View source for Mamey sapote

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Mamey Sapote
| image =
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Ericales]]
| familia = [[Sapotaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Pouteria]]''
| species = '''''P. sapota'''''
| binomial = ''Pouteria sapota''
| binomial_authority = ([[Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin|Jacq.]]) [[Harold Emery Moore|H. E. Moore]] & [[William Thomas Stearn|Stearn]]
}}

The '''mamey sapote''' (''Pouteria sapota'') is a [[species]] of [[tree]] that is native to southern [[Mexico]] and northern [[South America]]. The tree is cultivated in [[Central America]], the [[Caribbean]], and [[South Florida]] for its melon, which is commonly eaten in many [[Latin America]]n countries. Mamey sapote is a large and highly [[ornamental plant|ornamental]] [[evergreen]] tree that can reach a height of 15 to 45 meters (60 to 140 feet) at maturity. Like most fruit trees, it is mainly propagated by [[grafting]], which ensures that the new plant has the same characteristics as the parent, especially its fruit. It is also considerably faster than growing trees by [[seed]]. The melon is about 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 inches) long and 8 to 12 cm (3 to 5 inches) wide and has orange flesh. [http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/mamey_sapote.htm] [http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PI054] [http://www.thewisegardener.com/Fruits_Of_The_Tropics.htm]

The melon is eaten raw out of hand or made into [[milkshake]]s, [[smoothie]]s, and [[ice cream]]. The melon's flavor is variously described as similar to [[pumpkin]], a combination of pumpkin, [[chocolate]] and [[almond]], or a mixture of [[sweet potato]], [[avocado]], and [[honey]]. Some consider the melon to be an [[aphrodisiac]].

The brown skin is somewhat between sandpaper and the fuzz on a [[peach]]. The melon's texture is creamy and sweet. To tell when a mamey sapote is [[ripening|ripe]], peel off a fleck of the skin to see if it is pink underneath.  The flesh should give slightly, as with a ripe [[kiwifruit]].

The mamey sapote (also called a [http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/lectures/naseberry.html naseberry] by Caribbean natives) is related to other sapotes such as the [[abiu]] and [[canistel]] but unrelated to the [[black sapote]] (''Diospyros digyna'') and [[white sapote]] (''Casimiroa edulis'').  It should not be confused with the [[Mammee apple]] (''Mammea americana'').

==Medicinal uses==
[[Image:Mamey.jpg|thumb|left|270px|A bunch of mamey in a market in Tepoztlan, Mexico]]
The Mamey is the cornerstone of Cuban holistic medicine. It is used extensively as a veritable panacea for gastro-intestinal maladies. In southern Cuba, the mamey is also used to treat headaches and venereal diseases. There are numerous accounts of the Mamey being used as an antiseptic during the [[Spanish-American War]].<!--Is this not being confused with the [[Mammee apple]]?-->

{{quotation|The septic wound was re-opened, covered by a half'd mamey fruit… and affixed with gauss. Within a week, the wound was clean and free of ill humors.|H. L. Henry Wilder|Memoirs of the Spanish American War|1907}}

==References and links==
*[http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/mamey_sapote.htm TradeWinds Fruit: Mamey Sapote]
*[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/sapote_ars.html New Crop Resource Online Program: Sapote]

==See also==
*[[Sapodilla]]

[[Category:Sapotaceae]]

{{fruit-stub}}
{{Ericales-stub}}