Sugar Apple, Sweetsop, Custard Apple
Annona squamosa

Family: Annonaceae

What it is like

Annona squamosa or Custard Apple is one of the most popular trees that are widely cultivated for its edible fruit. It is a small, semi-deciduous tree or shrub with broad, spreading branches. It can grow up to 8 m tall. The leaves are thin, simple, with fine hairs underneath, and arranged alternately. Each leaf is rounded at the base and pointed toward the tip. The aggregate fruit is edible, light green in color, round-shaped, and has a delicious white tinged yellow pulp. It is sweet and creamy, and consumed as dessert or used as an ingredient in making ice cream, jellies, etc. Custard apple tree not only functions as a fruit tree. It is also used medicinally in treating diarrhoea, dysentery, colds, chills, rheumatism, and sleeplessness. It also has an anticancer function and it lowers uric acid levels in the blood. The seeds, when heated, can produce oil that can be used against agricultural pests. However, it should be noted that the seeds, leaves, and roots are poisonous due to occurrence of alkaloid and hydrocyanic acid in such plant parts. Annona squamosa is a slow-growing tree. Fruiting starts at 2 years old. Like most species of Annona, custard apple is cold and frost-sensitive. It will not produce fruit well during droughts.

Annona squamosa is a deciduous Tree growing to 6 m (19ft) by 6 m (19ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Height (m): 6

Where it is found

Not known in a truly wild situation

Caribbean.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed.

Countries/locations it is found in

Found In: Africa, Andamans, Antilles, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo, Cook Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Fiji, Gabon, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Martinique, Mexico, Mozambique, Mayanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Northeastern India, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Reunion, Sao Tome, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South America, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, USA, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, Yemen.

How it is used

Food

Rating: 5

Fruit - raw. The sweet and creamy fruits are highly regarded as a dessert fruit. They can also be used to make sherbet, ice cream, jellies etc. The fruit is up to 10cm in diameter.

Medicine

Rating: 2

Leaves, shoots, bark and roots have been reported to have medicinal properties. They are all strongly astringent and are used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. The green fruits, seeds and leaves have effective vermicidal properties. The young shoots, combined with peppermint, are used in the West Indies to relieve colds and chills. In Cuba, the leaves are taken to lower uric acid levels in the blood. The unripe fruit is astringent. The root is a drastic purgative. The bark and leaves, combined with those of Annona muricata, are used in a sedative infusion. An infusion of the leaves and fruit is used to aid digestion and treat rheumatism. An oil distilled from the leaves is applied to the head for treating sleeplessness. The powdered seeds are an excellent vermifuge. Extracts of the plant have shown anticancer activity.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Antirheumatic: Treats rheumatism.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Cancer: Used in the treatment of cancer.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Purgative: A drastic laxative causing a cleansing or watery evacuation of the bowels, usually with a griping pain.

Sedative: Gently calms, reducing nervousness, distress and irritation.

Vermifuge: Expels and kills internal parasites.

Other

Rating: 2

Other uses rating: Low (2/5). Other Uses Green fruits, seeds and leaves have effective vermicidal and insecticidal properties. The seeds contain the insecticide acetogin. The fibrous bark has sometimes been used locally for cordage. The light yellow sapwood and brownish heartwood are soft, light in weight and weak. The tree is a good source of firewood.

Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.

Insecticide: Kills insects.

String: Plants that can be used for string or can be easily made into a string. See also Fibre. Plants for ropes may be included.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

Trees succeed in subtropical to tropical areas at elevations up to 2,000 metres, with a mean annual temperature up to 41c and a mean annual rainfall above 700mm. They are said to do well in hot and relatively dry climates such as those of the low-lying interior plains of many tropical countries. Plants can tolerate occasional light frosts. Prefers a moist but well-drained, sandy loam with a pH around 6. Also succeeds on rocky, alkaline soils with a pH up to 8. The tree has a reputation, particularly in India, of being a hardy, drought-resistant crop. This is only partly correct. Although the rest period and leaf fall enable the tree to bridge a severe dry season, it requires adequate moisture during the growing season. Trees start to bear fruit when 2 - 4 years old. A mature tree, 5 metres high, produces several dozen fruits in a season. There are some named varieties. Fruit are often 200-300g each. The pulp is 20% sugar. The fruit is borne on old and new wood. As the fruit is more commonly on new wood, pruning is an advantage. A spacing of 6 m apart is suitable for sweetsop trees.

Propagating it: Seed - usually breeds true to type. Sow in individual pots, not deeper than 2cm, at 21c. They germinate within 2 - 4 weeks, and the seedlings are ready for planting out after 6 months. The seed of many species in this genus has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Semi-ripe cuttings. Budding is done at the beginning of the growing season when the sap flows freely. Cleft-grafting is the method more commonly used. Air-layering

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

The seeds, leaves and roots are poisonous. Both an alkaloid, and hydrocyanic acid have been shown to occur in these parts of the plant.

Its other names

Local names

Annona squamosa or Custard Apple. Other Names: Ai piol, Anon morado, Anuune, Apeli, 'atis, Ata, Atis, Buah nona, Chirimoya crespa, Dawatsip, Fat manaova, Fruta-do-conde, Gam ja, Juructira, Kaneelappel, Khieb, Lanang, Makhiap, Man cau ta, Moumou, Mstafeli, Mufa, Na, Noi-nah, Noina, Nona sri kaya, Pinha, Rinon, Sarikaja, Seetaphal, Shareefa, Sharifa, Sirkaja, Sitafal, Sitaphal, Sri kaya, Sugar apple, Tiep baay, Tiep srok.

Synonyms

Annona asiatica L. Annona biflora Mo?. & Sess? Annona cinerea Dunal Annona forskahlii DC. Guanabanus