The white sapote, scientific name ''Casimiroa edulis'', also called casimiroa and Mexican apple, and known as ''cochitzapotl'' in the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan languages, Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in ...

(meaning "sleep-sapote") is a species of tropical fruiting tree in the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

, native to eastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

south to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. The genus is named for "an Otomi Indian, Casimiro Gómez, from the town of Cardonal in Hidalgo, Mexico, who fought and died in Mexico's war of independence."

Description

Mature ''C. edulis'' trees range from tall and are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are alternate, palmately compound with three to five leaflets, the leaflets 6–13 cm long and 2.5–5 cm broad with an entire margin, and the leaf petiole 10–15 cm long. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is an ovoid

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

, 5–10 cm in diameter, with a thin, inedible skin turning from green to yellow when ripe, and an edible pulp, which can range in flavor from bland to banana-like to peach to pear to vanilla ''flan''.photo 1
/sup>photo 2
/sup>photo 3
/sup> The pulp can be creamy-white in green-skin varieties or a beige-yellow in yellow-skin varieties and has a smooth texture similar to ripe

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for i ...

. It contains from one to five seeds that are said to have

narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

properties.

Chemical constituents

In the past 40 years, experiments carried out on the white sapote's seeds have identified many pharmacologically active compounds, including: ''N''-methylhistamine, ''N'',''N''-dimethylhistamine, and

histamine Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses, as well as regulating physiological functions in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Since histamine was discovered in ...

. It also contains 2′,5,6-trimethoxyflavone, 2′, 6',5,6,-tetramethoxyflavone (

zapotin Zapotin is a natural chemical compound, classified as a flavone, isolated from White sapote (''Casimiroa edulis''). Several recent ''in vitro'' studies have shown that zapotin has potential anti-carcinogenic effects against isolated colon cancer ...

), and 5-hydroxy-2′,6,7-trimethoxyflavone (zapotinin).

Health effects

Several ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...

'' studies have shown that zapotin has potential anticarcinogenic effects against isolated

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

cells. The fruit has long been thought to produce drowsiness, as claimed by

Francisco Hernández de Toledo Francisco Hernández de Toledo (1514 in La Puebla de Montalbán, Toledo – 28 January 1587 in Madrid) was a naturalist and court physician to the King of Spain. Hernández was among the first wave of Spanish Renaissance physicians practicing acco ...

in the 16th century, but this may be a misinterpretation of the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

name of the plant, ''cochitzapotl'' (meaning '"sleep-sapote"), as its seeds were processed to produce a poison by the Aztecs, and the seeds and leaves, but not fruit pulp of the plant, contain sleep-inducing compounds.

Taxonomy

Unlike the

mamey sapote ''Pouteria sapota'', the mamey sapote, is a species of tree native to Mexico and Central America. The tree is also cultivated in the Caribbean. Its fruit is eaten in many Latin American countries. The fruit is made into foods such as milksh ...

, white sapote is a member of the family

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

, to which

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

belongs. The

black sapote ''Diospyros nigra'', the black sapote, is a species of persimmon. Common names include chocolate pudding fruit, black soapapple and (in Spanish) ''zapote prieto''. The tropical fruit tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The c ...

is also unrelated and is actually a species of

persimmon The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...

. This confusion may be because "sapote" comes from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word ''tzapotl'', used to describe all soft, sweet fruit. Commonly grown in northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, and often mistaken for a persimmon, these two fruits are unrelated.

Description

Chemical constituents

Health effects

Taxonomy

See also

References

Further reading