name: Mamey Sapote
flavor_db_name_variants: mamey sapote
source: foodb
status: draft
food_db_id: Mamey sapote
id: 459
name_scientific: Pouteria sapota
description: The mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota) is a species of tree native to southern Mexico. Today, the tree is cultivated not only in Mexico, but also in Central America, the Caribbean, and South Florida for its fruit, which is commonly eaten in many Latin American countries. 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 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. The fruit is eaten raw or made into milkshakes, smoothies, ice cream and fruit bars. It can be used to produce marmalade and jelly. Some consider the fruit to be an aphrodisiac. Some beauty products use oil pressed from the seed, otherwise known as sapayul oil. The brown skin has a texture somewhat between sandpaper and the fuzz on a peach. The fruit's texture is creamy and soft. A mamey sapote is ripe when the flesh is pink when a fleck of the skin is removed. The flesh should give slightly, as with a ripe kiwifruit. The mamey sapote is related to other sapotes such as sapodilla, abiu (P. caimito) and canistel (P. campechiana), but unrelated to the black sapote and white sapote. It should not be confused with the mammee apple. It has different names depending on the country: mamey, zapote colorado, and zapote rojo, among others.
itis_id: 23836
wikipedia_id: Pouteria sapota
picture_file_name: 469.jpg
picture_content_type: image/jpeg
picture_file_size: 91223
picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:37:07.000Z
legacy_id: 496
food_group: Fruits
food_subgroup: Tropical fruits
food_type: Type 1
created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:43.000Z
updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:05:25.000Z
creator_id: null
updater_id: null
export_to_afcdb: false
category: specific
ncbi_taxonomy_id: 233744
export_to_foodb: true
public_id: FOOD00459