Jaboticaba

I finally tasted my first jaboticaba (Plinia cauliflora), or Brazilian tree grape. At first bite, the inside is amazingly sweet and juicy and delicious, and then you chew on the skin and screw up your face. Wow. Tart/astringent/bitter - I’m not quite sure what - but somehow addictive, because despite declaring that I wasn’t ‘sold’ after my first one, I ate another handful anyway. I’ve since read some people spit the skin out!

Jaboticaba (also spelled jabuticaba) are a member of the Myrtaceae family and are native to Brazil. The name jaboticaba is derived from the Tupi (an indigenous Brazilian language) word ‘jabuti’ meaning tortoise and ‘caba’ which means place.

The beautiful patchy trunk of my young jaboticaba

The trees are beautifully ornamental, with small green leaves and patterned trunks, where the pinkish-tan coloured bark peels off to reveal creamy white patches underneath. They are very slow growing (good for bonsais!) and take 6-7 years to bear fruit. Once they do though, the time from flowering to fruiting is only 20-30 days and they often flower multiple times a year. A local grower told me that as soon as you see fruit set, be generous with the water to help them grow big and juicy.

The common fruit are black skinned and about the size of a grape, but there are reddish coloured ones, larger black ones (all in the Plinia genus) and even a yellow skinned one (Myrciaria glazioviana). Adding to their ornamental beauty is the fact that the flowers and fruit are cauliflorous which means they form directly on the trunk.

Fresh new jaboticaba leaf growth

In addition to puckering my face while eating them raw, I also love jaboticaba jam, and have heard they make a mean cocktail! I’ve got a while to wait before I get fruit on my two little trees but I reckon it’ll be worth it.