Monstera Deliciosa Fruit: Must Read If You Plan On Eating It!
Most people aren’t aware that the Monstera Deliciosa plant produces fruit. If you own this beloved tropical plant, or you’re just interested in the rare fruit it can produce, you’re going to love this article. I’ll be covering, how to determine when it’s safe to eat, how to prepare it, boil it, cook it, and even what it tastes like!
What Is the Monstera Deliciosa Fruit Called?
The fruit that grows from a healthy Monstera Deliciosa is long and almost like an ear of corn, but green.
What in the world do you call a fruit like that?
The fruit of the Monstera Deliciosa is known as Mexican breadfruit.
You may also hear the fruit referred to as Penglai banana, balazo, windowleaf, monstereo, monsterio delicio, monster fruit, ceriman, and fruit salad.
For the duration of this article, I’ll refer to the Monstera’s fruit by its most popular nickname, and that’s Mexican breadfruit.
Mexican breadfruit can reach sizes of two inches in diameter and 10 inches long, so this is no insignificant fruit if your Monstera bears some!
Can You Eat Monstera Deliciosa Fruit?
You can indeed eat Monstera fruit, and it’s even considered safe for humans to eat raw.
There is one caveat, of course.
You have to allow the fruit to ripen prior to ingesting this tropical fruit.
Before it reaches the peak of ripening, Monstera Deliciosa fruit is full of oxalic acid that can hurt your throat and mouth if you ingest it.
I’ll talk a lot more about ripening shortly, so be sure to check that out.
What Does the Fruit of Monstera Deliciosa Taste Like?
Does Mexican breadfruit have an appealing flavor that makes it worth eating? It does indeed!
While the taste will vary depending on the size of your fruit and its ripeness, Monstera fruit has flavor notes like a pina colada. You’ll taste coconut, pineapple, and mango.
The texture of the fruit is creamy but firm, sort of like a perfectly ripened banana.
Mexican breadfruit is considered a delicacy, but if you like the above flavors, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be on your menu!
How to Know When Monstera Deliciosa Fruit Is Ripe
You’ll recall that eating an unripe Monstera Deliciosa fruit is not too fun (it can be very painful, as a matter of fact), so you’d prefer if your first experience enjoying Mexican breadfruit was with ripe fruit.
Well, first you want to make sure you’re not harvesting the Mexican breadfruit prematurely.
It’s going to take quite a while for the fruit of the Monstera to be ready, about a year. Even if the Mexican breadfruit is getting sizable well before that point, it’s not mature yet.
You’ll know it’s time to pick it when the Monstera fruit has a light green base.
Next, you need to encourage the ripening process. The best way to do this is to wrap the fruit inside some newspaper or a paper bag.
You can keep the fruit on your counter for at least two to four days to promote ripening.
Mexican breadfruit is ready for eating when its scales are ultra-pliable or even when they begin shedding on their own. If you can’t move those scales with your fingers, then your monstera fruit needs more time.
The smell of the fruit should also become a lot stronger. It’s not overwhelming at all, but you can easily smell it when you enter the room.
The top of the fruit usually ripens first, followed by the bottom.
How to Eat Monstera Deliciosa Fruit
Your appetite is whet and you’re ready to bite into a Monstera Deliciosa fruit.
Before you do, you have some questions about its preparation. This section will answer them all!
Can You Eat Monstera Deliciosa Fruit Raw?
If the sight of your ripening Mexican breadfruit has left you salivating, there’s no need to undergo any special preparation for this fruit.
You can indeed eat it raw.
Now, you might not be able to enjoy the entire Monstera fruit all in one sitting. Remember, the top of the fruit ripens first, followed by the bottom.
I would recommend cutting off the top portion of the fruit once you’re sure that’s ripened and at least eat that.
If you feel any pain when ingesting Mexican breadfruit, then allow the unripe part another day or two to ripen further. Then eat it.
Should You Cook Monstera Deliciosa Fruit?
