Don’t get stumped on trivia night if the quiz master asks you to name a purple fruit. After all, there are lots of fruits that have this color.
Anthocyanins are natural plant pigments. They are flavonoids that give most fruits and vegetables that beautiful purple color. This flavonoid comes with antioxidant properties, too. That said, purple fruits are delicious and nutritious!
This article will give you a detailed list of purple fruits. We’ll also touch on some vegetables that share the same color.
So, what fruits are purple? Look no further; here is a whole list of them, along with descriptions and popular culinary uses.
Despite their name, blackberries are not actually black. Instead, they have a deep purple color.
These berries contain vitamins C, E, and K. They’re also a good source of fiber.
Blackberries can be sweet and tart. Still, they make perfect ingredients for pies, ice cream, and other desserts.
Contrary to popular belief, eggplants are fruits, not vegetables. In fact, they are technically berries, as they have small and edible seeds inside.
People in the UK and Ireland call eggplants “aubergine.”
These fruits are great for savory dishes like baba ganoush, eggplant ikra, lasagna, and even pizzas.
Figs are technically inverted flowers, but people consume them as fruit.
Figs can have different colors on the outside, but the most common ones are dark purple.
When you cut them open, the common fig has reddish-pink flesh. They taste sweet and pleasant.
Fig jam pairs wonderfully with baked brie and is a popular choice for adding a sweet and savory element to the dish.
You can also use them in cakes, chutneys, and puddings.
Concord grapes are a variety of grapes that hail from New England.
What makes these deep purple grapes different is their slip skin. Slip skins easily separate from the pulp, so you can peel these grapes effortlessly.
Concord grapes are mostly sweet and slightly tart but highly aromatic. For this reason, winemakers use them to make dry red wines.
Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without the amazing purple star apples.
Compared to green ones, purple star apples are often denser and sweeter.
Do note that they are not true apples. They get their name because when you cut them across, their seeds form a pattern that resembles a star.
At the top of our list are acai berries. People hail them as a superfood, as acai berries offer many health benefits. These berries have a unique flavor.
People describe their taste as a cross between dark chocolate, blackberries, and raspberries.
Add them to your smoothie bowl for a nutrition boost.
Dragon fruits, or Purple Pitahaya, come in different varieties, including the red dragon fruit.
This particular variety has red skin and red-purple flesh with black seeds.
Red dragon fruits can stain your fingers and clothes, so be careful when cutting a dragon fruit.
Their vibrant color makes them colorful ingredients in desserts, pitaya bowls, and beverages.
The purple passion fruit is a tropical fruit with a purple exterior.
When you cut it open, you’ll see as many as 250 seeds inside a thin membrane that contains the fruit’s juice.
Purple passion fruits taste sweet and sour, with hints of a guava flavor. They make good flavoring for tea and smoothies.
Another yummy purple food is mangosteen.
Inside this fruit’s hard purple skin, you’ll find juicy and white mangosteen flesh that tastes sweet and sour.
These fruits have edible but bitter seeds, so people usually discard them.
Aside from eating them fresh, you may also use this fruit to make smoothies, salads, and sorbets.
Corn is another food that you can classify as both a fruit and a vegetable. It is a fruit because it comes from the flower or the seed part of the plant.
While the most common corn variety we are familiar with is yellow, there are purple ones, too.
They taste like sweet corn and have a chewier texture than regular corn. Still, you can use it in any recipe that calls for yellow corn.
A plum is a drupe or a stone fruit with a single pit and amber flesh surrounding it.
Plums taste similar to apricots; they have a tart and sweet flavor.
You can eat them fresh but also use them to make tarts, cobblers, and jams. If you have plenty of these fruits, you can dry them and eat them as prunes.
While we know mangoes to be yellow, a particular variety, Miyazaki mangoes, have purple skin.
They come from Japan, and people grow them in a strictly-controlled environment.
These purple mangoes are bigger, sweeter, and heavier than other mangoes.
Understandably, Miyazaki mangoes are also the most expensive. A piece of this unique mango can cost you $50 at the very least.
Another purple fruit that you should know about is elderberry.
However, unlike other berries, most elderberries are poisonous when raw. That said, you should not eat them straight from the tree to be on the safe side.
To safely eat elderberries, remove their seeds and cook them. Make them into jams and sauces, or reduce them to syrup.
Another purple fruit on our list is blackcurrant.
These berries boast a high vitamin C content. On top of that, they have iron, calcium, and phosphorus.
Black currants have an acidic flavor with hints of grape and cherry flavors.
Add them to pies and sauces, make them into jams, or add as colorful garnish to your pancakes.
Purple mulberries, also known as Morus nigra, are a variety of mulberry fruit that features a deep purple or black color when ripe.
They belong to the Moraceae family and are native to Southwest Asia.
Purple mulberries are known for their sweet and juicy flavor, similar to a mix of blackberries and raspberries.
They are often enjoyed fresh, added to desserts like pies and tarts, or used in jams, jellies, and preserves.
Huckleberries come in various colors, depending on the specific species. However, most commonly, huckleberries are dark blue to purplish-black in color when fully ripe.
These small, round berries are similar in appearance to blueberries, but their color tends to be darker and deeper.
The color of huckleberries is an indicator of their ripeness and is often associated with their rich, sweet, and tart flavor.
Huckleberries are commonly used in various culinary applications, such as pies, jams, sauces, desserts, and as a topping for pancakes and yogurt.
Aside from fruits, other foods that can have a purple color are vegetables.
Like purple fruits, purple vegetables tend to be healthier than other kinds of vegetables as they have extra antioxidants.
Here are some of the most popular ones that are worth trying.
Purple carrots are sweeter than their orange counterparts. However, they can also have a peppery, subtle flavor that is not always present. You can use a purple carrot to replace an orange carrot in all dishes.
A purple potato contains as many as 4x more antioxidants than ordinary potatoes. People also call them purple sweet potatoes. They are mildly sweet and are tasty when you boil or roast them.
Aside from having higher anthocyanin content than green ones, purple cabbages also have 10x more vitamin A.
Regarding taste, people say that purple cabbage has a milder and sweeter flavor than regular green cabbage.
One of the prettiest purple vegetables is purple cauliflower. Some people say that they are sweeter and nuttier than white varieties. However, some say that they taste alike. What’s for sure is that purple cauliflower is healthier due to its antioxidant properties.
Unlike the other foods on this list, the distinct color of beets does not come from anthocyanins. Instead, they come from betacyanins.
Beets are highly nutritious, but most people dislike beets’ taste. For this reason, juicing the beets is a popular way of consuming them. After all, you can add other sweet juices to the drink to make it taste better.
Purple fruits and vegetables mostly get their purple color from anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are natural pigments that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties.
Akebi is an exotic purple fruit native to Japan. It has a cylindrical appearance and a spongy and soft exterior. You’ll see white flesh with many seeds when you crack it open. The inside resembles the interior of passion fruit. Yet, akebi has a bitter flavor, and it is best if you slurp its flesh all at once.
It can be. There are different varieties of dragon fruits. Some have yellow skins, while some have red. Others have purple flesh, but some dragon fruits also have white flesh.
A purple fruit is not only visually appealing but also offers health benefits due to its high levels of anthocyanins. This list of purple fruits includes various delicious options, such as plums and eggplants.
Additionally, there are purple vegetables worth trying. Or best examples are purple carrots, purple potatoes, and purple cabbage. These colorful foods add unique and exciting flavors to meals. In short, purple fruits and vegetables are a versatile and healthy addition to any diet.