INTRODUCTION - Tropical Fruits - page 4

Table 1.2. World production and acreage of major tropical fruits in 2007, from FAO
Statistics Division (FAO, 2009).

Acreage
harvested
(1000 × ha) Important producing countries

Production
(1000 of t) Fruit

Avocado 3,569 407 Mexico, United States,

Dominican Republic, Brazil,
Colombia, Chile, South Africa,
Indonesia, Israel, Spain

Banana Dessert 85,856 5,109 Burundi, Nigeria, Costa Rica,

Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador,
Brazil, India, Indonesia,
Philippines, Papua New
Guinea, Spain, Central America

Plantain 33,925 5,375 Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,

Venezuela, Ivory Coast,
Cameroon, Sri Lanka,
Myanmar

Citrus Oranges 7,104 1,071 Brazil, United States, India,

Mexico, Spain, China, Italy,
Egypt, Pakistan, Greece, South
Africa

Tangerines
and
Mandarins

27,865 2,052 Brazil, United States, India,

Mexico, Spain, China, Italy,
Egypt, Pakistan, Greece, South
Africa, Japan

Coconut 61,504 11,106 Indonesia, Philippines, India,

Sri Lanka, Brazil, Thailand,
Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Papua New Guinea

Mango 33,446 4,610 India, Pakistan, Indonesia,

Philippines, Thailand, Mexico,
Haiti, Brazil, Nigeria

Papaya 7,208 378 Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, China,

India, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri
Lanka

Pineapple 20,911 2,378 Philippines, Thailand, India,

Indonesia, China, Brazil, United
States, Mexico, Nigeria, Vietnam

TROPICAL FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS

Tropical fruits are harvested from woody plants (avocado, mango, orange)
but also from herbaceous plants (banana, papaya) and vines (passion fruit).
The evolution of fruit in the early Tertiary period was a major advance that