Although the United States is the most ethnically diverse country on earth, that diversity is not reflected in the fruit stocked by the average supermarket. The mango, which is one of the most popular fruits worldwide, is not among the top ten American fruits. The top ten fruits sold by American supermarkets are in descending order: --- bananas, apples, watermelons, oranges, cantaloupes, grapes, grapefruit, strawberries, peaches, and pears. - Millet

Interesting info, Millet. In preparing this list, were tomatoes viewed as a fruit?

While most store-purchased fruits are inferior to what one can grows themself, tomatoes are among the worse IMO.

then there are eggplants, cucumbers, squash and should be very popular as well. If you include pods, beans, and then move on to grains.... Don't forget cacao from whence the all time favorite chocolate based candies came from, although not sold as they are... We just confine the tomatoes to vegetables for now, otherwise the argument as to what we consider as fruits could be endless.

If we ignore those that are sold in the supermarkets or groceries, the most utilized and arguably the most consumed fruit in the world would be grapes, by a very large margin, almost double in weight from the number 2, because of wines. Citruses, bananas and mangoes would still be in the top ten.

Joe, is correct. Grapes are the largest grown fruit crop, due to the massive quantity that are used worldwide for the manufacture of wine. However, the amount of grapes sold in supermarkets and consumed as fresh fruit is a ways down the popularity list. I do not know, but my guess is Mangoes is not in the top 20 list. Harvey, for the purposes of this list, tomatoes are considered a vegetable, (although biologically tomatoes are a fruit). - Millet

Okay, I'm trying to help us catch up. I just got back from the storey (Raley's) where they had honey mangos on sale for $.50 so I came home with 4. That's a special price for us.

Papaya is one of my favorite fruits and I am hoping to find the time to try growing it. If I succeed with that, mangos may be next.

Harvey,

the only way to grow papayas here is in greenhouses.

they die before the frosts come, and when their roots go dormant, they are attacked by a weird kind of nematodes that eats them from the inside out up to their trunks!

Last year, I planted Chamburro, which is the cold hardest amongst the Carica group, then grafted Babaco and Papaya unto it. All was growing well and was almost jumping up and down after the grafts took. Imagine, even with papayas, I would have three species in one trunk! Anyway, the poor thing disintegrated all of it with the arctic blast!

Millet, yes, that is exactly what I meant about fresh fruit sold in the market, grapes are not that popular as bananas.

Do you have a listing of top ten fresh fruits sold (for consumer market, not for wine or other purposes) in the world market?

I have read that worldwide, persimmons are eaten by more people than apples. I found this to be very interesting, but it seems reasonable, in light of the fact that persimmons are a beloved fruit in the most populous regions of the world. I read this some years back and wonder if it is true today, with the wider distribution of apples and other popular fruits. Anyone else have knowledge of this?

Ned

Harvey, I am growing three Papaya trees in my Greenhouse. One native to Mexico, one native to Viet Nam and one from Formosa. For the last two months, the trees are producing so many fruits that I can't even give them away any longer. A Papaya must be picked prior to reaching full maturity, as they turn soft and mushy when fully ripe. Papayas from seed to fruit in less than a year. - Millet

Millet, we have a popular pickled papaya recipe in the Philippines called "atsara" or "acharra". You would need lots of green papayas with that one. If interested, I can post recipe here. They are very good and healthy food. You can use them in condiments together with seafood or steaks.