2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Sapodilla (lat. Manilkara zapota) - a fruit tree belonging to the Sapotovye family.
Description
Sapodilla is a slow-growing evergreen tree, equipped with a pyramidal crown and reaching a height of eighteen to thirty meters. If its bark is damaged, then sticky white latex will ooze from the tree.
The glossy elliptical leaves of sapodilla reach from two and a half to four centimeters in width and from seven and a half to eleven centimeters in length.
The tiny flowers of the sapodilla are equipped with three surrounding pale green corollas with brownish hairy sepals and six stamens.
Oval or round sapodilla fruits weigh from one hundred to one hundred and seventy grams each and reach a length of five to ten centimeters. Their structure is very similar to persimmon. Ripe fruits are covered with a thin and dull rusty-brownish or pale brown skin. The flesh of the fruit is also brown, juicy and soft, with a slight pinkish or yellowish tinge. Fruits that are not yet ripe are usually sticky, firm and knotty. In each sapodilla fruit, you can find from three to twelve shiny and hard oval black seeds. All of them are slightly flattened and reach a length of one and a half to two centimeters. And on their tips there are hooks that can easily get caught in the throat. To prevent this from happening, before eating the fruit, it must be cleaned of seeds - they are easily separated from the pulp.
Where grows
Sapodilla is native to southern Mexico. And now this plant is grown everywhere in tropical America, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Usage
Ripe sapodilla fruits are often eaten fresh - their sweet, rich taste, somewhat reminiscent of dates and figs, is liked by many. By the way, this fruit is often called "fig kiwi" or "sweet potato" - this is due to the similarity of the external appearance (oval fruits covered with a thin pale brownish skin). In addition, sapodilla is stewed with ginger and lime juice, as well as fermented into wine and placed in pies.
Sapodilla trees are also grown for the sake of obtaining latex (milky juice), from which the base for chewing gum is made - chicle.
Unripe fruits rich in tannin are widely used as an antidiarrheal agent. A decoction of the bark of this plant is used as an anti-dysentery and antipyretic agent, and a decoction of its leaves in tandem with chayote leaves helps to lower blood pressure. And the liquid extract obtained from the crushed seed is an excellent sedative.
It is necessary to consume sapodilla no later than two days after purchase - after this time, its smell changes dramatically, and far from for the better. And you can keep it in the refrigerator for five to seven days. Slightly soft to the touch fruits with intact skin are considered the most suitable for eating.
It is noteworthy that sapodilla oil is actively used for cosmetic purposes. It works especially well on prone to dermatitis and problem skin. In addition, this oil is used to strengthen hair (especially brittle and dry hair), to care for inflamed and reddened eyelids, as well as in the complex treatment of a wide variety of fungal skin lesions. It is also ideal for dry skin, especially in regions with difficult weather conditions or with lime water. It also helps to even out skin color and heal burns.
