ABSTRACT
Sugar apple is also called custard apple or sweetsop. It is cultivated for the edible fruits. Ripe fruits are eaten fresh and used in the preparation of juice and ice cream. Sugar apple originated in South America and is now widely grown in Asia and Africa. It is presently cultivated in Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Seychelles. A member of the family Annonaceae, it has chromosome number 2n = 14. It is a small tree growing up to 5 m in height. Flowers are perfect and yellowish in color. Fruit is a fleshy syncarp formed by the fusion of pistils and receptacle that is yellowish green, heart shaped, and covered with fleshy tubercles. Pulp is sweet, whitish, and embedded with numerous hard seeds. Pulp contains 16 to 18 percent sugar. Seeds are commonly used for propagation, and seed ling trees are heterogeneous. Flowers are protogynous, and pollination is by insects. Ripe fruits are soft and perishable.
