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Monday, October 15, 2007

SUGAR APPLE (Red Rind)



Common Name: Sugar apple
Vernacular Names: Sweetsop, Anon, Custard apple[misapplied]
Botanical Name: Annona squamosa
Specimens From: Malaysia
Specimens Weight: 210 gm [7.41 oz] (Average weight per fruit)

Sugar apple, believes to be native from the Caribbean region and the northern South America but is now cultivated in most of the tropical countries throughout the world.

This fruit is known by its numerous vernacular names, mostly by the languages of the different countries. Some countries loosely apply the name, custard apple to this fruit, which is misleading and technically incorrect. There is another fruit in the same family, which looks similar but not as common, known by the actual name of custard apple (annona reticulata). So don't be confused by the same name as both fruits are different.

Sugar apple, as the name says it all, is sweet as sugar. The flesh nearest to the rind, tastes like sugar crumbs too. It is usually conical in shape but sometimes, it may be almost round. It is easy to tell when it is ready to eat. The rind is thick with knobby segments but will turn soft and crack open, releasing a sweet aroma when it ripes.

The off-white creamy flesh is in many segments and almost every segment contains a blackish brown seed. There are some seedless variety but it is not commonly available. The easiest way to eat it, is to bite a few segments of custard flesh and slowly enjoying the delicious taste. Just remember to spit out the seeds as it is toxic.

Sugar apple comes in two basic color rinds, the green and the red (photos shown above) with some varies in the lighter/darker color tones. But it seems that the red sugar apple is not as common as the green ones. As for the taste, both taste alike, sweet and sweet!


Fruit: Sugar Apple; Annona squamosa; Annonaceae.


Other fruits in the same family: AtemoyaSugar Apple[green rind], Soursop.


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21 comments:

kml said...

It kind of reminds me of a pine cone. Is the rind hard or soft to break into? Sounds like it is a great treat, and if I ever find any I will certainly give it a try!

Anonymous said...

At least I've seen one of the fruits your posting about and this was when I was in Kualalumpur of course.

Btw: Looking forward to the 'time-tunnel' too :-)

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

How interesting!!! I bet their delish!!! I'd love to try sugar apples some day.

Hugs, JJ

Cakespy said...

Thanks for finding and commenting on my blog! I have just started reading yours and think it's absolutely rad. Not to mention fascinating. I want to try everything on here!

Kim said...

hi Fruity....
I will have to see if I can get some of these for my children....they are both such sweet tooths or is it teeth haha :D

Mom Knows Everything said...

They look like pine cones, but they sound really delicious!

Anonymous said...

in mauritius we call this "coeur de boeuf" meaning buffalo's heart! :D

Swaruchy said...

Hi fruity.......I absolutely love this fruit......we call it seethaphal.......we used to baskets of these in our home and gulp them up.........nice one dear :-)
nice info on this one...

Simon said...

I have never seen this strange fruit before. Got to get some!

Joanne said...

Very cool! This is one fruit I've yet to encounter. It sounds delicious, haha! =)

JANET said...

At first, I thought this was something you made, like a candied apple or something. Nothing like that around here!

KellytheCulinarian said...

Wow, I've never seen anything like that. It looks really ool.

Fruity said...

Kml, it is soft when ripe and will crack open by itself

Renny, oh, so you had been to Asia too. KL got lots of funny fruits

JJ, Kim, Tammy, NeoA, Joanne, Janet, Kelly:
It is worth it as it is really delicious. Hopefully you can find it at your place since South America cultivated it on a large scale.

Cakespy, welcome aboard! Do drop by again

Morinn, I'm learning French from you

Sirisha, great that you like it too!

Ti said...

in Indonesia we call it "Srikaya"

Serena said...

Frankly speaking, I don't know what is this fruit called. I thought it was called soursop but it is really sweet. So it is sweetsop huh? :D

Fruity said...

Ti: Welcome aboard. I'm sure many fruits here are familiar to you.

Serena: Soursop is sour whereas this is sweet. Your place got plenty of them :)

Anonymous said...

:( I want a sugar apple! It sounds delicious. Is there any available in the US...or do you have to travel abroad?

Fruity said...

Hi Tria
It's easier to get it from the Southern States and selected stores.
Fruity

Anonymous said...

here in th Philippines we call it "ATIS"

Anonymous said...

Crunchy ,crispy , sweet,& completely packaged fruit.

suman
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Free Satellite TV

sabren said...

My dad planted this fuit tree in yard. He is always telling me about it, but doesn't know the name in english so i had to do alot of searching. Everything he's said, is what all the articles are saying. He lives in Apopka, Fl., USA but got it from Haiti. I will definetly have to drive up there to take a few!