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Murraya Paniculata Fruit

Back in November, I wondered what the fruit of my Murraya paniculata (Orange Jasmine) tasted like. Well, my wait is over. The fruits are finally ripe.

A little out of focus, but you get the idea.

The ripe fruits look sort of citrus-like. They have dimpled skin and a shiny texture. I pulled some from the plant and brought them home to taste them. I thought I should cut the fruit instead of just biting into them. I’m glad I did. There isn’t much flesh to these fruits. They’re mostly made up of large seeds. I didn’t actually chew the fruit or swallow any part of it. I just tasted the juice. It wasn’t as sweet as I expected. It just sort of tasted plant-like. Nothing special. And I guess they aren’t poisonous since I didn’t die. I’ll record that for the internet: Is Murraya paniculata poisonous? No. No it isn’t.

They look tasty, don't they?

29 Comments

  1. Lauren

    They look like tiny seeded tomatoes with a nut inside. Did they smell anything like the flowers or was is just plant-like all the way?

    By the way – you are very brave!

    • Brad

      It was plant-like all the way. If I had to name a food they tasted like, I would say green pepper, but not really. It was more like eating the leaf of a tree. You’ve tasted tree leaves, haven’t you? Everybody does at one time or another, don’t they?

      • Lauren

        Um, no.

        When I was a kid, the house behind us had these weird little dark purple flowers that my friend and I would chew on, and they seemed sweet. I don’t think they were pansies or violets – I want to say it was like purple clover?

        • Beth

          You didn’t eat tree leaves? Really? We must have been strange little kids.

          Did you eat cat/dog food?

          And my guess for your purple flowers is maybe periwinkle.

  2. Peggy

    Maybe you should have some lettuce & radishes growing in your room. Then you’d always have a ready snack. Of course there would be no adventure or thrill seeking in that, so never mind.

    And I never ate a tree leaf either. As kids our neighbor had a giant honeysuckle bush & we would always pull out the stems and let that drop of ‘whatever’ drip on our tongues. Mmmmm….

    I

  3. Carol

    Uh-oh – y’all evidently never saw the Bull Bye DVD I’ve been forcing my biology students to watch showing in bio class lately, because they are careful in that to tell you that only SOME flowers/seeds are edible – like only SOME mushrooms are edible. Since I don’t personally consume fungus, I wouldn’t know. But I AM glad you didn’t die from this little experiment, sir!

    By the way, I think its Latin name really means “tasteless squichy red part surrounding tooth-cracking inner part”, but I’d have to look that up again to be sure.

  4. Lloyd

    Let me be the first to congratulate you for having the 2nd and 3rd links for the search “Is murraya paniculata poisonous?”

    • Lauren

      ha!

  5. E-Zhan Sulaiman

    I wanted to try this berry as well a few weeks’ ago. But I didn’t since I didn’t know whether this berry was poisonous. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Brad. Now I know that I don’t have to sample this berry. I love the flowers though.

  6. Lyn

    I have this tree at home in a pot and have kept it to two and a half feet high. I love the flowers and have eaten the fruit since I thought they were related to the lime family. The citrus flavour is like essence really strong. Anyway I’m still alive and no adverse reactions either.

    • Brad

      Thanks for the comment, Lyn. It’s interesting that the fruits tasted citrusy to you. Did you eat them while they were green, or did you let them get red?

  7. Judy

    I wanted to know if the fruit was poisonous, or had some other effect, like mild hallucination, since my nearly two-year-old grandchild is always ripping flowers and seeds off plants and chewing them. She spits out what she doesn’t like and seems never to have come to any harm. She first did this (and does still) with begonia flowers which I was able to check out at the Herbal Medicine Department at my university, and they are full of Vit C! Since the coffee jasmine (what we also call the African Jasmine) has only just managed to produce some ripe seed (Alice has previously destroyed them before when they were green), it is my first chance to harvest a few to take for testing. Alice does not swallow these (which she does with the Begonia flowers) but chews and spits. I’ll post the results.

    • Brad

      Thanks for adding your comments, Judy. I am glad to hear Alice is okay. My understanding is that most houseplants are harmless, and even the ones that are known as poisonous are really only dangerous in large quantities. Still, it helps to know which plants might cause problems. I’ll be interested to hear what the test results are.

      That’s an interesting fact about begonia flowers. I’ve eaten many different kinds of flowers, but never begonias. Now I have a new flower to try!

