Star Apple/Kaimito

Star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito) is a fruit that is sweet and juicy but has that latex feel in your mouth.  I remember when I was young, our mouths will be dusty after eating this fruit because the dirt clings into this glue like substance that is in the skin of the fruits.   In the Philippines, we have green and  purple star apple.  The purple colored one is what we call morado.  The fruit has flat seeds just like chico, I guess because they belong to the same family of Sapotaceae.

Star apples grow as a big tree 25 ft to 100 ft tall.  I especially like the leaves because it is glossy green but the underside has that golden iridescent color.  It reminds me of the beetles that have different metallic colors that hovers in mango trees back in our home province.  The plant is  hermaphrodite and the flowers emit a funny smell.

Star apple got its name I’m guessing from when you cut the fruit crosswise, you will see a star shape but we call it “Kaimito” I guess from its scientific name “cainito”.

A native to the Antilles and West Indies, star apples are now grown from Central America to the tropics.  The fruit is full of vitamins and especially phosphorus.  The leaves are now being researched as a diabetic treatment.