Sapote

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Name Variations

 * Tzapotl

About Sapote
Sapote (from Nahuatl tzapotl) 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, Indian and northern parts of South America.

Some but not all sapotes come from the family Sapotaceae:


 * Sapotaceae sapotes:
 * Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota), native to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, and possibly El Salvador. The Sapotaceae were named after this species.
 * Yellow sapote (Pouteria campechiana), native to Mexico and Central America.
 * Mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota), native from southern Mexico to northern South America.
 * Green sapote (Pouteria viridis), native to lowland southern Mexico.


 * Ebenaceae sapotes:
 * Black sapote (Diospyros digyna), native from eastern Mexico south to Colombia. Probably the original Aztec tzapotl.
 * Chapote (Diospyros texana), native to the lower Rio Grande region in Texas and Mexico


 * Other sapotes
 * White sapote (Casimiroa edulis: Rutaceae), native to northern and central Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.
 * South American sapote (Quararibea cordata: Malvaceae), native to the Amazon Rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.