People who had come to Taiwan must know that Taiwan is known as “fruit kingdom. We have specialized in agricultural technology to maintain the sweetness and quality of the fruits to reach the high standard, so it is very easy to get fresh and delicious fruit in Taiwan. Not only travelers but also locals are crazy about the fruits here and fruits picking become one of the most popular activities. Our tour consultants are frequently asked what the best season for particular fruit is and where to pick them, so I wrote this article to give all the travelers a rough guideline. Some high-value fruits are fragile, so they are not suitable for travelers to pick directly, but of course you can taste them with affordable prices in the production area or local market.
Tips: Because the fruit season and the yield is very easy to be affected by the weather, so please reconfirm with your tour consultant whether the fruits picking is doable or not during your visit.
Wax Apple:
You can find the world’s top wax apple in Pingtung, Taiwan. This high-quality wax apple has a beautiful name which is called the Black Pearl. It has a dense body, juicy, crunchy and sweet.
█ Best season and place to pick : Nov to Mar and May to July in Pingtung/Yilan.
Sugar Apple (a.k.a. custard apple):
Sugar apple looks like Buddha’s head, and they are sweeeeeeeet! They are full of delicious custard-li
ke flesh and inedible black seeds inside. I guess you’ll just have to try it yourself but I am afraid that you can’t stop once you have a bite 😛
█ Best season and place to pick: Aug to Mar in Taitung
Loquat:
The season for Loquat is very short, only in late March. The fruits, leaves, flowers, nuclei, skin and roots of loquat are used as Chinese medicinal materials. Loquat skin is very thin, taste like mango and peach but the seeds inside are bigger, Loquat is a high price fruit because it’s hard to plant.
█ Best season and place to pick: Mar to Apr in Taichung
Carambola (star fruit):
The carambola is also called star fruit because the cross section is five awn stars. In Taiwan, besides eat it directly, we also use sugar and salt to make star fruit into juice or candied fruits which you can add it on shaved ice.
█ Best season and place to pick: Sep to Apr in Maioli/Taichung
Litchi
The most exciting things in early summer for Taiwanese is to taste the first ripe litchi. Litchi can only be given to kings and royals before. During the Tang Dynasty in China, there was a most beautiful consort who loved to eat this delicate fruit. Nowadays, we are very lucky since it is easily bought from May to August. Be coved by the coarse peel wine skin, the pulp are thick and full of moisture. Oh! Restrain yourself not to eat litchi too much at the same time since it will make your body hot and it is better to eat after meals.
█ Best season and place to pick: May to Aug in Kaohsiung