Everyone loves to sink their teeth into a juicy peach or crunch on an apple. But spending a fortune on them?

Melon Yubari

Melon "yubari" is grown in greenhouses on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, covering from the sun with special "hats". It is a very sweet, perfectly round melon with a skin that resembles cracks in ancient Japanese porcelain.

On average, a yubari costs about $300, but the two most expensive ones were auctioned for $27,000.

Black Watermelon Densuke

This watermelon, which has a "special type of sweetness", grows only on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Its peel is dark green, almost black, without stripes and spots, which is why it is called black watermelon. Densuke is sold in special black boxes to enhance its color. The Japanese consider such watermelons a valuable gift.

An average Densuke watermelon costs $250, but the largest one was auctioned for $6,100.

Grape Ruby Roman

This red grape, bred by Japanese breeders, is the most expensive in the world. Each of the berries is the size of a ping-pong ball, and they taste unusually sweet - they contain 18% sugar.

Grapes cost about $65 per branch, but in 2016 a 700-gram bunch was auctioned for $10,900.

Sun Egg Mango

Mangoes of this variety weigh at least 350 grams and have increased sweetness. A pair of these mangoes were auctioned off in Japan for $3,000.

square watermelon

These watermelons were created by farmers on the Japanese island of Shikoku. To give shape, they are placed in special containers-cubes. It is very difficult to care for such watermelons, and, having reached the desired shape, they do not have time to ripen. Therefore, square watermelons are bought mainly for decorative purposes - for example, to decorate shop windows. They cost from $200 to $800.

Fruit Boutique Strawberries

It looks like a normal strawberry. But these berries are selected from hundreds of others according to the principle of ideal shape. They are sold in the luxurious fruit parlor Sembikiya in Tokyo. They cost $69 for a pack of 12.

Sekai Ichi Apples

These apples are the pride of Japanese breeders. They can reach a weight of 2 kilograms! The gardens in which they are grown are pollinated by hand using special sticks. The Japanese consider these apples a great delicacy and eat them mainly on holidays. Each of the apples costs $21.

Dekopon

Dekopon (Dekopon, or Sumo Fruit) is a hybrid of mandarin and orange, which is also bred in Japan. They say that this is the most delicious citrus in the world - sweet, with a slight sourness, with the thinnest partitions between the slices, it is larger and juicier than other citrus fruits. One dekopon costs $13.

Pears in the shape of Buddha

Pears in the form of little Buddhas and babies were invented by Chinese farmers. They fix transparent plastic molds on the fruits, and when ripe, the pears take on the appearance of a small sculpture. The legend that justifies the high price of each pear - $ 9, says that these fruits give immortality.

Banana Gokusen

Each such banana is packed in a separate box and has a serial number. Gokusen bananas grow in an ecologically clean region of the Philippines at an altitude of 500 meters above sea level. They are bred from 100 varieties and are one third sweeter, more aromatic and more tender than ordinary bananas. One of these weighs exactly 200 grams and costs $ 6. Bananas are sold in strictly limited quantities.

tokyo shop Sembikiya Fruit Parlo it looks like a jewelry boutique - luxurious shop windows, spotlights, glass and mirrors polished to a shine. To make a purchase there, you will have to save money - the size of the average check is rather big. And they sell fruits in this store that have an ideal shape and impeccable appearance. In Japan, they are very much appreciated, but not sold everywhere.

High-quality fruit in Japan is given on a solemn occasion, including to dignitaries. They can be a great gift for a wedding, gratitude to an official or a doctor. In a regular store or on the market, such fruits cannot be found, they are presented only in specialized stores.

For example, a melon in a fruit boutique costs $160. However, this melon is special. The fruits are grown in Shizuoka Prefecture, in specially designed greenhouses. In winter, they work there, and in summer, farmers turn on air conditioners and cover melons with straw hats. Early ripened specimens are mercilessly thrown away - only those that are maximally saturated with the sun remain, acquire a honey taste and divine aroma.

Not only the quality of the goods is on top, but also the service in stores. If the client buys the same melon, the consultant asks on what day it is planned to be consumed - and will select the perfect copy, the taste of which will be impeccable on that date. If the fruit is purchased out of season, the consultant will certainly warn about this, advising a suitable replacement.

Despite the fact that such fruit prices seem outrageous to many, business is booming. The Sembikiya store has a history of almost 200 years - oddly enough, it was originally a shop opened by the samurai Benzo Ohshima, selling fruits at discount prices. The business was family owned and passed down from generation to generation. Finally, the new owner decided to turn the concept on its head and focus on premium products.

