The World of Apples

The apples that aren't

Custard apple

Annona reticulata, Annonaceae, the custard-apple family

Morton called the custard apple “the mediocre or ‘ugly duckling’ species” of its genus3. Its compound fruit, 8 to 16 cm across, may be heart-shaped, lopsided or nearly round, with a thin, tough skin, yellow or brownish with a pink or reddish blush; under the skin lies a thick, cream-white layer of custard-like, somewhat granular flesh3. The name, the American Heritage Dictionary says, is for that pulp4.

The name does not stay put. Wiktionary gives custard apple for the soursop, the sugar apple, the cherimoya and the North American pawpaw as well5, and Morton noted that this fruit is in turn sometimes miscalled sugar apple and sweetsop3. Its commonest other English name is bullock’s heart, and French and Portuguese call it the same, for its shape and blush3,4.

Morton thought it a native of the West Indies, carried early through Central America to southern Mexico; it has long been grown and naturalised as far south as Peru and Brazil, apparently reached tropical Africa early in the seventeenth century, and runs wild in many parts of India3. In Central America, Mexico and the West Indies the fruit is appreciated by all; it may be eaten with light cream and a little sugar, or sieved into milkshakes, custards and ice cream3.

Where the sources disagree

  • Native range. Morton: the West Indies3; Kew: Mexico to north-eastern Venezuela2.

Sources

  1. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Annona reticulata, Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Supports: the accepted name and family.
  2. Plants of the World Online: Annona reticulata, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Supports: the accepted name and the native range, "Mexico to NE. Venezuela".
  3. Custard Apple, in Fruits of Warm Climates, Julia F. Morton, Purdue University NewCROP, 1987. Supports: the "ugly duckling" of its genus; the fruit, its size and its custard-like flesh; its misapplied names; bullock's heart and its French and Portuguese equivalents; the West Indies as its believed home; its spread to Mexico, Peru, Brazil, tropical Africa, India and south-east Asia.
  4. custard apple, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, fifth edition, HarperCollins, 2022. Supports: the name, "so called because its pulp resembles custard"; also called bullock's heart.
  5. custard apple, Wiktionary. Supports: custard apple also used for the soursop, the sugar apple, the cherimoya and the North American pawpaw.