Medlar vs Loquat: What's the Difference?
Short answer: A medlar (Mespilus germanica) is a russet-brown autumn pome that's rock-hard and inedible off the tree - it must be 'bletted' (softened by frost or storage until brown and mushy) before its spiced-applesauce flesh is edible. A loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a bright orange spring pome eaten fresh and juicy straight away. Both are pomes in the rose family, but the medlar is eaten soft and late, the loquat crisp and early. The names overlap but the fruits don't.
| 🟤 Medlar | 🧡 Loquat | |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | Bletted medlar is soft, brown, and sweet-spicy — like spiced apple sauce or date with a wine note. Firm and unbletted it is hard, sour, and mouth-drying tannin; the transformation is the whole point. | Juicy and refreshing — apricot meets plum with citrus-floral high notes and a gentle astringency near the skin. Best slightly chilled, dead-ripe, when the balance tips just past tart. |
| Type | Pome | Pome |
| Peak season | Autumn, Winter | Spring |
| Origin | Southwest Asia and southeastern Europe; cultivated since Roman times | South-central China; long cultivated in Japan (hence the misleading species name "japonica") |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 85 | 47 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 12 g | 9 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 13 mg | 1 mg |
| Typical price | Mid | Mid |
The medlar and the loquat get tangled up mostly because of a name - the loquat’s old label “Japanese medlar” - but they’re genuinely different fruits eaten in opposite ways.
A true medlar (Mespilus germanica) is an autumn pome, russet-brown and shaped like a large rosehip with a distinctive open, flared end. Straight off the tree it’s rock-hard and mouth-puckeringly sour. Only after bletting - softening through frost or weeks of storage until brown and squishy - does it become edible, when the flesh tastes of spiced applesauce, date, or toffee. It’s a fruit of medieval orchards and winter cheese boards.
A loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is the opposite: a spring pome, bright orange, juicy, and tangy-sweet, eaten fresh and crisp the moment it ripens, with no waiting or softening required. Both belong to the rose family and both are pomes, but that’s where the similarity ends.
The quick test: brown, autumn, and eaten squishy-soft is a medlar; orange, spring, and eaten fresh is a loquat.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a loquat called a Japanese medlar if it isn't a medlar?
The nickname comes from a loose visual resemblance and the fact that both are rose-family pomes. But a true medlar is Mespilus germanica, a different genus, and the two are eaten in opposite ways. The 'Japanese medlar' label is a historical misnomer that stuck.
What does bletting mean?
Bletting is letting a fruit soften and brown past normal ripeness - through frost or weeks of storage - until the flesh turns sweet and jammy. A medlar is inedibly hard and sour until bletted; only then does it taste of spiced applesauce or date. Loquats need no bletting; they're eaten fresh.
When is each in season?
Medlars ripen in late autumn and are traditionally picked after the first frosts, then bletted into winter. Loquats are a spring fruit, among the earliest tree fruits of the year. So they don't even overlap on the calendar.