Chico (Sapodilla, ciku)
Local/Malay Name : Ciku/Sapodilla
Scientific Name : Achras sapota Linn.
There is great variation in the size and form of ciku trees. Under favourable conditions, a seedling tree may grow to a height of 17 - 25m but under sub-optimal conditions it may be no larger than a large shrub. Fruits are produced at frequent intervals throughout the year.  The fruits are round or oval, about 5 - 10cm long and weigh 100 - 170g. Mature fruits have a dull pale to rusty brown thin skin.
When ripe the flesh is yellowish to pinkish brown, soft, sweet and delicious. Unripe fruits are hard and
unpleasantly astringent. Each fruit has 2- 3 seeds about 1.5 - 2.0cm long which are hard, black, shining, obovate and somewhat flattened and are easily separated from the flesh.  A native of tropical America it's well spread throughout the tropics and widely grown in parts of India and Africa, West Indies, Philippines, Malaysia, Tropical America and Southern Florida in the US.
 
Among numerous vernacular names, some of the most common are: baramasi (Bengal and Bihar, India); buah chiku (Malaya); chicle (Mexico); chico (Philippines, Guatemala, Mexico); chicozapote (Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela); chikoo (India); chiku (Malaya, India); dilly (Bahamas; British West Indies); korob (Costa Rica); mespil (Virgin Islands); mispel, mispu (Netherlands Antilles, Surinam); muy (Guatemala); muyozapot (El Salvador); naseberry (Jamaica; British West Indies); neeseberry (British West Indies; nispero (Puerto Rico, Central America, Venezuela); nispero quitense (Ecuador); sapodilla plum (India); sapota (India); sapotí (Brazil); sapotille (French West Indies); tree potato (India); Ya (Guatemala;  Yucatan); zapota (Venezuela); zapote (Cuba); zapote chico (Mexico; 
Guatemala); zapote morado (Belize); zapotillo (Mexico).  The chico is a fairly slow-growing, long-lived tree, upright and elegant, distinctly pyramidal when young; to 60 ft (18 m) high in the open but reaching 100 ft (30 m) when crowded in a forest. It is strong and wind-resistant, rich in white, gummy latex. Its leaves are highly ornamental, evergreen, glossy, alternate, spirally clustered at the tips of the forked twigs; elliptic, pointed at both ends, firm, 3 to 4 1/2 in (7.5-11.25 cm) long and 1 to 1 1/2 in (2.5-4 cm) wide. Flowers are small and bell-like, with 3 brown-hairy outer sepals and 3 inner sepals enclosing the pale-green corolla and 6 stamens. They are borne on slender stalks at the leaf bases. The fruit may be nearly round, oblate, oval, ellipsoidal, or conical; varies from 2 to 4 in (5-10 cm) in width. When immature it is hard, gummy and very astringent. Though smooth-skinned it is coated with a sandy brown scurf until fully ripe. The flesh ranges in color from yellowish to light- or dark-brown or sometimes reddish-brown; may be coarse and somewhat grainy or smooth; becomes soft and very juicy, with a sweet flavor resembling that of a pear. Some fruits are seedless, but normally there may be from 3 to 12 seeds which are easily removed as they are loosely held in a whorl of slots in the center of the fruit. They are brown or black, with one white margin; hard, glossy; long-oval, flat, with usually a distinct curved hook on one margin; and about 1/4 in (2 cm) long.

Back to Main Fruits Page