10 Rarest Fruits In The World

3. Physalis

Physalis is an exotic fruit native to South America. The fruit is related to tomato family. It has a transparent leaf like husk. Unlike tomato, physalis fruit is small in size. The fruit also has the same acidity as tomato.

The tasty physalis has many medicinal properties. The presence of Vitamin C, B and Iron makes physalis as a special herb in a number of traditional medicines. The consumption of physalis also could stimulates your immune system.

Physalis is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, which grow in warm temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Most of the species, of which there may be 75-90, are indigenous to the New World. Cultivated species and weedy annuals have been introduced worldwide. A notable feature is the formation of a large papery husk derived from the calyx, which partly or fully encloses the fruit. The fruit is small and orange, similar in size, shape and structure to a small tomato.

At least 46 species are endemic to the country of Mexico.

Many Physalis species are called groundcherries. One name for Physalis peruviana is Inca berry; another is Cape gooseberry, not to be confused with the true gooseberries, which are of the genus Ribes in the family Grossulariaceae. Other names used to refer to the fruit are poha berries, and simply golden berries.