So bizarre. About two weeks ago I went into my local grocery store (which is the typical type filled with boxed and canned foods and too much overpriced produce) and I saw a little tag for cherimoya. I had bought starfruit there a few months earlier but they are not known for exotic produce in the least. I also saw some weird fruit called Buddha's hand or something. I looked it up--I think it's citrus but I am not sure.

The next day I went to my nearest produce market and saw...cherimoya! So this cherimoya stuff is really happening all of a sudden. I don't know what is going on--I wonder if raw fooders are clamoring for it. In any case, it was hard and I also didn't know if it's supposed to be a certain color. It's going for $6.99 a lb.

On Amazon I read a review by someone who ordered cherimoya online and threw it in the garbage because it arrived hard. Another poster said it could be ripened from a hardened state. I was wondering if that is true. It could be, since avocados are like that.

Yes, they will ripen if you just let them sit until they get soft.

Thanks! I think the price is pretty good, compared to what I have heard.

Found this on wiki -

"The optimum temperature for storage is 8–12 °C (46–54 °F), depending on cultivar, ripeness stage, and duration, with an optimum relative humidity of 90-95%.

Exposure to ethylene (100 ppm for one to two days) accelerates ripening of mature-green cherimoya and other Annona fruits; they can ripen in about five days if kept at 15 to 20 °C (59 to 68 °F). Ethylene removal can be helpful in retarding ripening of mature-green fruits"

I usually put fruits in a paper bag for a couple of days to hasten the ripening process - it will concentrate the ethylene. (a hormone that is produced by the plant)

Thanks, VJ! I looked at Wiki and for some reason must have just glanced over it.

I guess it's like avocados. Until very recently I would only buy ones that has a little give and never rock-hard ones. Now I get them that hard and they ripen in two days.

Has anyone ever been able to properly ripen a rock-hard mango or pear? It seems they need to be picked ripe, eh?