After seeing all the mouthwatering taste reports of the subtropical Eugenia's come by in the tropical fruit section, I couldn't wait to harvest a plate of my own temperate Myrtaceae. But not only does it take longer for them to ripen in my 8a climate, it also took a long time to find a plate that was small enough so that my harvest wouldn't look completely ridiculous
Three different types of Luma and several different Ugni Molinae cultivars are ripening up right now.
On the picture above you can see, starting at the top left the small red Ugni Molinae "Elite", then in clockwise order, the purple Luma Chequen, my small leaved Ugni Molinae, grown from seed, then a Luma Apiculata with small pear-shaped berries, my large leaved Ugni Molinae variety, and finally my variegated Luma Apiculata, probably Glenleam Gold, which makes big round berries.
This is what the inside of the berries look like, the Luma's have a very creamy sweet pulp.
And this is what they taste like:
Ugni "Elite"- very good, fruity and sweet, it's a very small fruit, but the plant is said to fruit in abundance.
Luma Chequen - surprisingly similar to the Ugni's, but with a much more creamy flesh, like ice cream or yoghurt - I was really pleasantly surprised, it has a beautiful taste and texture, fruity and sweet. But it does have a tannic or bitter aftertaste if you chew the skin. And it has much larger seeds than the Ugni. You can just pop the pulp in your mouth and spit out the seeds, or eat it with the skin, it is not a strong tannic flavor, so I kind of enjoy it.
Ugni small leaf - Also small berries, but with a beautiful, fruity and sweet flavor, medium sized fruit, very hardy plant, both to drought and cold
Luma Apiculata - pear shaped small fruit - sweet pulp, but very bitter and resinous aftertaste, not really palatable, the ratio of pulp to skin and seeds is very small, and this one really has a very very strong tannic and resinous flavor, I wouldn't offer this one to eat to anyone.
Ugni large leaf - largest fruit, more pulp, same delicious taste, more acidic then the small leaf, but also sweeter, so all in all a more concentrated fruity and tangy flavor. No astringent aftertaste whatsoever, just fruitiness.
Luma Apiculata variegated, probably Glenleams gold - very good, sweet, creamy pulp and even a bit spicy, not so much fruitiness. It also has no resinous aftertaste, nor bitterness, but not the same depth or fruitiness of the Luma Chequen.
I must say that I was all in all very pleasantly surprised by the taste of the bigger Luma berries. I love Ugni's, but I am glad that I discovered that the pulp of the Luma's is absolutely delicious as well. It is much more creamy, but also very sweet and fruity. The skin is more tannic and resinous with the Luma's, and they have large seeds, that I didn't chew on, while you can eat the Ugni's without a problem, seeds and skin and all. There just seems to be more variation in the Luma's than in the Ugni's, going from almost unpalatable to delicious for the Luma's, while almost all Ugni's are good.
And finally the only reason why these berries are relatively unknown: their size....
But the upside is that they are pretty rare and they do grow well in a 8a climate without any protection, they can handle prolonged frost up to -8 Celsius without any problems.
