Quest for Another Superfruit

choi

Courtney Rubin, The Selling of a Super fruit. Is the obscure pitaya the next pomegranate or goji berry? One ambitious juicer is betting big on it. Blomberg BusinessWeek, Sept 10, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/arti ... ing-of-a-superfruit

Note:
(1) superfruit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfruit
(2) Before browsing the report, view the photo montage first, which shows various fruits mentioned in the report.

(3) pitaya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya
(fruit of several cactus species, most importantly of the genus Hylocereus--the latter is dragonfruit; native to Central and South Americas)
(a) Contrst with what the report says, "the Vietnamese dragonfruits--the pitaya's Asian cousin"--therefore two different species.
(b) The caption of photo 2 in the Wiki page states, "Hylocereus undatus pitayas at a market stall in Taiwan, between some bananas and some chirimoyas."
(i) cherimoya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherimoya
(The cherimoya, also spelled chirimoya, is the fruit of the species Annona cherimola, which generally is thought to be native to the Andes, although an alternative hypothesis proposes Central America as the origin; section 2 Etymology: The name originates from the Quechua word chirimuya, which means "cold seeds," because the plant grows at high altitudes)
(ii) What is shown in the Wiki photo is actually Annona squamosa (釋迦 in Taiwan; the same genus as but different species from Annona cherimola).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_squamosa
(bears edible fruits called sugar-apple; more willing to grow at lower altitudes [0-2,000 meters] than its relatives Annona reticulata and Annona cherimola (whose fruits often share the same name) making it the most widely cultivated of these species; native to Caribbean, Central and South Americas

* 釋迦 "根據臺灣府誌記載是由荷蘭人引種入臺栽培，至今有400多年歷史，原產於熱帶美洲,又因為自「番邦」引入，故又稱為「番荔枝」." zh.wikipedia.org for "番荔枝."
(4) purple mangosteen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_mangosteen
(Garcinia mangostana; colloquially known simply as mangosteen; a tropical evergreen tree believed to have originated in Indonesia; the fruit contains (i) an inedible, deep reddish-purple colored rind (exocarp) when ripe [6-8 cm in diameter], and (ii) "Only the white flesh [4-6 cm in diameter] of the purple mangosteen is edible")

(5) The pomegranate is "a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree * * * Native to the geographic Kurdistan of modern day Iran and Iraq."  Wiki
(6) The blueberry is a perennial flowering plant, native to North America and can be either deciduous or evergreen. Wiki
(7) For noni, see Morinda citrifolia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morinda_citrifolia
(Its native range extends through Southeast Asia and Australasia)
(8) For goji berry 枸杞, see wolfberry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry
(section 2 Etymology)

(9)
(a) açaí palm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A7a%C3%AD_palm
(Its name comes from the Portuguese adaptation of the Tupian word [that means] '[fruit that] cries or expels water;'  native to Central and South Americas; the fruit is a small, round, black-purple drupe about 1 inch (25 mm) in circumference, similar in appearance but smaller than a grape and with less pulp)
(b) A clutch of açaíin the palm tree (photo).
http://www.dietdiet.com/acai-berry-diet-does-it-work/

(10) The text fleetingly mentions
(a) For Saskatoon berry, see Amelanchier alnifolia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier_alnifolia
(saskatoon, among other vernacular names; deciduous; native to North America; section 1 Etymology)
(b)
(i) For Maqui berry, see Aristotelia chilensis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelia_chilensis
(evergreen; native to Chile)
(ii) maqui (n; Spanish from Mapuche)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maqui