35 Green Fruits With Their Name and Picture (Identification)

Green fruits come in all shapes and sizes. The most common types of green fruits are apples, pears, and green grapes. Some examples of green fruits with sour sharp taste include limes, gooseberries, sour plums, and the unusual cucamelon. Varieties of green tropical fruits with delicious taste include breadfruit and jackfruit. There are also green fruits like avocado and cucumbers that we tend to think of as vegetables.

Green fruits are not only delicious, but they are incredibly healthy. Like most fruits, green fruits are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, essential for good health. But green fruits and vegetables also contain significant amounts of chlorophyll, vitamin K, folate, and lutein. These minerals support your cardiovascular and immune systems.

What are some of the best green fruits to consume? This article has a list of small green fruits, spiky green fruits, large green exotic fruits, and uncommon fruits.

Types of Green Fruits: Introduction

Types of green fruits are divided into five categories. There are drupes, pomes, berries, citrus fruits, and pepo. Among these categories are tropical fruits with an exotic taste, and fruits that we usually classify as vegetables.

For example, green olives are a type of drupe because they have a fleshy structure that surrounds a large stone. Cucumber is a type of green fruit that grows on a vine and is classed as a berry or pepo. Apples and pears are common types of pomes.

Types of Common Green Fruits

Let’s look at common green fruits that you can grow in your garden and are readily available in stores.

Green Apples (Malus domestica)

Green apples are the classic green fruit that most people think of. Some kinds of apples develop shades of blushing red when they are ripe. However, many apple varieties are various shades of green when ready to eat. Green apples typically have waxy skin that surrounds crunchy white flesh.

Apples are a type of pome that grows on trees. Round green apples usually have a tarter taste than red apples. Because they are less sweet, many green apple varieties are ideal for eating off the tree or using in cooking. Their fresh, crunchy flavor goes well with salty, savory food like mature cheese or adds freshness to a sandwich.

Here is a list of some popular green apples:

• Granny Smith—These green apples have a tart, almost sour taste, crunchy flesh, and a waxy shine. Granny Smith apples are ideal for use in baked goods, like the traditional apple pie.
• Newtown Pippin—This heirloom green apple has firm flesh with a tart to sweet flavor. Like the Granny Smith, Pippin apples are excellent cooking apples.
• Crispin (Mutsu)—The sizable Japanese apple has a yellowish-green skin surrounding the firm, crunchy flesh with a sweet flavor.
• Golden Delicious—The classic green apple has a pale green color that may have hints of yellow. Golden Delicious apples are famous for their crunchy, sweet white flesh.

Related reading: Types of crabapple trees.

Pears (Pyrus)

There are thousands of pear varieties, many of which have smooth green skin, sometimes with hints of redness and a distinct shape. Pears generally have a wide, bulging base, and the fruit tapers to the stem end. When ripe, the white pear flesh is generally soft and juicy with a sweet taste.

The variety of pears determines the texture of the flesh. Some pears have crisp, firm flesh that is ideal for poaching. Other pear varieties are soft, with melt-in-the-mouth flesh that is exceptionally juicy. Comice pears are generally the sweetest green pears.

Another type of pear is the Nashi pear or Asian pear. These pears are small round golden green fruits or pomes that are ideal for snacking. Nashi pears have the shape of an apple and have light green to yellowish skins surrounding white flesh.

Related reading: Types of ornamental pear trees.

Green Grapes (Vitis)

Green grapes are small green berry fruits that grow in bunches on vines. Green grapes are typically referred to as “white” grapes. A grape usually has an ellipsoid shape. However, some varieties of green grapes are round, or they can be ovoid-shaped. Thompson seedless grapes are the most commonly consumed green grapes in the US.

Common green grape varieties include the following:

• Mustang grape—A type of sour grape that is commonly used for making jellies, pies, and grape juice.
• Muscat grape—Small round green grapes with a whitish substance on the light green skin.
• Champagne grapes—Tiny, pea-like green fruits with a sweet taste and firm skin.

Types of Sweet Green Fruits

Although many green fruits are sweet, a few types of green fruits are famous for their sweet, juicy flesh.

Honeydew Melon (Cucumis melo)

The honeydew melon is a large round, green fruit with a pale yellowish-green skin and light green sweet flesh. Green honeydew melons are round to oval-shaped and usually measure 6” to 9” (15 – 22 cm) across. The inner pale green flesh of this delicious fruit surrounds clusters of many yellowish-brown seeds.

Tasty honeydew melons have a high-water content, consisting of 90 percent water. Honeydew melons are some of the sweetest melons you can find. The taste is like yellow cantaloupe melons, without the musky aftertaste. Honeydews are consumed in fruit salads, smoothies, or on their own.

