Monsoon Fruits in India: 10 Rainy Season Fruits and the Months to Buy Them (2026)

By Saran Reddy, Founder, InstaCuppa | Last updated: 18 October 2026

Monsoon Fruit Calendar: June to September

People search for "fruits in August" and "fruits in September" more than any single fruit name. So here is the calendar first, with the source for each month.

For the winter and summer months, see our month-by-month fruit calendar and the seasonal citrus guide.

Season of each fruit in India, all year

Many monsoon fruits have a second season outside the rains. People ask "when is guava season in India?" or "anar season in India" more than any month name. So this table gives the full season of each fruit, not just June to September.

Why Eat Seasonal Fruit in the Rains?

The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 put fruit at about 100 g a day for an adult. That is one guava or a bowl of jamun.

One guava covers that day on vitamin C several times over. The Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 measure white-flesh Indian guava at 214 mg of vitamin C per 100 g (food code E028), against 42.72 mg for orange pulp (E047). ICMR-NIN's RDA 2020 sets the adult requirement at 80 mg for men and 65 mg for women, so a single 100 g guava is roughly two and a half days' worth. Every figure in this guide now comes from that Indian table rather than from USDA, because the same fruit measures differently when it is grown here.

India grew 1176.49 lakh tonnes of fruit in 2024-25, up 4.13 percent on the year before. The government estimate names papaya and guava among the crops that grew.

India is also the world's largest papaya producer, with about 36 percent of the global crop (APEDA). Monsoon fruit is not a luxury here. It is the cheapest fruit of the year.

One honest note before the list. Immunity is not a switch that a fruit turns on. What fruit gives you is vitamin C, fibre, water and potassium. We report those numbers and stop there.

1. Jamun (Java Plum, Indian Blackberry)

Season: June to July. The TNAU horticulture page says the fruit ripens in June and July and turns deep purple or black when fully ripe.

You may have read that jamun is rich in iron. The USDA record says 0.19 mg per 100 g, which is low. Its real strengths are water, a low calorie count and the deep purple pigment in the skin.

How to eat: Wash under running water. Eat with a pinch of rock salt. Or deseed a cup and blend it with curd and a banana for a monsoon smoothie.

Tip: Jamun stains do not come out of cotton. Eat it over a plate.

2. Guava (Amrood)

Season: The National Horticulture Board says guava is harvested in some part of India in every month except May and June. In north India the rainy-season crop peaks in August, the winter crop in November to December, and the spring crop in March to April.

Guava season in India, by region: In Tamil Nadu, the TNAU guava page lists two crops. The first is picked from February to July. The second is picked from September to January. NHB adds that the winter crop is much better in quality than the monsoon crop. So, is it guava season now? In any month except May and June, the answer is yes somewhere in India.

On Indian data, orange pulp gives 42.72 mg of vitamin C per 100 g (IFCT E047). White guava gives 214 mg (E028). That is the whole case for guava in one line.

How to eat: Eat it with the skin, with chaat masala and black salt. The skin is edible and holds fibre. Pink guava also blends well with mint and lime.

Caution: The rough skin traps mud. Scrub it under running water before you bite.

3. Pomegranate (Anar)

Season: Growers induce flowering in three windows: June to July, September to October, and January to February (NHB pomegranate report). Fruit follows about four months later. So the anar you see in monsoon comes from the January flowering.

Anar season in India: Pomegranate (anar) season in India runs for most of the year. Growers choose when the tree flowers. Then they count about four months from fruit set. June to July flowering gives fruit late in the year. September to October flowering gives fruit early in the next year. January to February flowering gives the monsoon fruit. NHB says the tree flowers and fruits all year in central and south India.

How to eat: Eat the arils fresh, or add them to fruit chaat. For juice, see our guide on hand press vs juicer vs blender and the evidence on pomegranate juice.

4. Papaya (Papita)

Season: All year. Farmers plant papaya in spring, monsoon and autumn (NHB papaya report), so fruit keeps coming. India grows about 36 percent of the world's papaya (APEDA).

Papaya season in north India: Papaya season in India is all year, but north Indian winters are hard on the plant. The NHB papaya report says night temperatures below 12 to 14 degrees Celsius for several hours in winter badly affect its growth and yield. It also says papaya is very sensitive to frost. So in the north, the papaya tree grows best outside the coldest months.

How to eat: Ripe papaya with lime juice is the classic. Or try our papaya smoothie, which gives most of a day's vitamin C in one glass.

Caution: Buy whole papaya, not cut halves wrapped in plastic. Cut papaya spoils fast in humid air.

5. Pear (Nashpati)

Season: May to June for early pears, July to October for late ones (TNAU pear page). Most of India's pears come from Himachal, Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

Pear season in India: Pear (nashpati) season in India runs from May to October. Early pears come first, in May and June. Late pears fill the market from July to October.

How to eat: Eat with the skin. It is a gentle fruit for children and older people. Sliced pear also works in a salad with cucumber and lime.

6. Litchi

Season: Tripura in the first week of May, Bihar from the third week of May to the first week of June, UP and Punjab in the second and third week of June, and Himachal by the last week of June (NHB litchi report). The whole season is about two months.

Caution: A 2017 study in The Lancet Global Health looked at the 2014 Muzaffarpur outbreak. Eating litchi was linked to illness, and skipping the evening meal made that link much stronger. The fruit contains natural compounds that can drop blood sugar in a hungry child.

So the rule at home is simple. Litchi after food, not before. Ripe fruit only, in normal amounts. This is not medical advice; ask your doctor if your child is unwell.

