Sapote

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[[Image:|thumb|300px|right|Sapote]]

Name Variations

• Tzapotl

About Sapote

Sapote (from Nahuatl tzapotl) is a term for a soft, edible fruit. The word is incorporated into the common names of several unrelated fruit-bearing plants native to Mexico, Central America, Indian and northern parts of South America.

Some but not all sapotes come from the family Sapotaceae:

• Sapotaceae sapotes:
  • Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota), native to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, and possibly El Salvador. The Sapotaceae were named after this species.
  • Yellow sapote (Pouteria campechiana), native to Mexico and Central America.
  • Mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota), native from southern Mexico to northern South America.
  • Green sapote (Pouteria viridis), native to lowland southern Mexico.

• Ebenaceae sapotes:
  • Black sapote (Diospyros digyna), native from eastern Mexico south to Colombia. Probably the original Aztec tzapotl.
  • Chapote (Diospyros texana), native to the lower Rio Grande region in Texas and Mexico

• Other sapotes
  • White sapote (Casimiroa edulis: Rutaceae), native to northern and central Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.
  • South American sapote (Quararibea cordata: Malvaceae), native to the Amazon Rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.