana.
Recently, social media users have been buzzing about a strange fruit that most of us have never “seen or heard of.”
The strange fruit: Looks like a mango on the outside, but resembles a banana when cut open.
In the shared images, you can see that when hanging loosely on the tree, this fruit resembles a mango, but has purple skin.
When cut open with a knife, it is quite surprising because the inside resembles the flesh of a banana. If you continue to slice it into smaller pieces, you can see many black seeds, similar to those of a banana.
Upon investigation, it turns out that this is not a mango, nor is it a banana. It is Akebi fruit – a fairly popular fruit, often found in the land of cherry blossoms, nicknamed “Japanese chocolate grape.”
This name comes from the fact that when the Akebi plant flowers, it emits a scent reminiscent of chocolate.
Akebi plant in bloom.
And when it bears fruit.
This fruit has a shape resembling a light purple mango or sweet potato. The flesh inside is opaque white and contains many black seeds similar to passion fruit.
Initially, only Hokkaido – the coldest region in Japan was able to cultivate this plant. It gradually expanded to China, the Korean Peninsula, and was later grown in the Eastern United States, from states like Georgia to Michigan and Massachusetts.
However, despite being a hybrid of mango, banana, and passion fruit, its flavor is a sweet mix with a hint of bitterness.
For a long time, the Japanese have utilized the skin of Akebi fruit to create many delicious dishes such as salads, roasting, batter frying, stuffing for braised meat, pickling, while the flesh can be made into jam.
Meanwhile, the seeds can be extracted for essential oil, and the leaves of the Akebi plant are used to make a delightful tea.
