Sapota

Sapota

Scientific name: Manikara zapota

Local name: ‘Sofeda’

Taxonomic Position (according to Cronquist)

Botanical Description of Safeda

Habit: A small evergreen tree with milky latex

Root: Tap root system

Stem: Branches terete, often ending in a spine

Leaf: Simple, sub-opposite or clustered

Inflorescence: A cylindrical spike

Flower: Complete, actinomorphic hermaphrodite

Calyx: Sepal 6

Corolla: Petal 6

Androecium: Stamen 6

Gynoecium: Ovary many celled, style 1, stigma 1

Fruit: Fruit a fleshy berry, usually globose

Chromosome number: 2n=26

Economic Importance

Sweet and delicious edible fruits, highly nutritious. The fruit is used as a preventive against biliousness and attack of fever.

Table 1. Safeda varieties developed by Horticultural Research Center (HRC), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur and Germplasm Center (GPC), Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh