Red Mamey Sapote Tree (Zapote Mamey)

About the Red Mamey Sapote Tree (Zapote Mamey)

Mamey sapote is one of Mexico's treasured native fruits. Its rough, brown, football-shaped fruit opens to reveal smooth, salmon-red flesh with a rich, sweet flavour often described as a mix of sweet potato, pumpkin, almond and apricot. It is superb eaten fresh, and is the star of licuados, ice creams, paletas and desserts across Mexico. The large seed is glossy black. The tree is tall, long-lived and handsome, with large leaves clustered at the branch tips, and it is well suited to the warm lowlands of southern Mexico. Grown on our farms in Yucatán and Chiapas and shipped via DHL.

How to Care for It

Plant in full sun in deep, well-drained soil; it tolerates limestone soils. Water regularly while young and during fruit development; established trees cope with a dry season. Feed two or three times a year with balanced fertiliser and compost. Protect young trees from frost. Fruit take many months to mature: scratch the skin and pick when the flesh beneath is salmon-coloured. Prune to limit height.

The backbone of a tropical orchard. Mangoes, Booth 8 avocado, red mamey, chicozapote, carambola, dwarf coconuts, jackfruit and dragon fruit: reliable, productive trees that thrive in Mexico's warm lowlands and coasts, grown on our farms and shipped by DHL.

Growing Profile

Botanical name

Pouteria sapota

Family

Sapotaceae

Native to

Southern Mexico and Central America

Mature height

12–20 m

Plant spacing

10 m

Years to first fruit

4–7 years

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate

Cold tolerance

down to 0 °C

Best climates

Humid tropics, Dry tropics

Grows in a pot

Best in the ground

Ships from

Our farms in Yucatán & Chiapas