Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

cocona Solanum sessiliflorum, a fruit related to the naranjilla, but with different characteristics and much less known outside its native region in Latin America (especially Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil). When ripe, the smooth skin often has the colour of a tomato; and the aroma of a fruit freshly cut open is also reminiscent of the tomato. The pulp in the centre is yellow and pleasantly acid, while the flesh surrounding it has a milder taste and is cream in colour. As with the tomato, the seeds in the pulp are not noticed when the fruit is eaten. The shape may be round or conical; a fruit of conical shape may be 10 cm (4") long.