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How To Grow Atis - Sugar Apple

Atis is the most widely grown fruit of the Annona family.  Its scientific name is Annona squamosa In the USA it is most known as the Sugar Apple; since we import all our plants from the Philippines we call this Atis               

Some other names in different countries

Country	Name
Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama	anon
Colombia	anon de azucar, anon domestico, hanon, mocuyo
El Salvador	anona de castilla
Nicaragua	anona de Guatemala
Grenadines	applebush
Brazil	ata, fruta do conde, fruta de condessa, frutiera deconde, pinha, araticutitaia, or ati
Philippines	ates or atis
Gabon	atte
Guatemala, Ecuador	chirimoya
Argentina	cachiman
Haiti	cachiman cannelle
Surinam	kaneelappel
Guadeloupe, French Guiana, French West Africa	pomme cannelle
Venezuela	rinon
Mexico	saramulla, saramuya, ahate
Netherlands Antilles	scopappel
Jamaica, Bahamas	sweetsop
India	ata, luna, meba, sharifa, sarifa, sitaphal, sita pandu, custard apple, scaly custard apple
Malaya	bnah nona, nona, seri kaya
Thailand	manonah, noinah, pomme cannelle du Cap
Vietnam	qu a na
China,Cambodia, Laos	mang cau ta  mak khbieb  fan-li-chi

Description

The Atis tree will usually grow from 10-20 feet in height.  It has an open crown of branches.  The deciduous leaves are arranged on short petioles and are oblong blunt tipped about 2-6 inches in size.  They have a dull-green on the upper side and are aromatic when crushed. 

The flowers are borne singly or in groups of 2-4.  They seem to never fully open, and are about 1 inches long.  They have 3 outer petals that are a yellow grown color.  They are pale yellow inside with a purple or dark red spot at the base.

The fruit is almost round, or conical, from 2-4 inches in size. And its outer skin is composed of knobby segments that are green or gray-green to almost a bluish color. In one form the fruit is actually a dull deep pink.  The fruit separates when ripe and reveals a white fragrant juicy edible meat. Usually there are 20-30 seeds however some trees bear seedless fruits.

Origin

We are not completely sure of the origin of the Atis.  Mostly it was cultivated in Central America and Mexico and thought to be brought to the Philippines by the Spanish.  It is now found in most areas of Asia and South America including Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Barbados, India, Polynesia, Hawaii, tropical Africa, Egypt, and in dry regions of North Queensland, Australia, and is often found along the roadsides.

In India the tree is so common that the fruit is exceedingly popular and abundant in the markets.  In Brazil and Bahia this is their most important fruit.

Varieties

There seems to be 10 major varieties or cultivators

1.      'Red' (A. squamosa var. Sangareddyiz)—red-tinted foliage and flowers, deep-pink rind, mostly non-reducing sugars, insipid, with small, blackish-pink seeds; poor quality; comes true from seed

2.      'Red-speckled'—having red spots on green rind.

3.      'Crimson'—conspicuous red-toned foliage and flowers, deep-pink rind, pink flesh.

4.      'Yellow'; 'White-stemmed'; 'Mammoth' (A. squamosa var. mammoth)—pale yellow petals, smooth, broad, thick, round rind segments that are light russet green; fruits lopsided, pulp soft, white, very sweet; comes true from seed.

5.      'Balangar'—large, with green rind having rough, warty [tuberculate], fairly thick rind segments with creamy margins; sweet; high yielding.

6.      'Kakarlapahad'—very high yielding.

7.      'Washington'—acute tuberculate rind segments, orange-yellow margins; high yielding; late in season, 20 days after others.

8.      'Barbados' and 'British Guiana'—having green rind, orange-yellow margins; high-yielding; late.

9.      'Beni Mazar'—nearly round, large, 5 1/4 to 6 1/2 oz (150-180 g); 56-60% flesh; 15 30 seeds.

10.  'Abd El Razik'—light-green or reddish rind; nearly round, large, maximum 8 1/3 oz (236.3 g); 69.5% flesh; 14 seeds.

