Star fruit or carambola is one of the exotics and refreshing tropical fruits. Due to its resemblance with star, it is commonly known as star fruit, or sometimes 5 fingers. The ripest star fruit tastes deliciously sweet with little tart hints. However, you may think here, how to tell when star fruit is ripe?
Well, if you want to enjoy the ripest star fruit, you must know its ripening season and other related facts.
As, this understanding will also help you when you buy it from the supermarket. So, I am here to discuss star fruit facts here. And, after reading this article, you will surely able to choose the ripest star fruit to enjoy.
How To Tell When Star Fruit Is Ripe?
First of all, you can choose the ripest star fruit just by analyzing its appearance and texture. As when star fruits ripe, their skin turns vibrant, shiny yellow with a waxy texture. Their edges begin to turn brown, which tells you about its ripening extent.
The star fruit having such appearance is the ripest one, and you must choose it to enjoy. In contrast, the raw or unripe star fruit has a greenish outer skin with a rough texture. Thus, avoid such fruits to pick when you buy them.
Secondly, you can also observe the ripeness of star fruit by touching it. As, the fully ripe fruits are softer in texture with a shiny or waxy appearance.
In this way, you can select the sweetest fruits either when you pluck them from a tree or buy them from the market.
Ripening Stages of a Star Fruit
There are different ripening stages of star fruit that are quite different in taste as well as in appearance. And, people love to eat them according to their taste preferences. However, you can also choose the star fruit that suits your taste. Let’s see.
The initial stage of ripeness is when the fruit has greenish outer skin and may be slightly yellow shades. At this stage, the fruit tastes tart and tangy or even bitter.
Therefore, many people avoid eating this kind of fruit. However, it goes well in savory food dishes due to its natural tart flavor.
The next stage of ripening is when star fruit becomes a little softer in texture. Its outer skin now looks yellowish with bright green shades. You may also notice its slight brown edges that are the sign of ripe fruit.
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At this stage, star fruit is edible, and it tastes much better and flavorful with less tanginess. So, many people like to eat such kinds of star fruits. And, it also goes great in several food recipes and preserves or relishes.
The next stage is when the outer skin of star fruit turns yellowish completely having brown edges. That is a star fruit which is the ripest one and tastes heavenly sweet, and refreshing. Therefore, people love to eat it as it is delicious to taste.
This ripest fruit is widely used in culinary dishes as well as in desserts, relishes, and other sweet treats. You can also store it for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and enjoy it as you can.
When Is Ripest Star Fruit In Season?
As you know how to tell the star fruit is ripe up till here, so now, I will tell you when you can pluck the ripest star fruit from a tree. Or simply when you should harvest the star fruits to gain ripe fruit yield.
As it is a tropical fruit, so its harvesting months are late-summer months. Therefore, you can pick ripe star fruits in the months from October to December or January. This is a time period when you can enjoy the fully ripe stage of this exotic star fruit.
Ways Of Enjoying Ripe Star Fruits
Because of its star-like unique and beautiful shape, ripe star fruits go great in tropical fruit salads. Besides this, they are also widely common as fruit toppings on several desserts, cheesecakes, and other luscious sweet treats.
However, people also love to cook ripe star fruits to prepare delicious relishes, preserves, chutneys, and jams. And thus, these condiments go great with several foods as side dishes.
In addition, you can also use raw or unripe star fruits in several savory recipes to enhance their flavor.
Final Thoughts
How to tell when star fruit is ripe? By the way, it is not a tricky question as it is pretty straightforward to tell when a star fruit is ripe or not. Simply, you have to observe the final texture and appearance of the fruit.
If it is quite softer and its outer skin has bright or vibrant yellowish color with brown edges, your fruit is the ripest one and ready to eat.
Or, if the star fruit is still greenish in appearance, it would take time to get ripe. Therefore, avoid choosing such fruits as these are less flavorful.