Round to elliptical, dark purple fruits (there are also light green or red variants) with shiny smooth firm skin are 5–10 cm in size and have star-shaped flat, pointed, light brown and hard seeds surrounded by white-purple soft, milky-sweet and pleasantly aromatic flesh. The skin contains latex and is not edible.
Ripe fruits are slightly wrinkled and matte on the surface, elastic to the touch. Unripe fruits are rather rubbery and not very tasty.
Ripe fruits last quite a long time (up to 3 weeks) stored in a cool and damp place.

The skin is not edible and is bitter due to the latex it contains. When cutting the fruit, the flesh must be carefully scooped out with a spoon so that the latex from the skin does not stain the pulp, it would then be bitter. The fruits are delicious fresh as dessert fruit and are most often served chilled, but they are also added to drinks, salads and other dishes. To enhance the taste, it is often combined with a little lime or lemon juice. Star apple fruits are very popular, especially in tropical regions.

It contains phosphorus and calcium. It comes from the West Indies, it is also traditionally grown in Africa and Central America, Cambodia and Vietnam. The fruits do not fall from the tree, they must be plucked by hand. The bitter seeds of the star apple are used to make an imitation of almond milk, they are added to nougat and other sweets.