Mamey sapote

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Mamey Sapote

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Sapotaceae
Genus:	Pouteria
Species:	P. sapota

Binomial name

Pouteria sapota
(Jacq.) H. E. Moore & Stearn

The mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota) is a species of tree that is native to southern Mexico and northern South America. The tree is cultivated in Central America, the Caribbean, and South Florida for its fruit, which is commonly eaten in many Latin American countries and widely enjoyed by Cubans living in Cuba and South Florida. Mamey sapote is a large and highly ornamental evergreen tree that can reach a height of 15 to 45 meters (60 to 140 feet) at maturity. Like most fruit trees, it is mainly propagated by grafting, which ensures that the new plant has the same characteristics as the parent, especially its fruit. It is also considerably faster than growing trees by seed. The fruit is about 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 inches) long and 8 to 12 cm (3 to 5 inches) wide and has orange flesh. [1] [2] [3]

The fruit is eaten raw out of hand or made into milkshakes, smoothies, and ice cream. The fruit's flavor is variously described as similar to pumpkin, a combination of pumpkin, chocolate and almond, or a mixture of sweet potato, avocado, and honey. Some consider the fruit an aphrodisiac.

The brown skin is somewhat between sandpaper and the fuzz in a peach. The fruit's texture is creamy and sweet. To tell when a mamey sapote is ripe, peel off a fleck of the skin to see if it is pink underneath. The flesh should give slightly, as with a ripe kiwifruit.

The mamey sapote is related to other sapotes such as the abiu and canistel but unrelated to the black sapote and white sapote. It should not be confused with the Mammee apple.

[edit] Medicinal Uses

The Mamey is the corner stone of holistic, Cuban medicine. It is used extensively as a veritable panacea for gastro-intestinal maladies. In southern Cuba, the mamey is also used to treat headaches and venereal diseases. There are numerous accounts of the Mamey being used as an antiseptic during the Spanish-American war.

"The septic wound was re-opened, covered by a half'd mamey fruit… and affixed with gauss. Within a week, the wound was clean and free of ill humors."

From H. L. Henry Wilder’s Memoirs of the Spanish American War (1907)