Sapodilla Tree (Chicozapote)

About the Sapodilla Tree (Chicozapote)

Chicozapote is a native of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Maya forests, the tree whose latex, chicle, gave the world chewing gum. Its round, brown, sandpaper-skinned fruit hides soft, honey-brown flesh with a rich, malty sweetness often compared to brown sugar and pear. Eat it fresh when fully soft, or in licuados and desserts. The tree is slow-growing, very long-lived and wind-resistant, with dense, glossy foliage, and it tolerates heat, drought and poor limestone soils better than most fruit trees. Grown on our farms in Yucatán and Chiapas and shipped via DHL.

How to Care for It

Plant in full sun in well-drained soil; it handles sandy, rocky and limestone ground. Water regularly while young; once established it tolerates dry seasons, though irrigation improves crops. Feed two or three times a year with balanced fertiliser. Mature trees endure brief light frost. Pick fruit when the skin no longer shows green beneath a scratch and let it soften indoors. Prune lightly.

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

Manilkara zapota

Family

Sapotaceae

Native to

Yucatán Peninsula, southern Mexico and Central America

Mature height

10–18 m

Plant spacing

8 m

Years to first fruit

4–6 years

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate

Cold tolerance

down to -1 °C

Best climates

Humid tropics, Dry tropics, Subtropical

Grows in a pot

Best in the ground

Ships from

Our farms in Yucatán & Chiapas