ABIU FACT SHEET
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pouteria caimito
FAMILY: Sapotaceae
Common Names - Abiu (Brazil), Caimito (Venezuela), Caimito and Caimo (Columbia).
Origin - Amazon Valley
Distribution - The Amazon Valley from Peru to Venezuela, Brazil from the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro, Columbia in the Cauca Valley.
History - The abiu is thought to have been transported from Peru down the Amazon to Belem. In Rio it has proved hardy. In South Florida it has fruited for a number of years.
Importance - Outside its native range the abiu is important only in Brazil. Wilson Popenoe describes it as one of the best sapotaceous fruits.
Description - Height to 50 feet in its native territory, presently 15 to 20 feet in Florida, evergreen, pyramidal in shape. Leaves, obovate to lanceolate in shape, alternate, 4 to 8 inches long, acute, glabrous and bright green. Flowers, small, white, borne on branches, fruit borne singly on branches inside foliage, light yellow, up to 5 inches in diameter but usually considerably smaller in Florida. Seeds 1 to 5, larger fruiting clones observed to contain fewer seeds.
Climate and Soils - Grows best in warmer areas of Florida where it will tolerate light frost. While it has grown and fruited on calcareous lands it is thought to do better under acid soil conditions.
Propagation - To date only seedlings are grown in South Florida, but the larger fruiting varieties should be selected and vegetatively propagated by graft and marcot.
Uses - The fruit, eaten fresh out of hand, has been compared favorably with honeydew melon. In South America it is often consumed after first coating the lips with butter, to prevent the sweet, sticky latex from adhering to the outside of the mouth.
DATE: March 1982
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