人参果 (rénshēnguǒ) · pepino melon (Solanum muricatum)

Measure Word

一个人参果 gè

Meanings

1 pepino melon (Solanum muricatum)
2 ginseng fruit (mythical, from Journey to the West)

About the ingredient

水果 Fruit · In season: summer and autumn

A heart- or egg-shaped fruit with creamy yellow skin streaked with purple, related to the tomato and eggplant. The pale flesh is juicy and mildly sweet, like honeydew and cucumber, and is eaten raw. Yunnan is a main grower.

Also called 香瓜茄

Characters

Examples

HSK 3

超市里卖的人参果其实是一种水果。

Chāoshì lǐ mài de rénshēnguǒ qíshí shì yì zhǒng shuǐguǒ.

The 'rénshēnguǒ' sold in supermarkets is actually a real fruit (pepino).

HSK 5

传说人参果三千年才结一次果。

Chuánshuō rénshēnguǒ sānqiān nián cái jié yí cì guǒ.

Legend says the ginseng fruit only bears fruit once every three thousand years.

Tips

culture

Two unrelated meanings share the name. The mythical fruit is shaped like a baby and grants 47,000 years of life. Sun Wukong steals one in 西游记 chapter 24. The supermarket fruit is the South-American pepino, marketed in China since the 1980s under the same evocative name.

In Pop Culture

孙悟空偷吃人参果 Sūn Wùkōng tōuchī rénshēnguǒ

Sun Wukong steals and eats the ginseng fruits

Episode in Journey to the West (西游记) chapter 24-26: Wukong, Bajie and Wujing pillage the Daoist Master Zhenyuan's miraculous tree, then have to revive it before the pilgrimage can continue.