You will never see an entire garden of these pale colored fruits. It took time for him to breed it to become the healthy plant that’s for sale today under the name Natural Albino. It was obtained from a French heirloom seed collector, but when it grew it was “small and sickly” ( 3). The first seed he used really was old and produced a white crop. Or at least, that’s what all his research has pointed to. He brought back that spontaneous crossing that was almost lost. What Hans de Jong did was botanically “reverse engineer” the history of the white strawberry back to its origin some 200 years ago. During the 1800’s while in transit to Europe or shortly thereafter, these two spontaneously crossed to create the red juicy variety you buy today sold by Driscoll’s and others. The species we consider today to be a normal garden strawberry ( Fragaria x ananassa) is actually a crossbreed of the one from South America ( Fragaria chiloensis) and the Virginia ( Fragaria virginiana) from North America. The 200 year-old historyīeeker’s in-house breeding expert, Hans de Jong, believe he recreated an original variety from South America.Ĭenturies ago, the South American strawberry produced some white fruit with albino mutations. In fact, they may have been around for centuries. Not something that looks sweet, but it definitely is.īeekers trademarked the name Natural Albino® for selling them and it’s true – these white strawberries are non-GMO. When a pineberry is cut in half, it’s 100% white inside. They are good to eat, but anyone claiming they taste just like pineapple is stretching the truth.įlavor aside, the other reason these white fruits were given this name is because their green stem resembles that of a pineapple. Some describe them as having the sour taste of strawberry-flavored Jolly Rancher candy. Owner Wil Beekers says not 100% of people think it has a pineapple flavor “but at least 50%” will say it does. An authentic strawberry white variety has red seeds. Those are yellowish-green in color and have green seeds. Many assume they are just green strawberries which haven’t ripened yet, but that’s not the case. The “Scent of First Love” and “White Jewel” are only sold in Japan and the Middle East, but this smaller version from Beekers can be found throughout many parts of the world, including the United States. This was accomplished by Beekers Berries, a Netherlands-based farm.

Selective breeding of the Virginia strawberry ( Fragaria virginiana) and a South American species known as Beach and Chilean ( Fragaria chiloensis) were used. Separate from what Miyoshi Agritech created is another pineberry strain with roots in Europe. If you try planting them, let us know how it goes. These perennials are hardy in growing zones 3 to 10. Given their small size, it would make sense why many generations of selective breeding over two decades would be needed to create those gigantic juicy berries the Japanese are selling.įrom the Fregaria vesca species, the “Alpine Yellow” and “White Soul” seeds with photos are on Amazon. The plants only grow around 8 to 10 inches tall. Those are known species of tiny cream colored berries. It has been theorized – but not proven – that they crossed the common red with white Alpine strawberries ( Fregaria vesca). Miyoshi considers their process proprietary and in turn, hasn’t published much detail on it. Believe it or not, the plants which produce these were created over a period of nearly 20 years using conventional cultivation methods. Is the white strawberry genetically modified? Nope. There is also “White Jewel” (Shiroi Houseki) which is about twice the size of those. They’re only sold at high-end department stores in Japan. You won’t find them for sale at grocery stores. The largest variety is called “Scent of First Love” (Hatsukoi No Kaori) and it was created by Miyoshi Agritech Co. Yes, the pineberry really does exist! It’s not fake and some research suggests they may centuries-old. Most surprising, all of these claims are true. the fake blue strawberry.Īre pineberries real? Just one of these white colored strawberries costs a reported 1080 Yen ($10) in Japan. Flavors are different than they should be.Many hoaxes will say the strange fruit is from Japan, such as the moonmelon of years past.Fruits – not vegetables – are used for most of the scams.When it comes to unbelievable natural foods you hear about online, at least 90% of them are fake.īefore you even bother to investigate one, here are some patterns to look for which are telltale signs:

White strawberry