  8. Bananabender

    These trees are extremely common in northern Australia. They are a type of citrus. The fruits are bland but non-toxic – the birds like them.

  9. Troz

    You’re now the top result in Google. I searched for “murraya paniculata fruit edible”.. I originally had no idea what the plant was (as I had never seen fruit on a Murraya hedge before, thought it was some variant), I wanted to see if I’d die before trying it.. Google is awesome, and as a result, I’m not going to bother tasting the berries and leave them for the birds.. SE Queensland here.

    • Brad

      Thanks for the comment, Troz, and “hi” to Queensland! I’m glad I could help out. I’m also pleased to see I’m the top result. I wouldn’t say you’re missing anything by not tasting them. But at least you know you could eat them if you were desperate for food or something.

  10. Rich

    There is the more desirable seedless cultivar of this plant that stops it spreading into the garden & bushland.
    I noticed Rainbow lorikeets happily seeking out these fruits.
    After a quick search to their edible nature I found the juice sweet on this seedless cultivar & the skin/flesh mildly sour yet with a more pungent after taste. This had a welcome heating influence on a cool Winters morn’. I also noticed the mild analgesic effect as stated in wiki’.

    • Brad

      It seems like this is a pretty well-known garden plant in Australia. Here in the U.S. I’ve only seen it as a houseplant, and only in specialty mail-order catalogs. Winter is too cold here in Maryland for it to grow outside, so I won’t know what it’s like to have a full-sized plant.

  11. Gary

    I live in Far North Queensland Australia and I have a row of these plants forming a privacy screen at the back of my yard. Both my Labrador and Rottweiler graze on fallen berries all the time and even seek out the low level ones straight off the bush which is the funniest thing to see!
    The Lab is 5 and the rott is 3 and both been doing this since a few weeks old. Safe for me to say they are not toxic to dogs!

    • Brad

      Thanks for the addition, Gary. It sounds like these taste better to your dogs than they did to me. Hehe…

    • Faye

      G’day gazza, my bush (tree) is about 30 feet tall (sorry, i am old school, don’t know metres), i am on this site because i tried one of the berries, out of curiosity because i am into bush tucker. We live in brissie and i am still alive, after eating one. That was yonks, ago…was fairdinkum curious as to whether they were actually poisonous, or not. Now that you said about your dogs, i may try making some jam with them and just adding extra sugar, ta! I make jam from my lilly pilly berries, so, ta, for the heads up! The berries are just coming on!
      Ta, faye

  12. Muizz Adnan

    I live in Male,the capital of the beautiful Maldives. These plants are common here in Maldives. The flowers bloom,like once a month,for three or four nights and drop off the next day. The smell and the fragrance are simply heavenly. We have never eaten the fruit. But since now I did taste it,it is very much bland,not much of a taste.

    • Brad

      Thanks for your comment, Muizz. Yes! I love the scent of these plants! If they grow so commonly there, maybe I’ll have to visit Maldives some time.

  13. Angie Garcia

    Wow! Thanx for Your little experiment! I see a lot of people wondered the same as me,and you were brave enough to prove it for yourself instead of searching the answer in Google. Ha!

    Now,what I’d really like to know ( and haven’t found an answer yet) is if the flower could be used to Make perfumes… I’m experimenting with distilation and hidrosols,and I’m crazy to capture the lovely aroma of my grandma’s murraya

    • Brad

      If you figure it out Angie, please come back and tell me how you did it. The scent of the flowers is intoxicating! I no longer have my plant, but I’d get another one if I could bottle that fragrance.

      • Angie Garcia

        Well, I still have to work on my ability to make hidrosols,but I made flower water to bathe and the aroma was awesome!
        And I didn’t get any reaction from it,so I guess is not toxic

  14. Suzie

    I just ordered some Murraya plants and didn’t consider if the berries would be toxic for my grandson and puppy. I’m glad everyone has fed back their experiences. I was considering not planting them when they arrive.
    I’m relieved! Thank you:)

  15. Brad Mayeux

    when in flower, is highly allergenic to many of the population. Sufferers experience headache, blocked sinuses and breathing difficulties, etc.
    https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Murraya_paniculata

    The fruits are edible, but rather tasteless.
    http://floridata.com/Plants/Rutaceae/Murraya%20paniculata/1221

    • Brad

      That’s interesting. For some reason, I wouldn’t have thought tropical plants cause allergies. I associate that with temperate regions. But it makes sense – tropical flowers have pollen.

      Thanks for the info.

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