Sapote

Sapote (from Nahuatl tzapotl) is a word for a soft, edible fruit. The word is part of the names of several plants from Mexico, Central America and northern parts of South America that have fruits.

Some but not all sapotes come from the family Sapotaceae:

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

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

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

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  Black sapote

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  White sapote

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  South American sapote

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  Lòng mứt, a kind of Vietnamese sapote

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  Mamey sapote

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  Sapodilla

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  Yellow sapote