The lucuma fruit tree or “La Lacuma” originally comes from the dry, subtropical region of the Peruvian Andean coastal valleys, although it now also grows in Ecuador and Chile at elevations between 1,000 to 2,400 meters. While the fresh fruit remains difficult to source outside of its local region, it is now readily available in dried powder form.
The tree’s nutritious, round, orange-centred fruit is becoming well known for its sweetness, especially among raw food proponents. It also has especially high concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, beta-carotene, Vitamins C and B3, fibre, iron and other valuable nutrients. In terms of the lacuma fruit’s sugar content, the percentage amount present in the dried pulp from mature lucuma fruit is: 8.4% glucose, 4.7% fructose, 1.7% sucrose, and 0.06% inositol.
In its raw powder form, lacuma fruit can be used as a natural and nutritious sweetener, and it is an excellent flavouring for ice cream and smoothies. Lacuma fruit powder can also be used to sweeten cooked deserts such as cakes, chocolate, pancakes and oatmeal.
Made from the pulverized dried fruit, our nutritious organic, vegan raw lacuma powder has a pleasantly sweet taste that can further be described as rich, creamy and malty.
