Fruits not only taste great, but are also low on the calorie count, build up your immune system, and help prevent heart diseases, tooth decay and even cancers. However, not every fruit has such a good fate. There is a wide variety of wild tropical fruits in India, for example, with high nutritional and medicinal value that are yet to be exploited to their full potential. Besides having a huge scope for commercialization in the processing industries, its rich iron resource can be extracted to create medicines for anemic patients.

There are many fruits which are lesser known fruit species that have a rich potential are yet to be utilized fully. These fruits are an important source of minerals and vitamins and have high therapeutic value. They also have the ability to grow successfully even under adverse agro-climatic conditions, making it a business worth looking at. Tremendous scope lies in the introduction, evaluation and exploitation of these tropical and subtropical fruits at a commercial level. These minor exotic fruits are in great demand in the national and international market and are growing well in other tropical countries with the same agro-climatic conditions as India.
Some of these fruits are discussed as follows:

AVOCADO
Native to Mexico and Central America, avocado is being grown in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Sikkim in a limited and unorganized fashion. Weighing between 100 and 1000 grams, this pear-shaped fruit is rich in potassium and vitamin B, E and K. The pulp is said to be rich in proteins and fat, but low in carbohydrates. Avocado fat is similar to olive oil in composition and the peel extracts are said to have antifungal compounds. Avocados thrive in climatic conditions ranging from tropical, subtropical, to warmer parts of the temperate zone. They are extremely sensitive to water-logging and saline conditions. The avocado tree, which can grow up to 20 meters, can produce up to 120 avocados annually. In a commercial scenario, an avocado orchard can produce an average of seven tons per hectare every year.

Avocado also has great export potential as it can be traded in the international market. It is used in salads, sandwich fillings, toast spread, milkshakes, ice creams, desserts, drinks, puree, and its fat is used in cosmetics production.

DURIAN
Native to Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, the durian has a large size which is around twelve inches long, six inches in diameter and weighing between two to seven pounds. It is commonly described by people as a fruit that tastes like heaven and smells very bad that the fruit is banned in certain places like hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia. Durian is said to contain high amounts of sugar, vitamin C and potassium. Durians grow in strictly tropical climates, where daily temperatures do not drop below 22° Celsius. A typical durian tree bears fruit after four to five years and has one or two fruiting periods per year. The fruit matures in roughly about three months. Currently, Thailand is one of the major exporters of durians. It is used in flavoring of candies, cakes, mousse, chips, ice creams and milkshakes, sugared and salted preservatives, seeds roasted, boiled or fried for consumption, leaves and flower petals for cooking, and it also serves as an antipyretic.