Fruit · Medicinal
Acerola Cherry
Malpighia emarginata DC.
FamilyMalpighiaceae
EspañolAcerola
AlsoAcerola, Barbados cherry, West Indian cherry
Acerola is an evergreen large shrub or small tree with a thick, rounded canopy of delicate glossy foliage. Small pink or lavender flowers appear in flushes through the warm months and are followed about a month later by bright red, cherry-like fruits with a tart flavour. The fruit is among the richest natural sources of vitamin C, a discovery in 1945 that turned an ornamental into a commercial crop.
Sourced · see Record tab Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List. · IUCN
Worth knowingOnly about 22 days pass between flowering and fully ripe fruit, and unripe fruit can contain up to 4,676 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, among the highest of any fruit.
2on the estate
2carrying a tag
2sponsored
| Tag | Garden area | Zone | Planted | Status | Sponsored | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Main Orchard | B | 10 June 2016 | Healthy | James S., USA | |
| 250 | Main Orchard | B | 17 June 2016 | Healthy | James S., USA |
0 of these have no tag yet; they will be numbered when the garden team re-tags the estate.