''Annona reticulata'' is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen

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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the plant family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest family in the Ma ...

and part of the Annonas group. It is best known for its fruit, called custard apple, a common name shared with fruits of several other species in the same genus: '' A. cherimola'' and '' A. squamosa''. Other English common names include ox heart and bullock's heart. The fruit is sweet and useful in preparation of desserts, but is generally less popular for eating than that of '' A. cherimola''.

Description

It is a small

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

or semi-

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, whic ...

reaching to tall with an open, irregular crown. The slender leaves are hairless, straight and pointed at the apex (in some varieties wrinkled), to long and to wide. The yellow-green flowers are generally in clusters of three or four to diameter, with three long outer petals and three very small inner ones. Its pollen is shed as permanent

tetrad Tetrad ('group of 4') or tetrade may refer to: * Tetrad (area), an area 2 km x 2 km square * Tetrad (astronomy), four total lunar eclipses within two years * Tetrad (chromosomal formation) * Tetrad (general relativity), or frame field ** Tetra ...

s.Walker JW (1971) Pollen Morphology, Phytogeography, and Phylogeny of the Annonaceae. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, 202: 1–130. 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 ...

s vary in shape, heart-shaped, spherical, oblong or irregular. The size ranges from to , depending on the cultivar. When ripe, the fruit is brown or yellowish, with red highlights and a varying degree of reticulation, depending again on the variety. The flesh varies from juicy and very aromatic to hard with a repulsive taste. The flavor is sweet and pleasant, akin to the taste of 'traditional' custard.

Distribution and habitat

Possibly a native of the Caribbean and Central America, ''Annona reticulata'' is now

pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical'' is a zoogeographic term ...

. It grows from sea level to altitude in areas of Central America that have alternating wet and dry seasons. It is cultivated and naturalized in many tropical places including Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Australia, and Africa. In India, the species has migrated from initial cultivation into the wild.

Climate

Although the tree grows optimally in tropic conditions, it is also found in subtropical regions. It requires humid conditions (medium to high rainfall). Compared to the other Annonas, it is less drought tolerant. The annual temperature necessary ranges from 17 to 27 °C. It tolerates light night frosts to -2 °C. ''A. reticulata'' grows on many soil types with pH ranging from 5 to 8. It does not tolerate waterlogging or when the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

is too high.

Cultivation

Seeds can be propagated. Other techniques for cultivation are grafting and

budding Budding or blastogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. For example, the small bulb-like projection coming out from the yeast cell is kno ...

. The tree produces 45 kg of fruits per year. In Asia, the season lasts from July to September, and in the Caribbean, it runs from February to April.

Uses

Food

Custard apple can be eaten raw, out of hand as a fresh fruit. It is not as popular as the

sugar apple The sugar-apple or sweet-sop is the edible fruit of '' Annona squamosa'', the most widely grown species of ''Annona'' and a native of tropical climate in the Americas and West Indies. Spanish traders aboard the Manila galleons docking in the ...

or the cherimoya. It can also be prepared as juices, ice-cream or puddings. In India, it is cooked into a sauce.

Propagation

''A. reticulata'' may be grown in home gardens, even though it may not be as popular as the sugar apple ( ''A. squamosa''). It has value as rootstock for superior Annona species, such as the sugar apple, especially under humid conditions. It is also a genetic resource for hybridization.

Other

The leaves and the branches can be used for tanning as they contain blue pigments. Wrappers, ornaments and hats can be made from the inner bark. The wood is soft and can be used to make utensiles, even though, it is weak and of bad quality.

Nutrition

In a 100 gram reference amount, custard apple supplies 101 calories, 23% of the

Daily Value The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products in the U.S. and Canada is the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97–98% of healthy ...

(DV) of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

and 17% DV of

vitamin B6 Vitamin B6 is one of the B vitamins, and thus an essential nutrient. The term refers to a group of six chemically similar compounds, i.e., " vitamers", which can be interconverted in biological systems. Its active form, pyridoxal 5′-phosp ...

, with no other micronutrients in significant amounts (table). Raw custard apple is 72% water, 25%

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or m ...

s, 2%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

, and 1%

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

(table).

Risk and impact

''Annona reticulata'' is known to be an invasive plant. A PIER risk assessment gave a score of 11 for the ''Annona reticulata''. It negatively impacts the population cultivating the crop as all parts of the tree (except the fruit) are toxic, possibly causing problems for human health.

Diseases and pests

The diseases that can spread to ''Annona reticulata'' include the

Anthracnose A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

, the

leaf spot A leaf spot is a limited, discoloured, diseased area of a leaf that is caused by fungal, bacterial or viral plant diseases, or by injuries from nematodes, insects, environmental factors, toxicity or herbicides. These discoloured spots or lesions ...

, the diplodia rot and the black canker. The spiral nematode, the stunt nematode and the mealybug can also infect the plant

Aroma and phytochemicals

The fragrant

aroma An odor (American English) or odour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their se ...

of ''A. reticulata'' results from some 180 compounds, including the volatile compounds,

alpha-pinene α-Pinene is an organic compound of the terpene class, one of two isomers of pinene. It is an alkene and it contains a reactive four-membered ring. It is found in the oils of many species of many coniferous trees, notably the pine. It is also ...

myrcene Myrcene, or β-myrcene, is a monoterpene. A colorless oil, it occurs widely in essential oils. It is produced mainly semi-synthetically from '' Myrcia'', from which it gets its name. It is an intermediate in the production of several fragrances. ...

, and

limonene Limonene is a colorless liquid aliphatic hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic monoterpene, and is the major component in the oil of citrus fruit peels. The -isomer, occurring more commonly in nature as the fragrance of oranges, is a flavoring a ...

, among others. The plant is rich in

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...

Traditional medicine

Various

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

uses have been reported over centuries for its dried fruits, bark, or leaves.

References

External links

Custard apples (''Annona'' spp.)
by H. Mahdeem, 5 July 1998. {{taxonbar, from=Q472653 reticulata Trees of South America Crops originating from South America Tropical fruit Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Pantropical flora