Mexican Sour Cucumber (Melothria scabra)

Although called a “sour cucumber,” the Mexican miniature watermelon has a sweet taste when completely ready to eat. The green oval fruits look like miniature watermelons and are the size of grapes. Like other plants in the cucurbit family, the small green fruits grow on vines.

Other names for the Mexican sour cucumber include mouse melon, pepquinos, cucamelon, or Mexican sour gherkin.

Sweet Green Oranges (Citrus reticulata × sinensis)

The sweet green orange is an unusual green citrus fruit because it has a rind like a lime fruit but orange flesh like an orange. The bright green, thick skin covers sweet orange segments. The delicious exotic green fruit is a citrus hybrid that tastes like a tangerine.

In warm regions, sweet green oranges stay green until they are ripe. In temperate climates, the citrusy rind turns partly green and partly orange, or it can be completely orange.

Types of Sour Green Fruits

Many varieties of green fruits have a distinct tart taste. Here are a few types of sour green fruits.

Limes

Limes are round green citrus fruits with a sour taste that makes your lips pucker. Green limes are typically slightly larger than a golf ball, measuring 1.2” to 2.4” (3 – 6 cm) in diameter. The thin green rind covers light green citrus segments. Compared to lemons, limes have a more bitter flavor.

Most varieties of limes, such as Key limes (Citrus aurantiifolia), have a smooth green skin that becomes yellowish when ripe. Limes are common ingredients in pies, like the Key lime pie, or chutneys like lime pickles in Indian cuisine.

Here are some other varieties of limes:

Bearss lime (Citrus × latifolia)

Also called the Persian lime, this round or oval green citrus fruit is larger than a Key lime and has thicker green skin. Bearss limes have a sweeter taste than the popular Mexican limes (Key limes). Persian limes measure 2.4” (6 cm) in diameter.

Kaffir Lime (Citrus hystrix)

The Kaffir lime is a small round green fruit with bumpy skin. Kaffir limes tend to be relatively acidic and bitter and don’t produce much juice. Kaffir limes are usually used in cooking, where the citrus peel is used to flavor Thai curries. The bumpy green fruits measure 2” (5 cm) in diameter.

Finger Limes (Citrus australasica)

The finger lime is an unusual green edible fruit because it has a thick, slightly bumpy skin, cylindrical shape, and contains juicy pearl-like balls. Because of the round juice vesicles in the green citrus fruit, finger limes are also called “lime caviar.” The green citrus fruits are 1.6” to 3.1” (4 – 8 cm) long with a tapering point.

Sour Green Plums

Sour green plums are round drupes with a firm, tart green flesh, covered by shiny green skin surrounding a white stone. Sour plums are usually too tart to eat fresh. Instead, the red and green variety of these sour drupes is used in cooking to create sauces, relishes, and compotes or added to stews to create a sour flavor.

Ugli Fruit (Jamaican Tangelo)

The appropriately named Ugli fruit is a strange-looking citrus fruit with a bumpy light green skin that turns yellow as it ripens. The Ugli fruit is about the size of a grapefruit and has a pear shape. The juicy flesh tastes sourer than an orange but sweeter than a grapefruit.

The Ugli fruit is also called Uniq fruit and is a natural hybrid of a tangerine and pomelo. Therefore the unusual fruit is also called tangelo. The ugly green fruit’s botanical name is Citrus reticulata × paradisi.

Gooseberries

Gooseberries are small round or oval green fruits with an exceptionally tart taste. Gooseberries can be red or yellow fruits, but they are typically light green with almost transparent skin. The flesh of gooseberries is soft, containing several tiny seeds. Gooseberries grow on small thorny bushes. The small oval green berries measure 0.5” (1.2 cm) long.

Types of Bumpy Green Fruit

Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)

The Osage orange is a round green fruit with distinctive bumpy skin. Osage oranges are about the size of a baseball, measuring 4” – 5” (10 to 13 cm) in diameter. The fruit’s rough surface is a yellowish-green color and covers a juicy yellow flesh. Although the Osage orange is said to taste like cucumber, it’s rarely used for eating.

Green Osage oranges are not related to citrus fruit. Instead, the round bumpy fruits grow on a shrub-like tree in the mulberry family. Other names for the Osage orange include hedge apple or horse apple.

Avocado

Avocado is a green, pear-shaped fruit that typically has a dark-green bumpy skin and grows on trees. However, some avocado varieties have smooth, bright green shiny skin. Although in culinary terms it’s used as a vegetable, avocados are botanically a large berry. Typically, the dark green fruits measure between 3” and 8” (7 – 20 cm) long.

Depending on the variety, the avocado’s outer skin can be purple, black, brown, or green when ripe. The leathery, bumpy skin covers buttery green flesh and a large stone in the middle. An avocado is ripe when the fruit yields slightly when squeezing it.

Custard Apple (Annona cherimola)

The custard apple or custard fruit is a weird green fruit with thick, leathery, bumpy skin that looks like a sizable cone-shaped apple. The bumpy skin looks like knobby warts or overlapping scales. The edible fruit has a creamy flesh and is eaten by scooping the flesh of the sweet fruit out from the skin.