Climate

The Atis Tree requires a tropical or near-tropical climate.  In saying this it is not uncommon to find them growing in pots in colder climates.  They seem to do well when pruned down to a sizable tree and brought in during freezing temps and fruit production does not seem to diminish much.  Generally it does best in dry areas and has a high drought tolerance.  During the flowering and blooming season drought does interfere with the pollination so it is best to have dry climates during this time or hand pollinate the flowers.  In severe drought the tree sheds its leaves and the fruit rind hardens until the rains come.

Soil

Atis is not picky about the soil it’s planted in as long as it is well drained soil.  It seems to perform well in sand.  Water logging will kill this tree. It contains shallow roots and does not need deep soil.  It does fine with irrigation systems.

Propagation

It seems that Atis seeds have a pretty long shelve life and can be kept for 3-4 years.  I have found they germinate better a week after removed from the fruit then when just out of the fruit.  Germination is rather long for Annona’s at around 30 days.  Sometimes by soaking them for 3-4 days first will speed up this germination and improve the rate.  Some say you should not soak the seeds at all.  Most of these trees are grown from seed and not the other avenues.  Seedlings can be budded or grafter when they are a year old.  Budding is best done in January through March.  Poor results after these dates seem to occur. Cuttings, layers, air layers have a low rate of success, and trees grown by these techniques have shallow root systems and cannot endure drought as well as seedlings do.

Fruit Production

Atis seedling around 5 years old may yield 50 fruits per tree in late summer or fall.  The older the tree gets the less fruit it yields.  Most people replace the tree once they get between 10-20 years of age.  The fruits do not really ripen on the older trees but turn black and dry up.

Pests

Here is Florida and also the Caribbean there are a few pests.

1.      Seed borer – chalcid fly or Bephratelloides cubensis, infests the seeds and mummifies the partially grown fruit.  This can be prevented by covering the small emerging fruit with a plastic bag and loose tape to prevent the fly from entering the fruit.

2.      Similar damage is caused by B. maculicollis in Colombia, Venezuela and Surinam, by B. ruficollis in Panama, and B. paraguayensis in Paraguay.

3.      Soft Scale Philephedra sp attacks leaves and twigs and deposits honeydew on them. 

4.      Ambrosia beetles lay eggs on the stems and the larvae can cause dieback in the winter.

5.      Mealy bug in Australia can be easily controlled

6.      Green tree ant creates nests that can cover the tree in India

Diseases

1.      Leaf blight in India cause a fungus Colletotrichum annonicola.

 

Food Uses

Most people break open the Atis and enjoy the flesh segments.  The seed are just spit out.  Similar to how people eat water melon.  Sometimes the flesh is pressed through cheese cloth for the juice to add to mile, or ice cream.  This fruit is never cooked.

1.      The seeds are acrid and poisonous.

2.      Bark, leaves and seeds contain alkaloid and anonaine

3.      Powdered seeds and fruits serve as fish poison and insecticide.

4.      Seed paste of seed powder has been applied to the head of those infested with lice.  One must note to keep this away from the eyes or blindness can occur.

5.      The leaves yield excellent oils for terpenes and sesquiterpenes for limited use in perfumes

6.      Fiber from the bark can be used for cords.

Medical Uses (Use with Doctors Advice)

1.      Crushed leaves are sniffed to overcome hysteria and fainting spells

2.      Leaves can be applied on ulcers and wounds

3.      Decoction of the leaves or with other plants is swallowed as a tonic for colds, digestive or to clarify the urine.

4.      Non Ripe Fruit is employed against diarrhea

5.      Crushed ripe fruit mixed with salt is applied on tumors

6.      The bark and roots are an astringent

7.      The roots are administered as a drastic treatment for dysentery and other ailments

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Food Value Per 100 g of Edible Portion*

*Minimum and maximum levels of constituents from analyses made in the Philippines, Central America and Cuba.

**The average sugar content is 14.58% and is about 50-50 glucose and sucrose.

Portions of the data from Morton, J. 1987. Sugar Apple. p. 69–72. In: Fruits of warm climates. Julia F. Morton, Miami, FL.