Watch out,
avocados: a new superfood is trying to blow up your spot as the It-superfood. Found 9,000-feet up in the rich Peruvian landscapes, lucuma is starting to make waves around the globe for being a total nutritional powerhouse. And, it's a straight-up doppelgänger of your
guacamole's star ingredient with its green skin, dark-brown pit, and round shape.
Lucuma's tendency to quickly spoil after it's picked explains why it took so long for the fruit to make it into smoothie bowls outside its native land, but now retailers like Moon Juice and Walmart are selling it in powdered or frozen-form—and that's great news for your health. According to Bloomberg, lucuma packs a powerful punch, containing high amounts of antioxidants, potassium, beta carotene, iron, protein, fiber, zinc, and calcium, which benefits everything from your skin to your immune system and heart. And another perk? The Incas reportedly turned to the fruit for its fertility-enhancing purposes, so give it a shot if you're in baby-making mode.
While lucuma may look like an avocado's orange-fleshed cousin, the two nutrient-packed, Instagram-ready fruits don't have much in common on the taste front. The import from Peru—the nutritional Garden of Eden that helped spread the goodness of high-protein quinoa and antioxidant-rich acai berries around the world—is known for having a sweet, maple-caramel taste that lends itself nicely to ice cream and smoothies. Moon Juice even recommends using the powdered form as a natural sweetener—so maybe try it as as a sugar replacement in your next cup of coffee or tea.
Lucuma is called the “gold of the Incas” for a good reason, folks—and now's the perfect time to stock up.
This is the one superfood Meghan Markle isn't allowed to eat while traveling. Or, try this Southern twist on a classic Caesar salad that gives it superfood status.
