What is a sugar apple?
The Annona squamosa produces the sugar apple or sweet-sop. They vary by a variety of names depending on where you get them, including sweetsop, custard apple, and the aptly named scaly custard apple. It thrives in the drier sections of Australia’s North Queensland and Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Barbados. The Sugar Apple has a thick, scaly exterior and a creamy, delicious pulp that splits into segments, each with a shiny black seed. The most common variety is green, although a dark red variation is becoming more popular. The delicate, creamy white flesh of this knobby fruit has a minty or custardy flavor.
Where it is found?
The sugar apple tree is native to the tropics of South America and the west indies.
Nutritional information about sugar apple:
Fat: 1%
Sodium: 1%
Potassium: 18%
Carbohydrates: 20%
Dietary fiber: 44%
Protein: 5.2 grams
Vitamin A: 0.3%
Vitamin C: 151%
Calcium: 4.6%
Iron: 8.3%
Potassium: 459 mg
What are its benefits?
- Contain antioxidants
- Controls blood pressure
- Protect our heart from cardiac disease
- High in potassium and magnesium
- Helps to cure constipation
- Treat diarrhoea anddysentery
- Ensure that our body’s water balance is in order.
- Fight muscles weakness
How to grow it?
- If you reside in a tropical climate and want to grow sugar apples in the ground,
- Plant them in full light, at a distance of 15-20 feet (4.5-6 metres) from other trees or structures.
- During the growing season, feed full fertiliser to young trees every 4-6 weeks.
- To conserve moisture and regulate soil temperature, apply a 2- to 4-inch (5-10 cm) layer of mulch around the tree to within 6 inches (15 cm) of the trunk.
How to include it in your diet?
- Sugar apple jelly
- Smoothie
- Sugar apple sauce
- Segment and serve
- Create a shake
- Freeze and fiz.
