Tamarillo
Solanum betaceum · Solanaceae · also known as Tree tomato, Tomate de árbol, Tomate andino
An egg-shaped, jewel-toned relative of the tomato — tangy, savoury-sweet flesh with an edible skin best peeled, eaten spooned from the shell or cooked into chutneys across the Andes and New Zealand.
At a glance
- Taste
- Sharp and tangy with a savoury, tomato-meets-passionfruit edge; the flesh around the seeds is sweeter, the skin bitter (so it's peeled). Red types are tarter, gold ones milder and sweeter.
- Origin
- The Andes of South America (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia)
- Grown in
- Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Peru
- Peak season
- Autumn, Winter
- Notable varieties
- Red, Amber/Golden, Orange
Sensory & practical profile
Taste fingerprint
- Sweetness
- Tartness
- Aroma
- Juiciness
- Firmness
Approximate, at peak ripeness · 0–5
- Ripe when
- Deep, even colour and gives to a gentle squeeze like a ripe plum; the skin is taut and glossy.
- How to eat
- Cut in half and spoon the flesh (skip the bitter skin), or peel and cook into chutney; brighten with a little sugar.
- Typical price
- Everyday
New Zealand rebranded the "tree tomato" as the "tamarillo" in 1967 — an invented, more exotic name to lift sales.
When it's in season, by region
| Region | Peak months |
|---|---|
| Latin America | Year-round (Colombia/Ecuador highlands) |
| Oceania | May–Oct (New Zealand) |
How to select & store
Picking a ripe one
Choose fruit with taut, glossy skin and a deep even colour that yields slightly to pressure, like a ripe plum; avoid wrinkled or blemished ones.
Storing it
Ripen at room temperature until it gives to a gentle squeeze, then refrigerate for up to a week. The pulp freezes and cooks well.
Practical uses
🍽️ Culinary
- Halved and scooped raw with a little sugar, or blended into juice (a Colombian breakfast staple)
- Cooked into chutneys, relishes, and sauces for meat
- Skinned and simmered for jams and dessert compotes
- Sliced into savoury salads where its tang stands in for tomato
🌿 Health & traditional
- A traditional Andean vitamin C and antioxidant food
🎎 Cultural
- Colombia drinks it as jugo de tomate de árbol; New Zealand rebranded "tree tomato" to "tamarillo" in 1967 to boost sales
- A cool-highland crop, grown in the tropics only at altitude
Cut a tamarillo in half and it looks like a tomato that went to art school: glossy egg-shaped skin in deep red or amber, and inside, two lobes of tangy pulp studded with edible seeds. It is a true Solanaceae relative of the tomato, native to the Andes, and it splits the difference between fruit and vegetable exactly the way its cousin does.
Peel or scoop, never the skin
The skin is bitter and tough, so nobody eats it raw. Andeans halve the fruit and spoon the flesh with a little sugar, or blend it into the tart, ruby juice that starts a Colombian morning. Where it turns savoury — chutneys, relishes, sauces for meat — its acidity does the job a tomato would, but louder.
A highland fruit with a marketing story
Grown across the cool Andean highlands and, since the 20th century, New Zealand, the tree tomato was a modest crop until a 1967 rebrand invented the prettier name “tamarillo.” Same fruit, better sales — a neat companion story to the kiwi’s own New Zealand renaming.
