With our supermarkets stocking ever more exotic produce, you might think you know your fruit and veg.

However, nature is wonderfully complex.

Here are some varieties that may yet be strangers:

Durian

Popular in South East Asia, the durian is a large, prickly looking fruit famous for its unique smell, variously described as dirty socks, rotten onions or turpentine and leading to its banishment from certain hotels and public transportation.

If you can get past the initial odour, its flesh is said to be delicious and is used in a number of sweet and savoury dishes in Asian cooking.

Babaco

The babaco is an Ecuadorian fruit that looks like a cross between a star fruit and a papaya.

Its flesh can be eaten raw or cooked in desserts such as crumbles and it makes a delicious juice, with a taste said to resemble all of strawberry, apple, lemon, kiwi, papaya and pineapple!

Jackfruit

Native to South and South East Asia, this is the world’s largest tree-borne fruit, with examples found weighing up to 36 kg and 90cm in length.

Its starchy, fibrous flesh resembles a sharp banana in taste and is often used in cooking, both sweet and savoury.

The yellow, fleshy pods can be eaten raw and seeds can be eaten after boiling.

Pitaya

Found on cactus plants, the pitaya is also known as dragon fruit or strawberry pear.

With a sour, refreshing taste and juicy flesh, it is enjoyed by hikers when found in arid areas of South America, where it is considered an important food source and has also been used in folk medicine.