Perhaps you’re interested in cooking the fruit your Monstera Deliciosa has given you. While it’s not the most traditional way to enjoy this fruit, it’s doable.
Breadfruit of other kinds is boiled all the time, and it’s sometimes fried as well.
To boil Monstera fruit, fill a saucepan with water, mix in a tablespoon of light salt, and stir.
When the water comes to a boil, insert the sliced breadfruit.
Depending on the size of your slices, the fruit may need about 30 minutes to boil on medium heat. Put a lid on the saucepan on to trap in the heat.
Frying Mexican breadfruit requires you to cut the fruit into chunks of about equally the same size.
Pour oil into a skillet and heat it to 365 degrees Fahrenheit. Turn the heat on and put the breadfruit pieces on the skillet one at a time. When they become brown, flip them over.
Let them cook on the other side as well. The whole process should take about 10 minutes.
How to Prepare Monstera Deliciosa Fruit
Besides the aforementioned options, you can also prepare Monstera Deliciosa fruit in so many other flavorful ways.
For instance, cut it up and serve it as the starring ingredient in a fruit salad (that is one of the fruit’s nicknames, after all!).
You can also blend it into a smoothie with some yogurt, augmenting the strength of the Mexican breadfruit’s flavor by mixing in coconut, pineapple, and maybe some banana.
Are There Any Nutritional Benefits of Eating Monstera Fruit?
In the book titled Fruits of Warm Climates by Julia Morton, we get a glimpse into the nutrition facts of the Monstera Deliciosa’s fruit.
| 335 | calories per pound |
| 1.18 | percent protein |
| 0.57 | percent fiber |
| 16.19 | percent sugar |
| 77.88 | percent moisture |
Do Monsteras Produce Fruit Indoors?
Let’s say you take exceptional care of your Monstera because it’s a beautiful plant and you’re a plant lover that dotes over it pruning and fertilizing watering it perfectly and providing optimal light, but…… You only grow the plant indoors, and you wonder when you’ll ever see yours produce fruit.
I wouldn’t say your indoor Monstera will never produce fruit, but don’t expect it to. It’s very uncommon for Monstera Deliciosa that have been grown indoors to produce fruit.
Even if you use a humidifier and maintain high temperatures as the Monstera likes, it needs a tropical environment to get into the habit of bearing fruit, which is more common outside in its natural habitat.
Similar to the monstera siltepecana, no matter how much you attempt to recreate its natural conditions, it won’t likely reach the same size, color, or in this case develop fruit the way it does in its true tropical environment.
Can Monstera Deliciosa Fruit Make People Sick?
Before you begin feeding Mexican breadfruit to your entire family, you worry about whether the fruit can cause illness.
Sickness is completely possible, mainly due to any pre-existing food allergies you may or may not be aware of. If you or anyone else in your family is allergic to tropical fruits, then I would not eat Monstera fruit.
Allergens can also cross-react, especially if you have a pollen allergy to birch, alder, grass, mugwort, or ragweed.
For instance, a ragweed allergy means you could have an allergic reaction if you eat cantaloupe, honeydew, melon, watermelon, or banana.
Even vegetables like zucchini, artichoke, cucumber, pepper, or squash can trigger the same reaction.
Mexican breadfruit is an uncommon fruit, so you will never see it on a list of cross-reactive fruits that could cause an allergic reaction. The other risk of consuming Monstera Deliciosa fruit is of course eating it before the fruit is ripe.
The other risk of consuming Monstera Deliciosa fruit is of course eating it before the fruit is ripe.
I mentioned before that it’s the oxalate crystals that will cause oral pain, and it can be quite severe.
It’s not only Mexican breadfruit that does this but also more common fruits like raspberries, grapefruit, oranges, and avocados.
I want to repeat my warning from before. If you notice that anything feels amiss when biting into a Monstera fruit, don’t continue eating it. Give it more time to ripen and then try again.
