Discover the 14 Fruits That Start with S

If you’re someone who enjoys trying unique and flavorful new foods, you’ll love our list of fruits that start with S. Besides strawberries and star fruit, how many can you think of off the top of your head? Probably not many! Though they are a bit less common, fruits that start with S are some of the tastiest and most different types you’ll find.

Sugar Apple

The sugar apple is also called sweetsop (which also starts with S). It’s an edible fruit that grows on Annona squamosa trees. Annona is native to the Americas and West Indies and grows in tropical climates.

Sugar apples are light green to blue-green and are composed of segments. The segments separate once the fruit is ripe. Sugar apples are very sweet, with a taste resemblant of custard. 

Soursop

As you may guess, soursop is a relative of the sugar apple, or sweetsop, plant mentioned above. Soursop is also a fruit of the Annona genus, but it comes from the Annona muricata tree.

Soursop smells similar to pineapple and tastes like a mixture of apples and strawberries. It has a thick, creamy texture similar to the sweetsop fruit.

Sapodilla

Sapodilla is one of the common names for the fruit of the Manikara zapota tree. The tree is unique in that it can live for up to one hundred years.

Sapodilla fruits are large berries that taste extremely sweet. They’re usually eaten fresh but are also added to milkshakes and ice cream.

Star Apple

The star apple is also called the star plum, caimito, or cainito. It’s a purple fruit with seeds on the inside that form a star shape.

The pulp of the fruit is sweet and is comparable to applesauce in taste. The tree that star apples grow from is classified as Chrysophyllum cainito. They grow natively in the West Indies and Central America.

Sand Cherry

Sand cherries are a type of edible fruit that is native to North America. The plant is also classified under the name Prunus pumila and, like most cherry bushes, is a part of the rose family. As the name suggests, sand cherry bushes grow best in sandy, dry areas. 

Sand cherries are the largest of the North American cherries and are a dark purple color. They are consumed by people, many birds, and other animals. 

Satsuma

Satsuma is a type of citrus fruit that is comparable to mandarin oranges. In America, they are commonly called Unshu mandarins or Mikan.

The scientific name for satsuma is Citrus unshiu. It was named after Unshu, which is a famous area for mandarin orange production in China. 

Santol

Santol is also known by the scientific name Sandoricum koetjape, as cotton fruit, and sentul. It’s native to Southeast Asia and is also grown in Australia and India.

The ripe fruits are orange and the insides are white and segmented. They are usually eaten raw, but some consumers also add spices to the pulp. Santol is also commonly made into marmalade.

Something to note about santol is how important it is to not eat the seeds. Swallowing whole seeds can cause abdominal obstruction and sepsis.

Sweet (And Sour) Cherries

There are a ton of cherries, but there are two main types: sweet and sour. In the sweet section, there are over 900 varieties of sweet cherries. They come in many different colors and tastes, but they are usually larger than their sour counterparts. Americans have been shown to favor crunchy, sweet cherries. So, the cherries are bred to be as firm as possible!

On the other hand, you have sour cherries, which are usually called “tart” cherries. These cherries are usually used in cooking and baking. Not only are they less sweet than sweet cherries, but they are also smaller and squishier. This makes them great for baking into pastries or mashing into jam. Like sweet cherries, there are hundreds of sour cherry varieties as well.

Safou Fruit

Safou fruit goes by many names: butterfruit, African pear, and Atanga — to list a few. The tree’s scientific name is Dacryodes edulis, and it’s a part of the torchwood tree family. Safou fruit grows on evergreen trees near the tops. 

Safou fruit trees grow in tropical forests, and typically survive best in shade and humidity. It’s native to South Africa but is also cultivated in Malaysia.

Strawberries

Probably the most common S fruit is strawberries! They’ve been eaten in many places for thousands of years. They belong to the Fragaria genus of plants, which are collectively known as strawberries, despite not really being berries at all.

Strawberries were first bred in France in the 1750s. The first strawberry was a cross-breed between Fragaria virginiana, from North America, and Fragaria chiloensis, which was from Chili. 

Strawberries are one of the most popular fruits. They are iconic, appearing in pop culture from the character Strawberry Shortcake to songs like “Strawberry Wine”. Before modern times, the strawberry plant was used medicinally to treat depressive illnesses.

Star Fruit

Star fruit is also commonly called carambola, and it’s the fruit of the Averrhoa carambola tree. The tree is native to Southeast Asia but has been introduced to many places including India and the southern United States.

Star fruit has 5-6 ridges running down its sides, so when it’s cut the pieces look like small stars. It’s edible raw and commonly consumed that way, although it is also eaten cooked, or made into relishes and juices. 

Strawberry Guava

Strawberry guavas are a special type of guava that turns red rather than yellow when ripe. The plant’s scientific classification is Psidium cattleyanum. It was named after William Cattley, an English horticulturist. 

Strawberry guavas grow in Hawaii as invasive plants and are actually considered the most invasive plants in the state. The fruits are hard to keep because of the heavy presence of fruit flies. They have to be consumed pretty quickly after being picked.

Salak

Salak is also called snakeskin fruit because the skin is reddish-brown and scaly. They are similar in exterior appearance to ripe figs and have edible pulp. The inside looks like raw garlic and forms a clove-like shape. 

Salak fruit comes from palm trees, most commonly from the Salacca zalacca cultivar.

Soncoya

Soncoya goes by a few names including sincuya, cabeza de negro, and Annona purpurea. It’s very similar in appearance to the sugar apple or sweetsop. It’s not a very popular fruit because the flavor quality is not as attractive as that of sweet or soursop.

Fruits That Start With S

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