Very expensive are not only jewelry, houses, cars and clothing. There are fruits and berries that are super expensive, mega expensive, well, just indecently expensive! The enormous cost of seemingly ordinary gardening fruits is due either to their unusual appearance, or taste, or specific growing conditions. Despite the fact that such a fruit must be bought and eaten immediately, people pay thousands of dollars for the opportunity to try a delicious plant luxury. Taking advantage of this, enterprising gardeners from all over the world are trying to come up with something else to surprise demanding rich gourmets.

The Japanese were especially successful in growing outrageously expensive products, but this will be discussed a little later. So, see the top 10 most expensive fruits in the world. Let's start from the last place:

• Tenth place - a pear in the form of a Buddha - nine US dollars for one fruit. Specially grown in China. As soon as the pear begins to fill up, a plastic mold is put on it, and by the time it ripens, the fruit looks like a miniature Buddha statue. Legend has it that whoever tastes this miracle will gain immortality. Agree, quite bad marketing ploy.

  

• Ninth place - Sekai Ichi apples - $21 each. The name means "number 1 in the world" in Japanese. One such apple can weigh up to 2 kilograms! Apples are grown in special gardens in Japan, where they are pollinated exclusively by hand and fed with honey. Because of such painstaking work, in fact, such a high cost.

  

• Eighth place in the ranking of the most expensive fruits in the world is a citrus fruit called Dekopon or Sumo Fruit - $ 80 for a pack of 6 pieces. It is a cross between a tangerine and an orange, with a delicate, sweet taste and almost without the membranes we are used to in citrus. More precisely, the membranes there are so thin that they are almost invisible. Usually grown in a greenhouse at a constant temperature. It is also a product of the Japanese inventive for various curiosities.

  

• Seventh place is a giant royal strawberry called Sembikiya - from $69 to $85 a pack of 12 berries. Each of the strawberries is specially selected and packed in a separate gift box. All berries are the same shape and size.

  

• Sixth place - cubic watermelon - $ 800 apiece. It is grown in cubic forms that give it an unusual shape. By the way, connoisseurs say that it does not taste so good. The fact is that caring for these watermelons is very difficult and at the stage of the desired shape they still do not have time to ripen. Therefore, they buy square watermelons not so much for food, but for decorating culinary windows and presentations.
  
• Fifth place in the ranking - Pineapple from the Lost Gardens of Heligan botanical complex - $ 1,600 per copy. Pineapples are grown in England growing on a mixture of hay and horse manure, generously fertilized with horse urine.

  

• Fourth place - a mango called "Taiyo no Tamago" or "Egg of the Sun" - $3,000 for a pack of two fruits. When commercially available, specific criteria apply for this manga, such as a weight that must be greater than 350 grams and a very high sugar content. This representative of the most expensive fruit in the world is also grown in Japan.

  

• Bronze third place in our impromptu ranking is occupied by Ruby Roman grapes - $ 4,000 ... Attention, for one brush! And this is not the limit. At an auction recently held in the Japanese prefecture of Ishikawa, a large bunch of Roman Ruby grapes were sold for almost $10,000. The grape is grown in Japan and has a bright, ruby ​​red color. One berry weighs at least 20 grams (premium version at least 30), the sugar content should be from 18% to 22%, the size of the berry is about the size of a table tennis ball.

  

• Second place - Densuke watermelon - $6,100 a piece. It differs both in unusual taste and external data. Watermelon has an almost black skin, juicy, very sweet, pink flesh. There are no stripes on the watermelon, so Densuke resembles a black bowling ball.

  

• And finally, Yubari melon takes the first place in the ranking of the most expensive fruits in the world. Imagine that two large melons of this variety were sold at one of the auctions for $ 27,000. Small copies usually cost $ 300 for one. Yubari is grown in greenhouses on the island of Hokkaido. Each melon, which is allowed for sale, must be perfectly round, have a smooth peel with a pattern characteristic only for this variety on the sides.

  

Most of the inhabitants of Russia and Europe will no longer see bananas, pineapples and coconuts, as well as kiwi, avocados, mangoes. But still, not everyone is familiar with the look, smell and taste of fruits that are not exported from places of growth on a large scale.

Sugar apple (Annona scaly) This fruit is native to tropical America but is also grown in Pakistan, India and the Philippines.

The fruits are somewhat similar to a pine cone, their diameter is about 10 cm. The fruit, which has a light taste of custard, has white pulp inside and a small amount of seeds.

Mamea americana (American apricot) An evergreen tree native to South America, artificially planted in other regions of the world, including West Africa and Southeast Asia.

