Ciku (Manilkara zapota)
Ciku (Manilkara zapota) is a fruit-bearing tree in the family Sapotaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It is also known as sapodilla, chikoo, naseberry, chicle, sapodilla plum, chico, chiku, chico sapote. Ciku tree is an evergeen tree with a conical crown. It grows up to 30 m tall, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m. Cultivated ciku trees usually range from 9-15 m tall, and a trunk diameter of 0.5 m. The bark is light gray, and becomes fissured with age. Every part of the plant produces white, gummy latex called chicle. The leaves are green, glossy, alternate, ovate to elliptic, 7-15 cm long, with an entire margin. Ciku flowers are white, fragrant, solitary and bisexual, consisting of six free sepals. The flowers remain open even at night. Ciku fruit is a large berry, round or oblong, 4-8 cm in diameter, brown in color, with a thin skin. Each fruit has 3-5 dark-brown or black seeds. The flesh is sweet, soft, light brown in color, with a grainy texture. Ciku fruit has a high latex content, and does not ripen until picked. Unripe fruit is hard to the touch, and contains saponin, an astringent properties similar to tannin, that drying out the mouth. Ripe ciku fruit is usually consumed fresh, but can be used to flavor sherbets, drinks, butter and ice-creams, make pies, syrups, sauces, jams, and is fermented to get wine or vinegar.  Ciku (Manilkara zapota) Author: Wie146 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported) | ||
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