You know the kaimito or star apple is in season when you see vendors suddenly sprouting along the stretch of Katipunan Ave just behind the University of the Philippines campus. Most of the fruits are harvested from trees in the Old Balara area where, fortunately, residents have not chopped down or killed the trees. I assume that they realized that the trees would provide them some livelihood when the fruits were in season, and that they helped make the environment more pleasant in the area. There are also many kaimito trees in the UP Diliman campus and I have seen some people harvesting the fruits from the trees lining the Magsaysay Avenue in front of the student dormitories.
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| Vendors lining up along Katipunan selling kaimito or star apple. Behind the fence is the UP Diliman College of Science Complex |
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| The green variety is white inside |
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| The violet or purple ones are the same color inside |
I prefer the green ones as the edible parts are usually more compared with the violet variety. This is mainly based on my experience buying the fruit plus the advise my mother gave me from years of also getting the fruit for our family's consumption. I would like to think that I eat a lot of kaimito than the average person. I love the fruit and its availability near my office makes it easy for me to get a few kilograms for our home quite often during its season. I also purchase a few kilos for my parents, parents-in-law and siblings.
Kaimitos are sold at PhP 50 pesos per kilogram, which is quite cheap considering they sell for PhP 60-90 per kilogram in the market. I've been told that there are those who come to Katipunan to purchase a lot of the fruits from the vendors there (namamakyaw) to sell elsewhere. I have not seen kaimito being sold at supermarkets so I assume that you can only get these from the markets or roadside stalls like the ones along Katipunan. Fortunately for me, I can purchase kaimito as I leave my office at UP to go home.
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