The berries, which are about 20 cm in diameter, have a thick outer skin and soft orange flesh inside - sweet and fragrant. In the center of the fruit there are up to 4 large grains.

Cherimoya (cream apple) Cherimoya is a deciduous plant native to the high mountainous regions of South America. The fruit of the tree has a rounded shape with 3 types of surface (lumpy, smooth or mixed).

The pulp of the fruit is creamy, very fragrant, white and juicy. The taste of the fruit is said to be similar to a combination of banana, passion fruit, papaya and pineapple. Mark Twain said in 1866, "Cherimoya is the most delicious fruit known."

Platonia wonderful Platonia is a large tree (reaches a height of up to 40 meters), growing in the rainforests of Brazil and Paraguay.

The fruit grows to the size of an orange, and when pressed, a yellow liquid oozes out. Inside the fruit there is a white pulp, enveloping several black seeds, which has a pleasant sweet and sour taste.

Cocoon Another tropical fruit that can be found in the mountainous regions of South America, grows on small shrubs, and grows very quickly: in 9 months, fruits can be obtained from seeds, and after 2 months they will finally ripen.

The fruits are very similar to berries, and come in red, orange and yellow colors. Outwardly, they are very similar to tomatoes, but the taste is a cross between a tomato and a lemon.

Breadfruit Breadfruit belongs to the mulberry family and is native to the Philippines and the islands of Southeast Asia. The fruit tastes like a banana and can be eaten raw when fully ripe.

The ripe fruit is soft and sweet, the unripe fruit is dense and starchy, but it got its name from the fact that, when cooked unripe, it tastes very much like freshly baked bread.

Langsat Langsat or dooku are two very similar fruits found throughout Asia. They come from the same family, almost the same in appearance and taste, with only one difference.

The peel of langsat contains a latex substance, which is not poisonous, but because of it it is difficult to remove it, while the peel of dooku is easily separated. Inside the very sweet fruit, there are 5 segments, some of which contain several bitter seeds.

Dacryodes edible (African pear) Evergreen tree grows in the tropical rainforests of Africa, northern Nigeria and southern Angola. The fruits, which vary in color from dark blue to purple, are oblong in shape.

These fatty fruits have been claimed to end hunger in Africa as they are 48% essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins and triglycerides.

It was calculated that from one hectare planted with these trees, 7-8 tons of oil can be obtained, while all parts of the plant can be used.

Jaboticaba (Brazilian Grape Tree) This very strange plant is native to the southeastern part of Brazil. The strangeness of the tree lies in the way fruits grow on it.

Initially, yellowish-white flowers appear on the entire trunk and large branches, then the flowers turn into fruits that are 3–4 cm in diameter.

The inside of the purple, round shaped fruit contains soft, gelatinous flesh with 1-4 black seeds. The fruit is very sweet, it can be eaten just like that, however, it is most often used to make wine or liquor.

Rambutan A strange-looking fruit that looks like a fluffy strawberry. Its homeland is Southeast Asia, but it is also widely distributed in other regions, especially in Costa Rica, where it is called the "Chinese sucker"

Fruits, 3-6 cm in diameter, have an oval shape. The flesh is a bit tough but easily peels off the skin, and rambutan tastes sweet and sour.

Noni This fruit is known by many names, including large moringa, Indian mulberry, etc., its homeland is throughout Southeast Asia and Australia, and it is widely cultivated in the tropics.

The tree bears fruit all year round, but as a rule, when the fruits ripen, the fruits have a very pungent odor. They can be eaten cooked or raw with salt.

Despite the smell, the fruit is high in fiber, vitamins, protein, iron, and calcium, and is a staple food in many Pacific countries.

Marula A deciduous tree native to Africa today, as its fruits are an important food source for the Bantu peoples, and the trees appeared throughout their migration route.

The green fruit ripens and turns yellow, and the white flesh inside is very juicy and has a pleasant aroma. After falling from the tree, the fruits begin to ferment almost immediately.

Cloudberry A source of vitamin C, which is 3 times more in berries than in oranges, grows in the middle zone of the European part of Russia, Siberia, the Far East, Belarus and the western coast of North America.

The fruit is similar to a raspberry, however, its color is more orange. They are very sweet, they are eaten both raw and processed into juice, wine, sweets and jams.

Salaka (snake fruit) Native to Indonesia, the fruit grows in clusters and gets its nickname from its reddish-brown, scaly skin that peels off easily.

Inside are 3 white sweet "segments", each containing small black inedible seeds. Fruits have a sweet and sour taste, similar in texture to apples.

