Vitamin gummies have been long-established in the West, such supplements have only recently gained popularity in Japan. Curious about this emerging trend, we decided to try the Yomeishu Passion Fruit Gummy Maca & Zinc Supplement. To be honest, we didn’t have high expectations because vitamins in meaningful doses tend to taste unpleasant. However, our concerns were unfounded as five of these gummies were only equivalent to 8 mg of zinc, whereas typical zinc tablet supplements contain three times that amount.
Each gummy was an opaque golden-yellow hue, measuring approximately 2 cm in diameter and 1 cm in height, with a gentle tart tropical aroma. Upon tasting, the initial contact with the gummy’s surface delivered a subtle sourness. Biting through, the outer layer provided a bouncy and elastic resistance to the teeth, with the sourness evolving into tart passionfruit notes. Progressing past the firm exterior to the tender jelly centre introduced a juicy and mellow sweetness that complemented the initial sourness, leaving a clean aftertaste. The presence of maca was discernible as a butterscotch nuttiness, harmonizing well with the passionfruit flavour. Importantly, the gummies didn’t rely on excessive sweetness to mask the inherent bitterness of zinc, which came through with an unobtrusive minerally quality. While the accuracy of the artificial flavouring used to achieve the passionfruit taste was a surprise, we prefer the brighter flavour of non-supplement gummies.
This Yomeishu Passion Fruit Gummy x Supplement (Maca and Zinc) contained 40 g. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2023.