How do I tell when jakfruit, sapote, jaboticaba & pomegranate are ripe?

G'day, how ya goin? :)

Aint fruit great! :D

A friend brought back some fruit from a place called Tropical Fruit World last week. Some we haven't tasted before and we would love to know how to tell when they are ripe.

Jakfruit - it was bought last Monday, today is Sunday, the seller said about a week till ripe, it has softened up... when we push anywhere on the 'spines' the area around yields. It also has an aroma. Does this mean it is ripe and ready to eat? If so, how long will it last like that? It is big, so we would like to open it at the best time so as not to waste it. The colour has also changed, from a lighter colour with some green in it, to brown.

Sapote - When Mandy opened a green or mamey sapote it was rotten. I have had this happen a number of times with various types of sapote, I reckon I have only ever had one that is ripe. How do you select your sapote and how do you know when they are ripe?

Jaboticaba - the skin is slightly bitter, is this how they usually taste? They are very soft.

Pomegranate - how to tell when it is ripe? (hey, just noticed that there is a sticker on it that says it is from California... man, why is a huge Aus. fruit farm importing fruit? :( )

Any help would be great, it's a bummer to open unripe fruit. I took some photos but I haven't been able to find the cord to connect the camera to the computer.

I also had some sapodilla/chiku for the first time. Wow! :O A rich caramel taste, similar to pears stewed in a caramellised sugar. Mmmmm, sweeeet!

And had mangosteen for the first time a few weeks ago, yum!

Tags: chiku, jaboticaba, jackfruit, jakfruit, pomegranate, ripe, sapodilla, sapote

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Permalink Reply by Patrick H. on January 31, 2010 at 3:19pm

'Bump'
We're keen to open the jakfruit... any experienced jakfruit eaters who can let me know if it is most likely ready or not? :)

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Permalink Reply by fruitbatanne on January 31, 2010 at 3:25pm

Dear Soul Fruit ♥
Jack should smell like he needs to be eaten. The smell will waft temptingly to you.
The smell will be mouthwatering; Jack will also 'give' a bit and be easy to tear into.
I find that when Jack is nice and ripe he becomes less sticky inside.

Enjoy your fruit ♥

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Permalink Reply by fruitbatanne on January 31, 2010 at 3:32pm

With Jaboticaba, they really are best picked off the tree when they are perfectly ripe; they are very sweet then; in my experience they do not ripen so much after picking.

Green Sapote and Mamey Sapote will ripen after picking, they need to give slightly when ripe but not be too soft.
They should not go rotten before they ripen properly, unless they have been damaged, infested, irradiated or picked too under ripe.

I think Pomegranates need to be picked ripe; as far as I know they do not ripen after picking, so the Pom should be ready to go.

Love and Peaches XX.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick H. on January 31, 2010 at 7:48pm

Thanks heaps Anne :) We're going to let Jack sit til the morrow, we can smell him ripening more and more, as the hours pass, and yes the smell is becoming more enticing... today was probably a little early.

It makes all the difference knowing when fruit is ripe. I remember eating unripe persimmons and feeling crook, now from reading posts here I know how to tell when they are at their ripest.

I dunno what happened to all the sapotes that I have had, most were organic yet still rotten. I reckon I'll leave the jaboticabas til I meet a jabo tree. The only time that I have had pomegranates was straight off a tree. It will be interesting to see what this one is like.

Thanks again, have a great one :)
Pat.

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Permalink Reply by Rawlee on January 31, 2010 at 10:28pm

I found this link regarding jackfruit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNILOoJ9AGU

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Permalink Reply by Patrick H. on February 1, 2010 at 7:49am

Thanks Rawlee :)
That's a cool vid, seeing the fruit on the tree and hearing how they tell when they are ripe on the tree. Man, what an awesome fruit! Around a ton of fruit on a tree! They look beautiful.
I also found this clip: http://www.capetrib.com.au/jakfruit.htm