Lucuma is an Andean fruit that grows on the Pouteria lucuma tree, a member of the Sapotaceae family, native to the Andes Valley in South America, and more specifically to Peru. This tree, which stands around 15 metres tall and has a light-coloured trunk, produces round fruit with a very thin green skin and bright orange flesh, weighing around 200 grams each. The lucuma tree thrives at altitude, growing ideally in tropical climates with average temperatures of between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius. Four years after planting, its fruit production will be highly beneficial.
Nicknamed "Gold of the Incas" or "Gold of the Gods", this fruit has a mild, slightly sweet taste, resembling maple syrup, caramel or sweet potato, and is used for culinary purposes in desserts, ice creams and pastries, fruit creams and meringues. It is considered Peru's national dessert.
Lucuma cannot be exported as is, as its skin is too thin and therefore too fragile. So the idea is to dry the harvested fruit and then grind it to obtain a powder that can be brought to us as a superfood!
Origin of lucuma
Archaeological evidence of the cultivation and even use of lucuma has been found among certain peoples who predated the Incas, such as the Mochicas (between 100 and 700 AD) and the Nazcas on the Pacific coast. These include everyday wooden objects, wooden sculptures of the fruit in funerary sites, and architectural elements.
More ancient evidence of its consumption has been found in Ancash, in northern Peru. It dates back to 6000 BC.
Lucuma was part of the daily diet of pre-Columbian peoples, along with maize and quinoa.
Its cultivation then spread to the south of Ecuador with the Spanish colonisation, and continued in Bolivia, Chile and more recently Costa Rica. Today, lucuma can be found as far afield as Mexico and even Hawaii.