Bail (stone apple) Bail, a smooth fruit with a woody skin that can be colored yellow, green or gray, is native to India but can be found throughout Southeast Asia.

The tough outer skin is so hard that the fruit can only be reached with a hammer. Inside is a yellow pulp with a few hairy seeds that can be eaten fresh or dried.

Ripe fruits are often used to make a drink called sharbat, which also includes water, sugar and lime juice with pulp. Only one large piece of fruit is needed to make 6 liters of sharbat.

Chrysophyllum (star apple) This fruit is native to the lowlands of Central America and Western India. The underside of the leaves of this evergreen tree shines with a golden color, and the white or lilac flowers are sweetly scented.

Extremely rare, difficult to grow, or only available in certain regions of the world. You will probably never see them with your own eyes, and you can hardly afford to try them.

Here is our top 10 most expensive fruit in the world. Let's start from the end.

10th place - Buddha-shaped pears - 8.5 euros per piece

This is no joke - the fruit resembles a Buddha sitting in a lotus position. The pear is so similar to the outline of the Buddha that you can distinguish the features of his face.

The fruit was patented by a Chinese farmer from Hebei province - Hao Xianzhang. A legend has already arisen that says that eating these pear fruits provides immortality. The price is not so prohibitive if you take into account the benefits received :)

9th place - Sekai Ichi apples - 20 euros per piece

The name Sekai Ichi means "best in the world." This is a pretty bold assumption. Apples of this variety have been grown in Japan for over 40 years. The diameter of the average fruit is 38 cm, so the apples are much larger than their ordinary counterparts. They weigh about 900 grams. Newton would be very unlucky if such an apple fell on his head (although this is also a legend).

8th place - Citrus fruits Dekopon - 75 euros for 6 pieces

There is no such person who has not tried oranges, but the Dekopon variety (grown since 1972) is a highlight.

Dekopon is a brand name used for only the finest citrus fruits. They differ in appearance from all the others - the fruit is the size of a tennis ball on the tip has a growth. They are considered the most delicious and sweet oranges in the world.

7th place - Strawberry Senbikiya Queen - 80 euros per pack (12 pieces)

Everyone knows what the perfect strawberry should look like - red all over, with dark green leaves and a shiny skin. And this is exactly what each berry of this variety looks like.

If a berry does not meet strict aesthetic requirements, it is simply thrown away so as not to spoil the image of the brand. In the package we get 12 magnificent strawberries, which are so beautiful that you can look at them for hours.

6th place - Square watermelons - 750 euros per piece

What country can produce something as ridiculous as a square watermelon? Of course, this is Japan. Most of the products are sold overseas at a high price.

The square fruit shape is achieved by placing the berries in boxes during growth. One watermelon weighs about 6 kg. You can buy them in almost any store in Japan. Most people, however, do not eat them at all, but use them as a decoration.

5th place - Pineapples from the Lost Heligan Garden in Cornwall - 1500 euros per piece

They are grown in one of the most famous botanical gardens in the UK. Pineapple cultivation is not popular in Europe, pineapples are grown only in the Azores, which belong to Portugal. Therefore, these pineapples are the only European pineapples. Their cultivation requires a lot of time - requires multiple transplants. However, people are willing to pay generously for these unique fruits - at the moment, the most expensive fruit has been sold for $15,000.

4th place - Mango Taiyo no Tamago - 2,800 euros for two

Loosely translated, the name means “egg of the sun”. Japanese fruits were so named because of their shape. The company refuses to sell fruits that weigh less than 350g and do not contain enough sugar. Every year, auctions of the first harvested fruits break price records - so far the highest price for two pieces is 2,800 euros.

3rd place - Ruby Roman grapes - 3,700 euros per bunch

Another Japanese variety. The most important feature of the variety is the large size of the berries in the bunch - on average, the size of a ping-pong ball. They can only be found in one region, Japan, and only started selling in 2008.

2nd place - Densuke watermelon - 5700 euros per item

Again, a very rare variety from Japan - one fruit weighs about 11 kg, it has very dark skin. Its insanely high price is due to its uniqueness - watermelons can only be found in the Hokkaido region of Japan, where they are grown annually in the amount of 10,000 pieces.

Rich people love unique products, so during the auction for the first harvest, the price tags reach exorbitant values.

Our top winner - Melon Yubari 21,500 euros per pair

Melon is a fruit that you can either love or hate. For gourmets, Yubari is the ultimate delicacy. The variety can only be found in the Hokkaido region. Yubari is the result of crossing two very sweet varieties of melon. In Japan, they buy them in order to give someone a gift, because they are just insanely expensive.