10 Rarest Fruits In The World

2. Rambutan

Rambutan fruit grows across South East Asia. This exotic, oval shaped fruit has pinky hairs on the outershell. It is named after Malaysian word ‘rambut’, which means hair. The sweet and sour white colored fleshy part lies inside the fruit.

The rambutan trees bear fruits in the fall and late spring season. Rambutan tastes just like grapes. The carbohydrate and protein content of this fruit offer instant refreshment. This copper rich fruit also help to increase the rate white blood cell (fight against infection) production in your body.

The rambutan is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to the Malay-Indonesian region, and other regions of tropical Southeast Asia. It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits including the lychee, longan, and mamoncillo.

It is an evergreen tree growing to a height of 12–20 m. The leaves are alternate, 10–30 cm long, pinnate, with three to 11 leaflets, each leaflet 5–15 cm wide and 3–10 cm broad, with an entire margin. The flowers are small, 2.5–5 mm, apetalous, discoidal, and borne in erect terminal panicles 15–30 cm wide.

The fruit is a round to oval single-seeded berry, 3–6 cm long and 3–4 cm broad, borne in a loose pendant cluster of 10–20 together. The leathery skin is reddish, and covered with fleshy pliable spines, hence the name, which means ‘hairs’. The fruit flesh, which is actually the aril, is translucent, whitish or very pale pink, with a sweet, mildly acidic flavor very reminiscent of grapes.