''Lucuma bifera'' (synonym ''Pouteria lucuma'') is a species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

in the family

Sapotaceae 240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology)">order Ericales">family (biology)">family of flowering plants belonging to th ...

, cultivated for its fruit, the lúcuma. It is native to the

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

valleys of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, and northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Description

This evergreen tree is up to 20 m tall, and has greyish-brown, fissured bark, which produces a milky white exudate. The end of branchlets and the petioles are covered with short, brown hairs. The leaves are simple, oblanceolate to elliptical, up to 25 cm long and 10 cm wide, and

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

(or sometimes slightly hairy on the underside) grouped at the end of the branches. Flowers are solitary or in fascicles, small, axillary, with hairy

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s and a corolla forming a tube 1.0-1.8 cm long, greenish white, with five lobes, five stamens, five

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co ...

s, a pubescent ovary, and a

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

0.8-1.5 cm long. The fruit is

globose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

, 6–12 cm long,

, and russet to yellow when mature; the pulp is bright yellow; the one to several seeds are 1.8-3.5 cm long, dark brown, and glossy.

History

Representations of lúcuma have been found on ceramics at burial sites of the indigenous people of coastal Peru. The Moche people had a fascination with agriculture and often chose to represent fruits and vegetables, including lúcuma, in their art. The fruit was first seen and reported by Europeans in Ecuador in 1531.

Distribution and habitat

The area of origin of ''L. bifera'' is located in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile, at temperate elevations of .

Cultivation

In addition to Peru, the fruit is grown also to a limited extent in

and

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. Attempts at growing lúcuma in Florida's climate are typically not successful. The fruit is successfully grown in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, where it is known as lêkima. In Peru, harvesting season is from October to March and in Chile from June to November. Lucumalarcomuseum

Uses

When eaten raw, the very sweet fruit is bright yellow and has a mealy and dry texture. In Peru, it is more commonly used as a flavor in juice, milk shakes, and especially ice cream. Its unique flavor in such preparations has been described variously as being similar to sweet potato, maple syrup, or butterscotch. In Peru, ''manjar de lúcuma'' (''

dulce de leche ''Dulce de leche'' (), caramelized milk, milk candy, or milk jam is a confection commonly consumed after slowly heating sugar and milk over several hours. The substance takes on a spreadable, sauce-like consistency and derives its rich flavour ...

'' with lúcuma purée) is a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

. Multiple sources describe it as the most popular ice cream flavor in Peru and one of the most popular fresh fruits.

Nutrition

Lúcuma pulp has a 64-72%

moisture content Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such as soil (called ''soil moisture''), rock, ceramics, crops, or wood. Water content is used in a wide range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed ...

. The pulp also contains

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

fructose Fructose (), or fruit sugar, is a Ketose, ketonic monosaccharide, simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and gal ...

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

inositol In biochemistry, medicine, and related sciences, inositol generally refers to ''myo''-inositol (formerly ''meso''-inositol), the most important stereoisomer of the chemical compound cyclohexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexol. Its elemental formula, formula is ...

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...

, and

succinic acid Succinic acid () is a dicarboxylic acid with the chemical formula (CH2)2(CO2H)2. In living organisms, succinic acid takes the form of an anion, succinate, which has multiple biological roles as a metabolic intermediate being converted into fum ...

. However, only limited nutritional information is available for lúcuma powder, indicating moderate content of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

and

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

, each providing 14% of the

Daily Value In the U.S. and Canada, the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products to indicate the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97� ...

in a 100-g (3.5 oz) serving, which supplies 420

Calories The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...

References

External links

*
Lúcuma at bioversityinternational.org
{{Taxonbar, from= Q111292614, from2=Q1650695 bifera Crops originating from Ecuador Crops originating from Peru Crops originating from Chile Peruvian cuisine Trees of Peru Trees of Ecuador Flora of Bolivia Flora of Colombia Flora of northern Chile Edible fruits Fruits originating in South America Plants described in 1782 Taxa named by Juan Ignacio Molina Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN