PlantFiles: Sapodilla, Nispero
Manilkara zapota

Interesting that the sapodilla is called nisperos in Cuba. My wife is from Argentina and a they call the Loquat a nispero. Anyway, we got some fruit from the sapodilla in South Texas and planted them. Now we have about 10 seedling growing. I can't wait to see how they do here. The fruit is great!

This and mango are my all-time favorite fruits, but mango does take second place. I've always thought of the flavor as being reminiscent of honey.

You can usually tell that the fruit is ready to be picked when the little 1/4" 'pin' at the end of the fruit farthest from the stem falls off. However, it sounds like your bird may not wait that long. You might be able to protect the fruits on the tree by tying a clear or white plastic bag around them. If you must pick them early, keeping them in a brown paper bag will do wonders to ripen them quickly and well. This technique works for all tropical fruits.

BTW, the Thais refer to it as lamut (la-MOOT), and in the Dutch West Indies it is known as "mispel" (MISS-pull; Dutch and Papiamentu) or "messapple" (MESS-ah-PULL; English).

There is an exotic fruit nursery/grove not too far from us and they planted several "nisperos" (this is what the sapodilla is called in Cuba, where I grew up)

I love the fruit and can't find it available for sale locally very often as most of the growers seem to ship them off-island.

I love to make nispero ice cream!

My sapodilla tree is now about 8 years old and is starting to produce fruit. The outer shell is very hard and doesn't seem to soften. We also have a very aggresive bird called a red-vented bulba that seems to start eating the fruit before it is fully ripe.

I live on the windward side of Oahu, Hawaii near the beach and concur that the tree does well in beach sand soil and salty wind conditions. I've had to brace the tree however, since the root structure doesn't support the tree in windy conditions.

I used to pick these fruits from trees growing in Cyprus when I was a kid, walking to school, they are delicious. I have only ever seen them on sale in the UK once and that was last year. I put one of the stones in a tub and it has now grown to approx 8" high.

The ancient Maya used to call this Zapotle. Native to the tropical forests of the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize (British Honduras) and northern Guatemala, now it has the following most common names, at the least, in various parts of the world:

zapote
sapota
chicle
chicozapote
chiku
dilly
naseberry
sapodilla
sapodilla plum

Mayan writings talks about "millions" of Zapotle trees at the peak of the Mayan civilization. Even today, Sapodilla is the most abundant tree in the jungles of Gran Petén, at the heart of the Mayan world.

Although Manilkara zapota is the accepted scientific name for this fruit from the Sapotaceae family, Achras zapota is also used in some countries.

Chicle is the milky juice or latex of the Sapodilla tree that was used as the base for all Chewing Gums. It is collected from July through February, during the rainy season, when the latex flows better. With a sharp-edged machete, Chicle collectors make zigzag cuts from the base of the Sapodilla tree trunk up to its first branches. The latex drips down these grooves and is collected in a bag. At present, approximately 5,000 Chicle collectors perfom their arduous, artisanal work each season in the jungles of the Gran Petén.

Although natural Chicle is still used, most of today's chewing Gums are made from a synthetic vinyl gum base.

The fruits are good, and there are many cultivated and natural Sapodilla trees in Rio de Janeiro, but I don´t see them for sale very often.

I like to eat this fruit like Kiwi, leaving the skin off. It´s very sweet and has a different texture. If the fruit is not completely ripe, you will notice the sticky sap as you chew on it, though it´s not toxic. The seeds are black, big, shiny and hard.

Will take mild frost down to -2C for short periods. Brown furry skinned sweet fruit (reminiscent of caramel) ripen in late winter/early spring. Some fruit from seedling trees are rainy. Sap is original 'Chicle' chewing gum.