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Annona reticulata
Also called Bullock's Heart, Ox Heart
Custard apple (Annona reticulata) is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree grown mainly for its sweet, custard-flavoured fruit. It needs a warm frost-free climate and a dry spell to fruit well.
Annona reticulata is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the plant family Annonaceae. It is best known for its fruit, called custard apple, a common name shared with fruits of several other species in the same genus: A. cherimola and A. squamosa. Other English common names include ox heart and bullock's heart. The fruit is sweet and useful in preparation of desserts, but is generally less popular for eating than that of A. cherimola.
Seeds can be propagated. Other techniques for cultivation are grafting and budding. The tree produces 45 kg of fruits per year. In Asia, the season lasts from July to September, and in the Caribbean, it runs from February to April. Annona reticulata can take 2-3 years from planting time to harvest.
Annona reticulata is native to the West Indies (Caribbean and Central America). Annona reticulata is now pantropical. It grows from sea level to elevations of 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) in areas of Central America that have alternating wet and dry seasons. It is cultivated and naturalized in many tropical places including Southeast Asia, Taiwan, South Asia, Australia, and Africa. In India, the species has migrated from initial cultivation into the wild.
In a 100-gram reference amount, custard apple supplies 423 kilojoules (101 kilocalories) of food energy, 23% of the Daily Value (DV) of vitamin C and 17% DV of vitamin B6, with no other micronutrients in significant amounts (table). Raw custard apple is 72% water, 25% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 1% fat (table).
Cherimoya · Annona coriacea · Fleshyflower Annona · Pond apple · Wild cherimoya of Jalisco · Ilama · Mountain soursop · Sugar Apple · Soursop · Annona nutans · Annona paludosa · Annona
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Annona reticulata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
