Achras zapota

Description :

This plant is an evergreen ornamental tree with widely spreading and dense crown. The tree can grow up to the height of 8 to 20m tall in cultivated conditions and in deep forest it may also be reach up to height of 25 to 40 tall. The leaves are glossy green, alternate, elliptic to ovate, 7to 15cm long. The fruit is round and about 5-10cm diameter. The bole of the tree is straight and cylindrical, its diameter is up to 50 cm in cultivated condition and in deep forest it is up to 140 cm in the forest. The leaves are glossy and medium green in color. The flowers have bell like structure and are yellowish white in color. The fruit is big berry and is 5 to cm in diameter and it is pale yellow in color containing 6 seeds each. The seeds look like beans and are glossy and hard.

Distribution :

This plant is native to tropical America and West Indies. It has been widely cultivated in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Mexico. This tree prefers to grow well in hot moist climate, usually below 600 m elevation in tropical areas. This can also grow in wide range of climatic conditions.

Uses :

It has both edible and medicinal uses. Fruit is edible and widely eaten raw in the tropics and it has also been used in the making of ice-creams, jams and jellies. Leaves and shoot of the plant are also edible and can be eaten as raw or cooked. The resinous coagulated Latex from the bark of the tree is used commercially to make chewing gums. The wood of the tree has great value, and its yields are commercially traded worldwide. Tannin from the bark is used to cure diseases like diarrhea and fever.