Sugar Apple

The sugar-apple or sweet-sop is the edible fruit of Annona squamosa,^[1] the most widely grown species of Annona and a native of tropical climate in the Americas and West Indies. Spanish traders aboard the Manila galleons docking in the Philippines brought it to Asia.^[2] The fruit is spherical-conical, 5–10 centimetres (2–4 inches) in diameter and 6–10 cm (2+1⁄4–4 in) long, and weighing 100–240 grams (3.5–8.5 ounces), with a thick rind composed of knobby segments. The color is typically pale green through blue-green, with a deep pink blush in certain varieties, and typically has a bloom. It is unique among Annona fruits in being segmented; the segments tend to separate when ripe, exposing the interior.

The flesh is fragrant and sweet, creamy white through light yellow, and resembles and tastes like custard. It is found adhering to 13-to-16-millimetre-long (1⁄2 to 5⁄8 in) seeds forming individual segments arranged in a single layer around a conical core. It is soft, slightly grainy, and slippery. The hard, shiny seeds may number 20–40 or more per fruit and have a brown to black coat, although varieties exist that are almost seedless.^[2][3] The seeds can be ground for use as an insecticide.^[1]

There are also new varieties being developed in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The atemoya or “pineapple sugar-apple”, a hybrid between the sugar-apple and the cherimoya, is popular in Taiwan, although it was first developed in the United States in 1908. The fruit is similar in sweetness to the sugar-apple but has a very different taste. As its name suggests, it tastes like pineapple.