Lasora
Cordia myxa · Boraginaceae · also known as Gunda, Gonda, Assyrian plum, Sebesten, Glue berry
A small, sticky-fleshed Indian fruit famous for its mucilage — pickled green into the tangy Gujarati and Rajasthani gunda pickle, eaten ripe as a mild sweet, and once used as a natural glue. A hardy, ancient dry-land tree fruit.
At a glance
- Taste
- The unripe green fruit is bland and intensely sticky-mucilaginous, transformed by pickling into a tangy, spicy delicacy; ripe fruit turns yellow-brown and mildly sweet, with slippery, glue-like flesh around a stone.
- Origin
- The Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and North Africa
- Grown in
- India, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt
- Peak season
- Summer
Sensory & practical profile
Taste fingerprint
- Sweetness
- Tartness
- Aroma
- Juiciness
- Firmness
Approximate, at peak ripeness · 0–5
- Ripe when
- Green and firm for the famous pickle; yellow-brown and slightly soft for the mild-sweet ripe fruit.
- How to eat
- Pickle or cook the sticky green fruit (gunda pickle and sabzi are the classics), or eat the ripe brown fruit fresh; mind the glue-like mucilage.
- Typical price
- Budget
Lasora's flesh is so sticky it was once used as glue for paper — yet that same mucilage, pickled with spices as green gunda, becomes one of western India's most anticipated early-summer delicacies.
When it's in season, by region
| Region | Peak months |
|---|---|
| South Asia | Apr–Jun (western India), the gunda pickle season |
How to select & store
Picking a ripe one
For pickle, choose firm, unripe green fruit; for fresh eating, yellow-brown ripe fruit that gives slightly. Green gunda is often sold specifically for the pickle season.
Storing it
Green fruit is pickled promptly (the classic use), keeping for a year; ripe fruit is perishable and eaten within days. Also dried in some regions.
Practical uses
🍽️ Culinary
- Gunda pickle (gunda nu athanu) — unripe fruit stuffed and pickled with spices, a Gujarati and Rajasthani classic
- Green fruit cooked as a vegetable (gunda sabzi)
- Ripe fruit eaten fresh as a mild sweet
- The mucilage historically used as glue and a paper adhesive
🌿 Health & traditional
- The demulcent, mucilaginous fruit used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine for coughs, chest, and digestion
🎎 Cultural
- A cherished seasonal pickle fruit of western India, tied to the early summer
- An ancient fruit — the "Assyrian plum" or sebesten of the classical Mediterranean
Eating lasora: what to know
What regular consumption looks like
Lasora is a nutritious everyday fruit, best enjoyed as part of a varied diet. It is a good source of fibre (about 3 g per 100 g), which supports digestion and satiety.
Sensible amounts
A typical fruit serving is roughly a handful, one medium fruit, or about 80 g, and two or more varied fruit servings a day is a sensible everyday pattern.
Evidence & conditions
As a whole fruit, Lasora contributes fibre, vitamins, and beneficial plant compounds, but it has not been shown to treat or prevent any specific condition — so it is best enjoyed as part of a healthy diet rather than as a remedy.
Lasora: frequently asked questions
What does lasora taste like?
The unripe green fruit is bland and intensely sticky-mucilaginous, transformed by pickling into a tangy, spicy delicacy; ripe fruit turns yellow-brown and mildly sweet, with slippery, glue-like flesh around a stone.
When is lasora in season?
Lasora is typically in season South Asia (Apr–Jun (western India), the gunda pickle season). Peak months shift between the northern and southern hemispheres.
How do you eat lasora?
Pickle or cook the sticky green fruit (gunda pickle and sabzi are the classics), or eat the ripe brown fruit fresh; mind the glue-like mucilage.
How do you know when lasora is ripe?
Green and firm for the famous pickle; yellow-brown and slightly soft for the mild-sweet ripe fruit.
Is lasora good for you?
Lasora is a nutritious everyday fruit, best enjoyed as part of a varied diet. It is a good source of fibre (about 3 g per 100 g), which supports digestion and satiety.
How much lasora should you eat?
A typical fruit serving is roughly a handful, one medium fruit, or about 80 g, and two or more varied fruit servings a day is a sensible everyday pattern.
The lasora is defined by its stickiness. Cut an unripe green one and the flesh is intensely mucilaginous — so much so that the fruit’s slippery pulp was historically used as a natural glue for paper. But that same gooey quality, in the hands of a western-Indian pickle-maker, becomes a delicacy.
The gunda pickle fruit
Every early summer in Gujarat and Rajasthan, green lasora — gunda — is stuffed and pickled with spices into gunda nu athanu, a tangy, anticipated seasonal treat, or cooked as a vegetable (gunda sabzi). Left to ripen, the fruit turns yellow-brown and mildly sweet, eaten fresh as a modest snack. Beyond the kitchen, its soothing, demulcent mucilage has a long role in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine for coughs and the chest. An ancient, hardy dry-land tree fruit — known to the classical Mediterranean as the “Assyrian plum” or sebesten — the lasora is a small fruit whose defining trait, its stickiness, is exactly what makes it both a traditional glue and a cherished pickle. For fellow dry-region Indian fruits, see the ber and kair.
