Sapote: soft & sweet by John Valenzuela, April 2009

There are several different fruits called 'Sapote', a name derived from the Aztec word zapotl meaning 'soft and sweet'. There is a botanical family named Sapotaceae which has several genera with species that are edible and choice, mostly originating in the Americas. Also in this family is the interesting miracle-fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) from Africa, known for its ability to make anything, even lemons, taste sweet. Sapotacea family plants usually have a milky sap, seeds with a dark shiny shell, and often have shiny dark green leaves with fuzzy undersides. Many seedling varieties have elongated fruit, sometimes with a nipple. Selected varieties are chosen for a round shape for easier packing, in addition to selecting for productivity and flavor. There are other unrelated species of fruits that are also called sapote- all are soft and sweet.

• Mamey Sapote (Pouteria sapota)
  is so popular throughout Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, it is the national fruit of Cuba. It is a large fruit that looks like a faded tan, small foot ball- not too pretty to look at. This thick, leathery shell of a skin makes it hard to tell when the fruit is mature on the tree, and ready to pick. Fruits are 6-9in, 2-4lbs- pretty big for one person to eat (I have though). Its flesh a delicious sweet potato or pumpkin pie taste, its texture is thick, heavy and dense, somewhat like an avocado- not really juicy. The seed is often 4 inches long in an average fruit. There is also another, unrelated, large orange fleshed fruit called the Mamey Apple (Mammea americana).
• Chico Sapote, Sapodilla or Nispero (Manilkara zapota)
  is much smaller (2-3 in) thin skinned fruit that is also tan in color, and ripe when soft, it is very sweet- like maple syrup (one of the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted, second only to cherimoya) and juicy, with a slight pear like granular texture, and thin flat seeds the size of a nickel. While in an indigenous village on the coast of Mexico, I saw men carry huge blocks of 'chicle' harvested from wild chico sapote trees up in the mountains. The milky sap of the trees is tapped like rubber trees are, boiled down into large blocks, hiked down the mountain, and sold in pieces chipped off of these large blocks- the original chewing gum.
• Yellow Sapote, Eggfruit or Canistel (Pouteria campechiana)
  Is golden yellow, elongated and thin skinned, containing flesh with a texture and color that very much resembles hard-boiled egg yolk! The flesh has a dry, flaky, melting texture that is sweet with very faint mango, apricot flavors.
• Abiu (Pouteria caimito)
  is a fruit of the Amazon jungle, bright yellow in color, the thick skin is full of sticky sap. It also has an elongated shape, with flesh that is clear white, juicy, and sweet with vanilla and caramel flavors. Selected varieties have a round shape for better packing.
• Star Apple, or Caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito)
  native to Central America and Caribbean, is either dark purple or sometimes green in color, with a similar sticky sap in the skin and juicy sweet flesh as the abiu, but the star apple is not as flavorful. The tree is quite ornamental with leaves that have a satin bronze color on the underside, held by long arching branches. There is a wild relative found as a weedy non-native tree in Maui called 'Satin Leaf' (Chrysophyllum oliviforme) with small, edible, olive sized fruit.

Not in the Sapotaceae family:

• Black Sapote (Diospyros digyna). Ebony family and persimmon genus. Looks like a dark green flat 'Fuyu' persimmon, with a very dark brown flesh, chocolate mouse texture, and somewhat mild or bland taste.
  

Some more cold tolerant sapotes from the tropical highlands that are successfully fruiting in California:

• White Sapote, (Casimiroa edulis, also not in the Sapotaceae family)
  from the Mexican highlands, has five fingered leaves with apple size, green smooth fruits that may mature to a gold color, has thin skin that holds very sweet, smooth, pudding like flesh with vanilla, caramel and sometimes lemony flavors. There is a related species, the Wooly Leaved Sapote (Casimiroa tetrameria) that has a mint like flavor. The seeds may be from 1 to 4 in number and resemble thumb size orange seeds, which it is related to- both are in the Rutaceae family. The seeds are reported to induce sleep. It is somewhat common in Southern California, but could be more widely planted throughout the state, since it is as hardy as a lemon tree.
• Lucma, Lucumo or Mamon (Pouteria lucuma, synonym Pouteria obovata, Sapotaceae)
  is a sweet starchy fruit from the highlands of South America, which is dark green and the shape of a spinning top. Mature, ripe fruit has yellow to golden flesh being somewhat dry in texture, high in carbohydrates and minerals, and is often dried, powdered and stored, then later blended into smoothies. The flavor is maple and caramel-like in nature.
• Green Sapote or Injerto (Pouteria virides, synonym Calocarpum viride)
  I first tasted this fruit in its native homeland of Central America, in the mountain villages around Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala. At the elevation of 5400 ft, it was too cool for papayas but a good climate for banana and coffee plants. I had eaten seedling varieties of green sapote I also had mamey sapotes and chico sapotes there found in the marketplace and found the green sapote the best, kind of mid-way between the two. I like the green sapote better than either: It is a medium (one serving) size, it has a beautiful thin skin that turns from green to golden orange when mature and soft to the touch when ripe. The texture of the flesh is like a sweet potato, a bit juicy and smooth. Seeds are one half thumb size, and are reportedly are edible, roasted like nuts in Central America. 'Makawao' and 'Frankie's' are named varieties.

On the island of Hawai'i, I had lived and worked in an orchard with 180 varieties of fruit, which had 125 trees of the Pantin and Magaña varieties of mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota). Being familiar with the wonderfully rich sweet potato/avocado taste of the mamey, I would say the green sapote is even better tasting, with a slightly more moist/juicy texture. While the green sapote is similar, even better, in taste to the very tropical mamey sapote, the green sapote prefers to grow 'upcountry', at higher, cooler elevations in the tropics.