Gac fruit Scientific name Momordica cochinchinensis, also known as Baby Jackfruit, Spiny Bitter Gourd, Sweet Gourd, is a bright orange spikey fruit found in Southeast Asia.
It’s harvested for two months each year December and January and is, often used on special occasions in Vietnam as well as in traditional Chinese medicines.
The Gac fruit is high in naturally occurring carotenoids, antioxidants, and other nutrients.
The fruit is rich in vitamins A, E, and C, which when combined with the carotenoids, can help protect the collagen protein that strengthens the skin.
Gac is a bright-red fruit that grows as large as a cantaloupe and covered with short spines.
They are green when young turning orangey-red to dark red when mature and ripe. Each fruit weighs between 600 to 2500grams.
They are spines on the outside of the fruit, and the interior is, made of fleshy pulp and seeds.
The seeds inside the arils are flat, hard and brown or black, has a mild taste just like avocado.
Traditionally, Gac fruit, seed and its leaves are, used as a traditional medicine in the regions where it grows.
The fruit should be eaten when perfectly ripe, which is when the outer skin becomes bright red-orange and turns slightly soft to the touch.
Fruits that are a darker red and too mushy to touch are usually overripe and not of good quality.
The bright orange outer skin is not edible, nor is the yellow flesh between the outer surface and the red inner pulp.
