Sapodilla or chiku

Family Sapotaceae

Achras zapota (= Manilkara zapota), the sapodilla or chiku (A. zapota 1), is an evergreen tree, up to 20 m high, with alternate elliptic leathery leaves and small solitary flowers with 6 sepals, petals and stamens in leaf axils. The fruit is rusty brown (A. zapota 2), 5-10 cm in diameter, with yellowish-brown pulp and up to 12 black seeds (A. zapota 3).

Distribution
The sapodilla is native to Mexico and Central America and is now widely grown throughout the tropics. The Spaniards took it from the West Indies to the Philippines and from there it reached Malaysia.

Use
The ripe fruit is eaten as a dessert fruit. Another product of the plant is chicle gum, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark. The milky latex is collected and then coagulated by heating. This chicle is used in the manufacture of chewing gum and is exported by some Central American countries. However, today synthetic substitutes are replacing chicle.