Sapote or zapote (; from ) is a term for a soft, edible fruit. The word is incorporated into the common names of several unrelated fruit-bearing plants native to Mexico, Central America and northern parts of South America.

Species

From Sapotaceae

Some, but not all sapotes, come from the family Sapotaceae:

• Sapodilla, also called naseberry (Manilkara zapota) is native to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, and possibly El Salvador. The Sapotaceae were named after a synonym of this species.

• Yellow sapote (Lucuma campechiana) is native to 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.

From other families

• Black sapote (Diospyros nigra: Ebenaceae), from eastern Mexico south to Colombia, is probably the original Aztec tzapotl.

• White sapote (Casimiroa edulis: Rutaceae) is native to northern and central Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.

• South American sapote (Quararibea cordata: Malvaceae) is native to the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

• Sun sapote (Moquilea platypus: Chrysobalanaceae) is native to southern Mexico south to Colombia.

See also

• Chapote (Diospyros texana: Ebenaceae) is native to the lower Rio Grande valley region in Texas and Mexico

References