All About Sapodilla

Berries botanically known as Manilkara zapota, sapodillas are the exquisitely malty, sweet fruits of an evergreen tree that bear the same name. Sapodilla fruits are loved around the world and are also called sapota, chikoo, chiku, naseberry, or nispero.

Sapodilla has a flavor profile all its own, making sapodilla a great introduction to all kinds of sapote fruits. This one is exceptionally sweet, with flavors reminiscent of brown sugar, sweet potato and pear. They have pearlike texture too, with a rich molasses taste that’s often described as malty.

Seeds of sapodilla fruit are inedible and can be dangerous if swallowed because of a spikey hook that protrudes from one end of the seed. Unripened sapodillas are inedible too, because the fruit’s powerful astringency gives an uncomfortable, chalky mouthfeel.

These tropical fruits range in size from about a tennis ball to a softball and feel heavy for their size when ripe. Sapodilla fruit has peachy white flesh inside with blushes of red running throughout. In the center are usually about two large, shiny and black like an oversized watermelon seed. Outside, their sapodilla skin is yellowish tan similar to an Asian pear.

Knowing how to tell if a sapodilla is ripe is easy. First, the skin will look a little wrinkly, almost like a baked potato. The fruit will yield easily with gentle pressure from the thumb without being mushy. The sapodilla will have a familiar fragrance of fresh pumpkin and brown sugar.

Delicious sapodilla fruits, native to southern Mexico and Central America and the Caribbean, grow from an evergreen tree of the same name. Today they’re cultivated in other countries throughout the world with tropical climates including the United States, India and throughout Southeast Asia.

Sapodilla and sapote varieties might be popular around the world, but they’re pretty hard to come by in the United States. These rare-to-us fruits share some similarities, but are indeed two distinctly delicious fruit experiences.

Sapodilla and sapote are both fruits from evergreen trees that are soft and sweet when ripe. In fact, neither of these fruits can be consumed before they’re fully ripe because of their intense astringency. Both the sapodilla and sapote reward eaters’ patience with soft, juicy flesh that you can eat with a spoon, with a pumpkin-y, squashlike fragrance.

Comparatively speaking, sapodilla is the most flavor forward of the bunch. Their flesh is much sweeter, with a brown sugar and malt richness. Black and mamey sapotes, for instance, have much milder sweetness. Texturally, ripe sapodilla is extremely juicy and as soft as a very ripe pear making it almost impossible to slice. On the outside, one might mistake the sapodilla for a potato if they didn’t know better; the black sapote looks like a green persimmon and the mamey has a teardrop shape and kiwilike texture.

Delicious sapodilla fruits, native to southern Mexico and Central America and the Caribbean, grow from an evergreen tree of the same name. Today they’re cultivated in other countries throughout the world with tropical climates including the United States, India and throughout Southeast Asia.

Whether a sapodilla is certified organic or not will depend on the farm where it was grown. At FruitStand, we only partner with the best specialty farms for exceptional quality of produce. When each harvest is available, we'll tell you whether the fruit is considered organic or conventional.

If you’ve ever wondered where to buy sapodilla, we’ve got great news for you! FruitStand is proud to partner with small, specialty farmers to bring you exceptional quality sapodilla. To be the first to know when FruitStand is shipping sapodilla harvests, join our email newsletter!

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