The sugar-apple or sweet-sop is the edible fruit of '' Annona squamosa'', the most widely grown species of ''

Annona ''Annona'' (from Taíno ''annon'') is a genus of flowering plants in the pawpaw/ sugar apple family, Annonaceae. It is the second largest genus in the family after ''Guatteria'', containing approximately 166

'' and a native of

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

and

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. Spanish traders aboard the

Manila galleons fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

docking in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

brought it to Asia. 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 partic ...

is spherical-conical, in diameter and long, and weighing , with a thick rind composed of knobby segments. The color is typically pale green through blue-green, with a deep pink blush in certain varieties, and typically has a bloom. It is unique among ''Annona'' fruits in being segmented; the segments tend to separate when ripe, exposing the interior. The flesh is fragrant and sweet, creamy white through light yellow, and resembles and tastes like

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fr ...

. It is found adhering to seeds forming individual segments arranged in a single layer around a conical core. It is soft, slightly grainy, and slippery. The hard, shiny seeds may number 20–40 or more per fruit and have a brown to black coat, although varieties exist that are almost seedless. The seeds can be ground for use as an

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed t ...

. There are also new varieties being developed in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

and Hong Kong. The

atemoya The atemoya, ''Annona × atemoya'', or ''Annona squamosa × Annona cherimola'' is a hybrid of two fruits – the sugar-apple (''Annona squamosa'') and the cherimoya (''Annona cherimola'') – which are both native to the American tropics. Thi ...

or "pineapple sugar-apple", a hybrid between the sugar-apple and the

cherimoya The cherimoya (''Annona cherimola''), also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Inca people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus ''Annona'', from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop ...

, is popular in Taiwan, although it was first developed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1908. The fruit is similar in sweetness to the sugar-apple but has a very different taste. As its name suggests, it tastes like pineapple.

Nutrition and uses

Sugar-apple is high in

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of ...

, an excellent source 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 manganese, a good source of thiamine and vitamin B₆, and provides vitamin B₂, B₃ B₅, B₉, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium in fair quantities. For uses of other fruit from the Custard-apple family see: *

Atemoya The atemoya, ''Annona × atemoya'', or ''Annona squamosa × Annona cherimola'' is a hybrid of two fruits – the sugar-apple (''Annona squamosa'') and the cherimoya (''Annona cherimola'') – which are both native to the American tropics. Thi ...

(a hybrid between ''A. squamosa'' and ''A. cherimoya'') *

Cherimoya The cherimoya (''Annona cherimola''), also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Inca people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus ''Annona'', from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop ...

* Custard-apple

Gallery

File:Sitapalam.jpg, Sugar apple in Tamil Nadu, India File:Pineapple shijia.jpg, Sugar apple (right), with Taiwanese "pineapple ''shijia''" (

) (left) File:Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) interior.jpg, The sugar apple readily breaks open when ripe. File:Sugar Apple deconstructed.jpg, A deconstruction of a sugar apple, showing a lobe of fruit and pulpy segments with seeds. File:Sugar Apple pulp.jpg, A sugar apple ready to eat File:Sugar-apple (Annona squamosa) seeds.jpg, Sugar-apple (Annona squamosa) seeds File:Red Sugar Apple.jpg, Red Sugar Apples from

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

File:Sugar-apples 5, Taitung County, Dec 06.JPG, Sugar apples in Taitung,

File:Ata Sugar-apple Pinha Fruta do conde.JPG, A sugar apple in

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-largest ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

File:Sugar Apple Tree.jpg, Sugar Apple Tree in

File:Aata by Mayeenul Islam.jpg, Two sugar apples in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

Names

Custard Apple is known by different names throughout

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and Southeast Asia. *

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

: சீத்தாப்பழம் (Seethapazham) *

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: আতা (Aata) *

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

: शरीफ़ा (Shareefa) *

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

: સીતાફળ (Seetaphal) *

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: सीताफल (Seetaphal) *

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

:ಸೀತಾಫಲ (Seetaphal) *

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

: സീതഫലം (Seetaphazham) * Marathi: सीताफळ (Seetaphaḷa) *

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Tetum: Ai-ata

References

External links

Flora of North America: ''Annona squamosa''
*{{GRIN , ''Annona squamosa'' , 3503
Growing Sugar Apple ''Annona squamosa''
Annona Edible fruits Trees of the Caribbean Crops originating from the Americas Crops originating from South America Flora without expected TNC conservation status

Nutrition and uses

Gallery

Names

See also

References

External links