The flavour is rich sweet and musky, resembling a combination of peach, banana and pear with a smooth texture. Pick the fruit while firm and changing colour from green to yellow. If picked too soon they will be astringent and can be most unpleasant. Fruit that are mature enough to pick can be released from the tree with a gentle twist. The skin of the Casimiroa is paper thin so the fruit are better hand picked as they damage and spoil very easily if left to drop. Once harvested, the fruit will ripen quickly. Cool storage will allow them to be kept up to 2 weeks, but this ability will vary from variety to variety. Starts fruiting 4-5 years after planting.
Habit - They form a medium to very large evergreen tree, according to cultivar and soil. It is deciduous under drought and other stress. The tree casts a dense shade. Growth is rapid, in flushes. It is densely branching, drooping at maturity.
Size - A medium height tree growing 5m tall and spreading to 5m
Pollination - Pollinated fruit grow largest and have 1-5 large seeds embedded in the flesh. Unpollinated fruit do form but these seedless fruit are generally much smaller.
Harvest - Te Puna Selection produce delicious orange sized fruit from May to August.