Plant atlas Short

Sapodilla: The Fruit That Gave Us Chewing Gum

Sapodilla · ละมุด · Manilkara zapota

Sapodilla — ละมุด (la-mut) — Manilkara zapota.

Sapodilla — lah-mut — a dull-brown fruit that scoops out sweet and malty, close to brown sugar, plus how to eat it ripe and what the research shows. Sapodilla has just one gut study, and it stops at animals: the extract was tested against diarrhea and ulcers, and none of that has been shown in people. You eat the ripe flesh and discard the seeds. For sapodilla nutrition, that flesh carries vitamin C, fiber, copper, and potassium. The vitamin C helps your body build collagen and works as an antioxidant. The fiber keeps digestion moving and slows sugar absorption. Copper helps your body put the iron you eat to work, and potassium supports normal muscle and nerve function. Two Thai desserts show it off: swa loy kaew steeps sliced ripe sapodilla in jasmine syrup and serves it cold over crushed ice, while lamut kuan slow-cooks overripe sapodilla with lime juice and salt into a thick sweet preserve. Skip the seeds, since each has a hooked end and is traditionally discarded, and eat sapodilla only when it is fully soft, because unripe fruit turns harshly astringent and its sticky sap can irritate your mouth and gut. Follow Longevity Biome for a new Thai plant every day.

Sapodilla in Syrup — ละมุดลอยแก้ว (lamut-loy-gaew)
Thai Sapodilla Paste — ละมุดกวน (lamut-guan)

Source: Ansari SF et al. (2019). Sapodilla for GI disorders: in-vivo/proteomic/in-silico. BioMed Res Int 2019:4921086. DOI:10.1155/2019/4921086 (PMID 31886219)

Educational content, not medical advice! Consult your doctor before changing diet or medication.

#LongevityBiome #ThaiHerbs #Sapodilla

Food and nutrients

Rich in: vitamin C, fiber, copper, potassium

Research context

Sapodilla extract protected against diarrhea and ulcers in animal studies — BioMed Research International, 2019

Safety note. Eat only fully ripe fruit — unripe sapodilla has astringent tannins and a sticky latex/tannin that can irritate the mouth and gut.

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