Publication
from Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide
version 4.0
by C.
Orwa, A. Mutua, R. Kindt, R. Jamnadass and S. Anthony
Manilkara
zapota (L.) van Royen
Local Names:
Creole (sapoti);
English (chickle gum, common naseberry, sapodilla, chicle tree,
naseberry); Filipino (chico); French (sapotilleir, sapotillier commun,
sapotille); German (Breiapfelßaum, Sapodilla,
Kaugummißaum); Hindi (chiku); Indonesian (sawo londo, ciku, sawo
manila); Javanese (sawo londo); Khmer (lomut); Lao (Sino-Tibetan)
(lamud); Malay (ciku, chiku); Portuguese (sapota, sapoti); Spanish
(níspero, chicozapote, sapotillo); Thai (lamut, lamut-farang);
Vietnamese (hông xiêm, xabôchê,t âm
lu’c)
Family: Sapotaceae
Botanic
Description
The sapodilla is a large, evergreen, forest
tree more than 30 m
in height and with a diameter up to 1.5 m; under cultivation it varies
between 9 and 15 m, depending on location, and generally does not
exceed 50 cm in diameter. It produces a dense crown and a
characteristic branching system (sympodial), in which the young
branches are arranged horizontally. Bole cylindrical and long,
especially in forest-grown individuals; bark dark brown and deeply
fissured, forming small rectangular pieces. The tree has an extensive
root system.
Leaves spirally arranged and clustered at the shoot
tips, simple, elliptic or oblong, apex obtuse to shortly acuminate;
coriaceous, shining, glabrous when mature. Secondary veins make a wide
angle with the midrib.
Flowers greenish, solitary, cyathiform or campanulate, with a brown
pubescent peduncle; 6 sepals, 6 corolla lobes.
Fruit
an ovoid to globular berry with a rough brown skin, containing 1-12
shining, brown or black seeds (frequently 5), surrounded by a brownish,
sweet, juicy, scented flesh.
‘Manilkara’ is a common
name for a member of the genus in Malabar. The common name
‘sapodilla’, by which the fruit is known, is taken from the
Spanish ‘zapotillo’ meaning ‘small zapote’.
Biology
No
specific information on pollination has been found, but honeybees
collect nectar from the flowers and may contribute to the pollination.
Flowers are bisexual; the stigma extends beyond the corolla. The tree
flowers and fruits throughout the year; fruit take about 4 months to
mature. Seedlings may take 5-8 years to bear fruit, while grafted
varieties take only 2-3 years from planting out.
Ecology
M. zapota
is a species of the lowland rainforest. Trees grow well in a wide range
of climatic conditions from wet tropics to dry cool subtropical areas.
But they prefer a moist hot climate similar to that found at medium to
low elevations in tropical areas, such as in coastal regions. Fruiting
is not adversely affected by heavy rainfall, but high temperatures
(42-43 deg. C) are harmful. Trees prefer full sunshine and are fairly
hardy and resistant to wind damage when mature. Young trees are frost
tender and may be killed at freezing point or below, whereas mature
trees can withstand short periods of temperatures of about -3 deg. C.
Biophysical
Limits
Altitude: 0-2000 m, Mean annual rainfall: 1250-2500 mm
Soil
type: Soils can be well-drained, slightly alkaline, medium-textured
loams; however, M.
zapota will tolerate a wide range of soil types from
drier sands through to heavy clays with marginal drainage.
Documented
Species Distribution
Native:
Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela
Exotic:
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,
Bermuda, Bolivia, Brunei, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia,
Dominica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Indonesia,
Israel, Jamaica, Laos, Malaysia, Montserrat, Myanmar, Paraguay, Peru,
Philippines, Singapore, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines,
Surinam, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, US, Vietnam, Virgin
Islands (US)
The
map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does
neither suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological
zone within that country, nor that the species can not be planted in
other countries than those depicted. Since some tree species are
invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to your
planting site.
Products
Food: M. zapota is mainly
cultivated
for its fruit, which is highly prized and considered one of the best in
Central America. It is eaten raw or made into jam, preferably when
slightly overripe, and in Cuba and Brazil it is often made into a
sherbet. The fruit keeps for about 6 weeks in a refrigerator at around
0 deg. C. The juice may be boiled into syrup or fermented into vinegar.
