White sapote

White Sapote
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Subfamily:	Toddalioideae[1]
Genus:	Casimiroa
Species:	C. edulis
Binomial name
Casimiroa edulis La Llave

White sapote (Casimiroa edulis), also known as cochitzapotl in Nahuatl (meaning '"sleep-sapote") is a species of tropical fruiting tree in the family Rutaceae, native to eastern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica. Mature trees range from 5–16 m tall and are evergreen. The leaves are alternate, palmately compound with 3–5 leaflets, the leaflets 6–13 cm long and 2.5–5 cm broad with an entire margin, and the leaf petiole 10–15 cm long. The fruit is an ovoid drupe, 5–10 cm in diameter, with a thin, inedible skin turning from green to yellow when ripe, and an edible pulp, which can range in flavor from bland to banana-like to peach to pear to vanilla flan.^{photo 1photo 2photo 3} The pulp can be creamy-white in green skin varieties or a beige-yellow in yellow skin varieties and has a smooth texture similar to ripe avocado. It contains from one to five seeds that are said to have narcotic properties.

In the past 40 years, extensive experiments have been carried out on the white sapote's seeds that have yielded the identity of many pharmacologically active compounds, including: n-methylhistamine, n-dimethylhistamine, zapotin^[2] and histamine.

Eating the fruit has long been known to produce drowsiness, as noted by Francisco Hernandez de Toledo in the 16th century.^[3] Although Europeans were not the first to note this quality, they destroyed the 99% of the pre-extant literature of Mesoamerica.^{[citation needed]} The Nahuatl name itself is a record of the fact that people knew the plant induced drowsiness.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike the mamey sapote, white sapote is a member of the family Rutaceae, to which citrus belongs. The black sapote is also unrelated and is actually a species of persimmon. This confusion may be because "sapote" comes from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word tzapotl, used to describe all soft, sweet fruit.^{[citation needed]} Commonly grown in Northern New South Wales, Australia, and often mistaken for a persimmon, although these two fruits are unrelated.

Pharmacological effects

Several recent studies have shown Zapotin to have an anti-carcinogenic effect against colon cancer.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ "Casimiroa edulis". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1997-05-22. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?9292. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Murillo G, Hirschelman WH, Ito A, et al. (2007). "Zapotin, a phytochemical present in a Mexican fruit, prevents colon carcinogenesis". Nutrition and Cancer 57 (1): 28–37. doi:10.1080/01635580701268097. PMID 17516860. 
3. ^ Morton, J.; Julia F. Morton (1987). "White Sapote: Casimiroa edulus Llave". Fruits of warm climates. Miami, FL.. pp. 191–196. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/white_sapote.htm. 
4. ^ Maiti A, Cuendet M, Kondratyuk T, Croy VL, Pezzuto JM, Cushman M (Jan 2007). "Synthesis and cancer chemopreventive activity of zapotin, a natural product from Casimiroa edulis". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (American Chemical Society) 50 (2): 350–5. doi:10.1021/jm060915. PMC 2523270. PMID 17228877. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2523270. 

• Huxley, A. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.
• Henry A. & Vera-Caletti P. 2010. – Usages du sapotier blanc (Casimiroa spp.) en Mésoamérique. Histoire, ethnographie et botanique. Anthropobotanica 1.7-2010. in French with English abstract