7. Plum (Aloo Bukhara)

Season: June to August (TNAU plum page). So plum (aloo bukhara) season in India is short, about June to August. The latest varieties TNAU lists are picked in July to August. Kashmir's Scentrose plums were still being exported in mid-July 2026 (PIB).

How to eat: Fresh, in a fruit salad, or cooked down into a quick chutney with jaggery and cumin.

8. Peach (Aadu)

Season: Early monsoon, in our market experience. We could not find an official harvest calendar for peach, so we do not give exact months here.

How to eat: Fresh and cold. Peaches bruise easily, so buy only what you will eat in two days.

9. Custard Apple (Sitaphal)

Season: Sitafal (sitaphal) season in India is late monsoon to early winter. A 2023 ICAR-CIAH report in Indian Horticulture studied custard apple at Godhra, Gujarat. It says the tree flowers in July to August in semi-arid western India. The fruit ripens 85 to 90 days after fruit set. Their late variety, Thar Amrit, ripens in the first half of November.

What we see matches this. In our Tirupati market, sitaphal arrives as the rains ease, around September, and runs to about November.

How to eat: Break it open and scoop the creamy segments. Spit out the black seeds; they are not eaten. Or blend the pulp into a thick sitaphal shake.

It is the richest fruit on this list in calories, so one fruit a day is plenty.

10. Cherry

Season: Early summer into July. On 16 July 2026, APEDA flagged off Kashmir Areko cherries from Shopian and Pulwama for export to Singapore (PIB release). By August, fresh Indian cherries are hard to find.

How to eat: Fresh, pitted. Cherries are costly, so treat them as a treat, not a daily fruit.

Nutrition Comparison: All 10 Monsoon Fruits

Numbers are per 100 g of raw fruit from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition), which measured Indian varieties grown in India. We used to publish USDA figures here, and they are materially different for the same fruit: USDA puts guava at 68 kcal and 228.3 mg vitamin C and litchi at 71.5 mg, all measured on American produce. For comparison, IFCT lists orange pulp (E047) at 42.72 mg of vitamin C, so guava carries about five times an orange. Jamun is the one fruit with no IFCT entry, so its row stays on USDA and is marked.

Fruits to Be Careful With in Monsoon

The FSSAI press release names sub-regulation 2.3.5 of the Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales Regulations 2011 as the carbide ban. FSSAI repeated the warning in May 2025 and asked states to inspect mandis.

For the full list of foods to skip in the rains, read what not to eat in monsoon and our monsoon diet plan.

How to Wash and Store Monsoon Fruits Safely

FSSAI's consumer note says to wash or scrub all fruits and vegetables under running water before any use. Do this even for fruit you peel, like litchi. Your hands touch the skin and then the flesh.

Many Indian homes also soak fruit in salt water for a few minutes and then rinse. FSSAI does not list this step, so treat it as a habit, not a rule. Running water is the part that matters.

Buy small amounts. In humid weather, fruit spoils in days, not weeks. Move it to the fridge and take it out of plastic bags.

Once washed, the easiest way to eat more fruit is to blend it. A cup of jamun or papaya with curd takes under a minute in a portable blender. See our monsoon drinks and kitchen immunity boosters for more ideas.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & References

• Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition - guava white flesh E028 and pink flesh E029, papaya ripe E049, litchi E035, custard apple E016, pomegranate maroon seeds E055, cherries red E014, peach E050, pear E051, plum E054, orange pulp E047. Values per 100 g of Indian produce; this is the source for every nutrition figure on this page except jamun.
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy - Java-plum, (jambolan), raw (168150), used only for jamun, which has no IFCT 2017 entry. Values per 100 g.
• ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 - 100 g fresh fruit and 400 g vegetables a day.
• National Horticulture Board, Guava - harvest peaks: August, November to December, March to April; winter crop better in quality.
• TNAU Agritech Portal, Guava - Tamil Nadu crops: February to July and September to January.
• Yadav V et al., "Thar Amrit: A new high-yielding custard apple variety for dryland", Indian Horticulture 68(3), May-June 2023 (ICAR-CIAH) - flowering July to August in semi-arid western India; ripening 85 to 90 days after fruit set; Thar Amrit ripens in the first half of November.
• National Horticulture Board, Litchi - state-wise arrival windows, May to late June.
• National Horticulture Board, Pomegranate - three flowering windows; fruit ready 120 to 130 days after set.
• National Horticulture Board, Papaya - planting in spring, monsoon and autumn; winter nights below 12 to 14 degrees Celsius and frost harm growth.
• TNAU Agritech Portal, Jamun - ripens June to July.
• TNAU Agritech Portal, Pear - early May to June, late July to October.
• TNAU Agritech Portal, Plum - mid-season June to July, late July to August.
• PIB, 18 July 2026 - APEDA export of Kashmir cherries and plums to Singapore, flagged off 16 July 2026.
• PIB, 17 March 2026: Final 2024-25 horticulture estimates - fruit production 1176.49 lakh tonnes, up 4.13 percent.
• APEDA, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables - India first in papaya (35.82 percent of world output).
• FSSAI press release, March 2023 - calcium carbide ban (reg. 2.3.5); ethylene up to 100 ppm permitted. FSSAI, 20 May 2025 - ban reinforced.
• FSSAI consumer note - wash or scrub all fruits and vegetables under running water.
• Shrivastava A et al., Lancet Global Health 2017 (PMID 28153514) - Muzaffarpur litchi outbreak case-control study.

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