Canistel / Eggfruit

Name: Canistel, also called eggfruit, yellow sapote, cupcake fruit or zapote amarillo (Pouteria campechiana). The common name “eggfruit” refers to the dense, dry, yellow flesh, which resembles a hard-boiled egg yolk.

Description

Canistel is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador. Its species name comes from Campeche, the Mexican state where it grows wild. It was carried to the Caribbean and Florida early in the 20th century, and from Cuba it reached the Philippines around 1915, later spreading across tropical Asia, where it is known by several local names, including chesa in the Philippines.

The fruit is oval to round with a smooth, glossy yellow-orange skin, and sweet, rich, dry and crumbly flesh with a texture compared to pumpkin pie, sweet potato or a cooked egg yolk. It is eaten fresh when fully ripe and soft, or blended into milkshakes, ice cream, custards and baked goods, though it remains a regional fruit that is rarely sold outside its growing areas.

Main nutrition value

Canistel is a starchy, energy-dense fruit for its type, providing carbohydrate, some fibre, and carotenoid pigments that give the flesh its yellow colour.

How best to be consumed

Canistel is best when fully ripe and soft, since unripe fruit is astringent and gummy.

1. Wait until the skin softens and the fruit gives slightly, then cut open and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
2. Blend with milk and ice for the popular “eggfruit shake.”
3. Use in ice cream, custards, puddings and cakes, where the rich, dense texture works well.
4. Remove the large, glossy seeds before eating.
5. Eat in small portions at first, since the texture is dense and filling.

Overconsumption could cause…

Canistel is safe in ordinary amounts when ripe, though it is dense and sweet.

1. Weight gain from eating large amounts, since it is more energy-dense than most fresh fruit.
2. Digestive discomfort from the dense, starchy flesh, especially if unripe.
3. Blood sugar effects in people managing diabetes, because of its concentrated sugars.
4. Tooth sticking and stomach upset from unripe, astringent fruit.

GroupsTropical FruitsSapote family (Sapotaceae)Mexican and Latin AmericanFresh

Related foodsMamey SapoteSapodilla / ChikooBlack SapoteCherimoyaWhite SapoteAcerola Cherry

Wikipedia — Pouteria campechiana, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pouteria_campechiana