Annona squamosa

The fruit of Annona squamosa (sugar-apple) has sweet whitish pulp, and is popular in tropical markets. Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads. Fruits and reproduction Fruits ripen 3 to 4 months after flowering. Aggregate and soft fruits form from the numerous and loosely united pistils of a flower which become enlarged and mature into fruits which are distinct from fruits of other species of genus (and more like a giant raspberry). The round or heart-shaped greenish yellow, ripened aggregate fruit is pendulous on a thickened stalk; in diameter with many round protuberances and covered with a powdery bloom. Fruits are formed of loosely cohering or almost free carpels (the ripened pistels). The pulp is white tinged yellow, edible and sweetly aromatic. Each carpel containing an oblong, shiny and smooth, dark brown to black, long seed. ==Nutrition and uses==

Sugar-apple is high in energy, an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese, a good source of vitamin B1 and vitamin B6, and provides vitamin B2, B3 B5, B9, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium in fair quantities. Chemistry The diterpenoid alkaloid atisine is the most abundant alkaloid in the root. Other constituents of Annona squamosa include the alkaloids oxophoebine, reticuline, and methylcorydaldine, Bayer AG has patented the extraction process and molecular identity of the annonaceous acetogenin annonin, as well as its use as a biopesticide, although this use has not been approved by US or EU authorities. Other acetogenins have been isolated from the seeds, bark, and leaves. ==Distribution and habitat==

Annona squamosa is native to the tropical Americas, but the exact origin is unknown. It is now the most widely cultivated of all the species of Annona, being grown for its fruit throughout the tropics and warmer subtropics, such as India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China as far north as Suzhou; it was introduced to southern Asia before 1590. It is naturalized as far north as Cuba, south Florida and as far south as Bahia, Brazil, and is an invasive species in some areas. ;Native range: :Neotropic ::North America: Mexico ::Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama ::South America: Colombia ;Naturalised range: ::Pacific: Samoa, Tonga ::North America: United States (Florida) ::Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands ::South America: Suriname, French Guiana, Guyana, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay ::Afrotropic: Angola, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen ::Australasia: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands ::Indomalaya: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam ::Palearctic: Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Malta, Israel ==Climate and cultivation==

Like most species of Annona, it requires a tropical or subtropical climate with summer temperatures from to , and mean winter temperatures above . It is sensitive to cold and frost, being defoliated below and killed by temperatures of a couple of degrees below freezing. It is only moderately drought-tolerant, requiring at least of annual rainfall, and does not produce fruit well during droughts. It will grow from sea level to an altitude of and thrives in hot dry climates, differing in its tolerance of lowland tropics from many of the other fruit bearers in the Annona family. It is quite a prolific bearer, and it produces fruit within as little as two to three years. A five-year-old tree can produce as many as 50 sugar apples. Poor fruit production has been reported in Florida because there are few natural pollinators (honeybees have a difficult time penetrating the tightly closed female flowers); however, hand pollination with a natural fibre brush is effective in increasing yield. Natural pollinators include beetles (Coleoptera) of the families Nitidulidae, Staphylinidae, Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae and Scarabaeidae. ==Ecology==

It is a host plant for larvae of the butterfly Graphium agamemnon (tailed jay). In the Philippines, the fruit is commonly eaten by the Philippine fruit bat (kabag or kabog), which spreads the seeds from island to island. ==Uses==

In traditional Indian, Thai, and Native American medicines, the leaves are boiled down with water, possibly mixed with other specific botanicals, and used in a decoction to treat dysentery and urinary tract infection. In traditional Indian medicine, the leaves are also crushed for use as a poultice, and applied to wounds. In Haiti, the fruit is known as cachiman and is used to simply make juice. ==Gallery==

File:Annona squamosa fruit from Myanmar.jpg|Annona squamosa fruit from Myanmar File:Pineapple shijia.jpg|Sugar apple (right), with Taiwanese "pineapple shijia" (atemoya) (left) File:Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) interior.jpg|The sugar apple readily breaks open when ripe. File:Sugar Apple deconstructed.jpg|A deconstruction of a sugar apple shows a lobe of fruit and pulpy segments with seeds. File:Sugar Apple pulp.jpg|A sugar apple ready to eat File:Sugar-apple (Annona squamosa) seeds.jpg|Sugar apple (Annona squamosa) seeds File:Red Sugar Apple.jpg|Red sugar apples from Myanmar File:Sugar-apples 5, Taitung County, Dec 06.JPG|Sugar apples in Taitung, Taiwan File:Ata Sugar-apple Pinha Fruta do conde.JPG|A sugar apple in Goiânia, Brazil File:Sugar Apple Tree.jpg|Sugar apple tree in Philippines File:Aata by Mayeenul Islam.jpg|Two sugar apples in Bangladesh File:Sarifa.jpg|A sugar apple in tree in Terai of Nepal File:Squa9.jpg|A Sugar apple in a table ==References==