Sapodilla, Chico or Zapotillo

To see a beautiful picture of this deliciously sweet fruit, go to BoloKids.com : Network for Children

Click on the Nature tab and look for Sapodilla, The Chewing-gum Tree or, you can simply click on this title.

While at the grocery store several weeks ago, I was delighted to see that they had one of my favorite fruits next to other of my favorite fruits - chicos next to mangoes and quinces; immediately i grabbed about four that were in different stages of ripening so I could enjoy them for several days and then could not wait for the first one to feel soft to the touch regardless of where I pressed with my fingers. Mmhhh, I can still taste its sweetness.

Although the chico flesh is soft and creamy, it can also feel a little grainy.

The sapodilla or chico is a Central American native and is cultivated as far as India and Thailand.

The whole tree is useful, starting with its latex, which is the source of chicle, the beginning of chewing gum. The wood, due to its durability, is used in construction and furniture making.

When eating sapodillas make sure that they are fully ripe, otherwise you will be tasting the chewy sap.

Besides eating them "au naturel"; sapodillas can be prepared in many forms, depending of their location.

The sapodilla is found as a fruit sauce, added to an egg custard; it can be fried or stewed; added to bread dough or pancake batter; sapodillas can be baked as pies or made into wine.

I read that the bark is so rich in tannins that in Philippines fishermen use it to tint their sails and fishing lines.

Now to the part that interests us as much as the taste of it, its medicinal uses:

• A tea made with the green fruit is used to stop diarrhea
  
• A tea made with the green fruit and the flowers will help relieve pulmonary ailments
• A tea made with its dried leaves is a good remedy for coughs, colds and diarrhea
• A tea made with the bark will stop diarrhea and dysentery
• Its crushed seeds are good diuretics and are said to be good to expel bladder and kidney stones, but please do not eat more than six seeds or you might end up suffering abdominal pain and vomiting
  
• The juice of the seeds is supposed to be a sedative and soporific
• A tea made with sapodilla and chayote leaves is said to lower blood pressure
• In some areas a paste made of the crushed seeds is applied on the stings of venomous animals
  
• And, if all that were not enough, the latex can be used as a filling for tooth cavities when necessary