Apiculture:
Honeybees are known to collect nectar from the flowers.
Timber: The
valuable wood is homogenous, deep red in colour, very hard, strong,
tough, dense, resistant and durable. It is suitable for heavy
construction, furniture, joinery and tool handles.
Latex or
rubber: Wild and cultivated trees in America are
tapped for their milky latex,
which coagulates into chicle, the principal constituent of chewing gum
before the advent of synthetics. In recent years, synthetic substitutes
have been replacing chicle, so the trees are mainly grown for their
fruit. The gum is also used in transmission belts, dental surgery, and
as a substitute for gutta percha, a coagulum of the latex of Palaquium
spp., also in the Sapotaceae family, which had many applications in
industry before the advent of plastics.
Tannin or
dyestuff: Tannin from the bark is used to tan
ship sails and fishing tackle.
Poison: Seeds
contain hydrocyanic acid and should be removed before eating the fruit.
Medecine: A
leaf decoction is taken for fever, haemorrhage, wounds and ulcers;
for neuralgia, leaf with tallow is applied as a compress on the
temples. Seeds are antipyretic, and when ground with water they act as
a diuretic. The plant is a source of sapotin, a glucoside used in
medicine as a febrifuge. In Indonesia, the flowers are used as one of
the ingredients of a powder that is rubbed on the body of a woman after
childbirth. In Cambodia, tannin from the bark is used to cure diarrhoea
and fever.
Services
Ornamental: M. zapota
is widely cultivated as an ornamental.
Tree
Management
Trees
are spaced 7-12 m apart, depending on the growth habit of the cultivar.
They require irrigation during the dry season for the 1st 3-4 years,
after which they are able to withstand drought. If necessary, young
plants should be staked. Response to fertilizer is good, and 3-4 small
applications a year of a nitrogen-containing fertilizer are beneficial.
Pruning to shape the young trees is practised for the 1st 5 or 6 years.
Planting a strong windbreak is also advised to protect against
prevailing winds.
Germplasm
Management
Seed storage behaviour is intermediate; viability can be maintained for
24 months in air-dry storage at 5 deg. C.
Pests and
Diseases
In
some regions, larvae of Trypetidae fruit flies are serious pests, as
they infest the ripe fruit and render it unfit for consumption. Ceratitis capitata,
the Mediterranean fruit fly, and Anastrepha
ludens,
the Mexican fruit fly, are 2 of the most troublesome species. Rhyparida
beetles may damage new leaves, and banana spotting bugs damage fruit,
causing split lesions.
Symptoms of fruit rot transmitted by Phytopthora palmivora
are especially clear on lower fruits of the tree. Rusts Scopella sapotae
and Uredo sapotae
attack the leaves in the native range of the tree. A leaf spot (Septoria spp.) has
been observed to cause defoliation of trees in Florida.
Further
Reading
Crane E, Walker P. 1984. Pollination directory for world crops.
International Bee Research Association, London, UK.
FAO. 1982. Fruit-bearing forest trees: technical notes.
FAO-Forestry-Paper. No. 34. 177 pp.
FAO. 1990. Utilization of tropical foods: fruits and leaves. FAO. Rome.
Hong TD, Linington S, Ellis RH. 1996. Seed storage behaviour: a
compendium. Handbooks for Genebanks: No. 4. IPGRI.
Popenoe W. 1974. Manual of the tropical and subtropical fruits. The
Macmillann Company.
Rice RP, Rice LW, Tindall HD. 1987. Fruit and vegetable production in
warm climates. Macmillan Press, London.
Tankard G. 1987. Tropical fruit. A guide to growing and using exotic
fruits. Viking O’Neil.
Timyan J. 1996. Bwa Yo: important trees of Haiti. South-East Consortium
for International Development. Washington D.C.
Verheij
EWM, Coronel RE (eds.). 1991. Plant Resources of South East Asia No 2.
Edible fruits and nuts. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.
Whitmore TC. 1972. Tree Flora of Malaya Vol. I. Forest Department, West
Malaysia.
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