If eating a custard apple raw, it’s important to remember that every single black seed in the flesh contains toxins that can be poisonous.

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)

Breadfruit is a tropical grapefruit-sized fruit with green leathery skin covered in small bumps. As the round green fruit matures, the skin becomes yellowish-green and may also become brown. Breadfruit has soft, pale, sweet flesh with a starchy texture and mild potato-like flavor. Breadfruit measures 4” to 12” (10 – 30 cm) in diameter.

Noni (Morinda citrifolia)

Noni is a tropical green or yellowish-green oval fruit with characteristic bumpy skin. The green fruit measures 4” – 7” (10 – 18 cm) long. As the noni fruit matures, the fruit gives off a pungent odor that smells like mature cheese. When ripe, the white flesh has a strong smell and bitter taste. The large brown seeds are edible when roasted.

Types of Spiky Green Fruits

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

Jackfruit is a large green tropical sweet fruit with spiky skin. Jackfruit grows in clusters on the jack tree and is related to breadfruit. The roundish fruit is egg-shaped like a large mango and has a yellowish-green color that becomes yellowish-brown when mature. The yellowish-green fruits grow 4” (10 cm) long.

It is said that jackfruit tastes like pineapple or bananas, giving off a sweet, pleasant aroma.

Durian Fruit (Durio)

Durian fruit is a tropical fruit covered in green or brown thorny skin. The large green spiky fruit can grow up to 12” (30 cm) long and weigh between 2 and 7 lbs. (1 – 3 kg). Depending on the variety, the spiked rind covers fleshy inside that can be pale yellow or red. Durian aroma is somewhat controversial—some people say it’s sweet and pleasant. In contrast, others say it stinks of rotten onions.

Types of Tropical Green Fruits

Many delicious green fruits have a sweet aroma, delicious soft flesh, and have the “taste of paradise.”

Caribbean Guava

Guava is a round or oval-shaped tropical fruit with green skin and bright red flesh. Guava, like most fruits, is green when unripe. As the tasty fruit matures, the skin can stay green or turn yellow or red. Guava fruit can be sweet or sour and grow between 1.5” and 4.5” (4 – 12 cm) long, depending on the variety.

Soursop (Graviola)

Soursop (also called graviola or guanábana) is a pear-shaped tropical fruit with spiny green skin covering pure white, juicy flesh. The green tropical fruit has an aroma of pineapple and tastes like a combination of apples and strawberries with citrusy overtones. The prickly green fruits grow up to 12” (30 cm) long.

Soursop is a prickly green fruit which is common in the Caribbean, tropical regions of North and South America, and Southeast Asia. You can grow the green soursop fruits in USDA zone 10, for example, in southern Florida.

Types of Exotic Green Fruits

Fuzzy Green Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)

Kiwifruit is a green fuzzy fruit that grows on woody vines in USDA zones 5 through 9. The large furry berries have brown skin covering tart green flesh that contains tiny black seeds. The green kiwifruit is about a hen’s egg size, measuring between 2” and 3” (5 – 8 cm) long. The light green flesh has a sharp taste with some sweetness.

Green Star Fruit (Carambola)

Star fruit is an exotic green fruit with five or six pronounced ridges on the edge of the fruit. Star fruit is mostly green while immature and gradually turns yellow when ripe. The best time to eat this exotic star-shaped fruit is when it’s yellow with faint green patches on it, however carambola can be eaten in both the green and yellow stages. Cutting the fruit into slices reveals the star shape.

Green Fruits Used as Vegetables

Chayote (Sechium edule)

Chayote is a green-colored fruit that looks like a pear and is related to squash plants. It has a thin green skin covering green to white flesh. The fruit has a mild flavor and is used as a vegetable by seasoning it with salt and pepper. The vine-growing green fruit can be baked, stuffed, mashed, fried, or pickled.

Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo)

Botanically, green zucchini is a type of green fruit that is used in savory dishes as a vegetable. The green summer squash plant grows on a vine and has dark green skin, and typically grows between 6” and 10” (15 – 25 cm) long. This unusual green berry is usually cooked with seasoning and can be boiled, grilled, stuffed, baked, or steamed.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

Although considered a green vegetable, cucumber is a berry fruit that grows on vines. The cylindrical fruits have a light green, crisp flesh and a mild taste like a melon. Some varieties of cucumbers can have a bitter taste. Most varieties of long green cucumbers have smooth, slightly ribbed skin. However, short green cucumbers can have bumpy, spiky skin.

Cucumbers are usually eaten fresh in salads, or you can pickle them to make gherkins.

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• Types of Fruit Trees
• Dwarf Fruit Trees to Grow Indoors or Outdoors
• Types of Citrus Fruits