**SAPODILLA, NASEBERRY PLUM, ACHRAS SAPOTA (Sapotaceae),, NASEBERRY, SAPOTA**

is the name of Malay origin given in Java and the East Indies to a fruit which in French is called nefle d'Amerique or sapotile. Scientifically it is the sapota achras. It is about as large as a lemon; its exterior colour is greyish; the flesh is reddish-yellow, something like that of an apricot; the taste is delicious but this fruit can only be eaten where it grows.

Sapodilla can be found growing wild in the forests of southern Mexico and northern Central America. About the size of a plum, the sapodilla has a reddish-brown rough skin. The inside flesh is a yellowy-brown and translucent. When ripe it is very sweet, but when not yet ripe the flesh contains tannin and milky latex. The milky latex is a chief source of chicle, which was a main component in the manufacture of chewing gum.

It has a caramel-like, sweet flavor somewhat akin to maple syrup or brown sugar. The flavor is spicy and fruity-a combination of banana, melon and strawberry.

In Thailand, SAPODILLA is an oval shaped fruit with brown peel.

Garrett, Theodore Francis (edited by). 1898. the Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. London. Vol. III

is an American tree (Achras Sapota) which bears a fruit called the sapodilla, a plum which is about the size of an ordinary quince, having a rough, brittle, dull brown rind, the flesh being of a dull yellowish-white color, very soft and deliciously sweet.

Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]

is a South American plant. This is a tree found wild in the forests of Venezuela and the Antilles. It has for a long time been introduced into the gardens of the West Indies and South America but has been recently carried to Mauritius, to Java, to the Philippines, and to the continent of India. The sapodilla bears a round berry covered with a rough, brown coat, hard at first, but becoming soft when kept a few days to mellow. The berry is about the size of a small apple and has from 6 to 12 cells with sev eral seeds in each, surrounded by a pulp which in color, consistence, and taste somewhat resembles the pear but is sweeter. The fruit, when tree-ripe, is so full of milk that little rills or veins appear quite throught he pulp, which is so acerb that the fruit cannot be eaten until it is as rotten as medlars.

Garrett, Theodore Francis (edited by). 1898. the Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. London. Vol. III

Excerpts from Bender, Arnold E. 1990. Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology. Butterworths, Boston.

Fruit of the sapodilla tree (Achras sapota): size of a small apple, rough-grained, yellow to greyish pulp. Analysis per 100 g: water 75 g protein 0.4 g, fat 1 g, carbohydrate 22 g, kcal 100 (0.4 MJ), Fe 0.8 mg, vitamin B2 0.03 mg, nicotinic acid 0.2 mg, vitamin C 15 mg.
Chicle, the basis of chewing gum, is made from the latex of the same tree.

Excerpts from Passmore, Jacki. 1991. The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking. Hearst Books, New York.

**SAPODILLA, MANILKARA ACHRAS SAPOTA, CHIKU, SAPOTE, LAMOOD, LAMUT**

This native of Central America, which now grows throughout tropical Asia, is a large tree growing up to 60 ft (18 m) high. Its fruit has a potato-like appearance with rough buff-colored skin. The flesh is green when unripe, turning yellow to orange-red when ready to eat. It has black, shiny seeds in the center which should be removed before eating. The fruit has a grainy texture similar to guava. The sapodilla tree is the source of chicle, which is collected as a milky sap from incisions in the bark of the tgree. The sap, or latex, coagulates when heated and is processed into chewing gum. Sapodilla fruit are occasionally available in Asian fruit and vegetable markets and can be kept for many weeks under refrigeration. Also known as chiku (Indonesia); sapote (Philippines); lamood, lamut (Thailand)

SAPODILLA (sometimes called the naseberry in the West Indies, and chiku in southeast Asia. It is found growing wild in the forests of southern Mexico and northern Central America. Characteristics: This is about the size of a plum, it has a reddish-brown rough skin. The inside flesh is yellowy-brown and translucent. The flavor is caramel-like, sweet flavor similar to maple syrup or brown sugar. The flavor is spicy and fruity. When not ripe the flesh contains tannin and milky latext. The latter is a chief source of chicle which is used in chewing gum.

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