Alan Davidson

Barbados Gooseberry

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

Barbados gooseberry the edible fruit of a vigorous, climbing, leafy cactus, Pereskia aculeata, grown mainly in the W. Indies and C. America. Its numerous common names include lemon vine, blade apple, and gooseberry shrub.

The small, often pear-shaped, fruits have a thin skin which is yellow or reddish in colour, and contain small soft seeds. When ripe, they are juicy and somewhat tart. They can be eaten raw, but are usually stewed or preserved with sugar, or made into jam.

© the Estate of Alan Davidson 1999, 2006, 2014 © in the Editor’s contribution to the second and third editions, Oxford University Press 2006, 2014.