Getting to know Alkesa Fruit, Canistel Butter

Alkesa fruit is also called butter sapodilla, sweet potato sapodilla, Dutch brown, or kanistel. In English it is referred to as canistel, egg fruit, or yellow sapote.

The fruit with the scientific name Pouteria campechiana comes from Central America and southern Mexico. However, because of its benefits, this fruit tree is now cultivated in many countries, including Indonesia.

The sapodilla tree is medium in size, reaching up to 30 m in height, although most only reach 20 m. The leaves are collected at the ends of the twigs, round inverted eggs and elongated, somewhat resembling a spoon, tapering at the base and ends, the color is glossy green. The flowers appear in the axils of the lower leaves, single or in clusters, 5–12 cm long stems, 5 petals, whitish green in color and fragrant.

The fruit is spindle-shaped, oval, breech-ovoid, to rounded, with a beak tip with a diameter of about 7 cm. The fruit skin is thin, slippery like wax, stiff, and yellow when ripe. The flesh of the fruit is yellow, moist or slightly dry powdery, slightly fragrant, and tastes sweet. The seeds are large, shiny brown, ovoid, up to 5 cm long, 1–5 in each fruit.

Alkesa fruit that is ripe in Indonesia is usually eaten as fresh fruit. However, in other countries, the flesh of the fruit, which is similar to yellow yam, is mixed with salt and pepper, orange juice, or mayonnaise, then eaten fresh or after being heated for a while.

This fruit has flesh with a texture and taste similar to boiled sweet potato or cassava tapai. The flesh of the fruit is also often mashed and used as a mixture of ice cream or milkshakes. This buttered sapodilla fruit is also often mixed into puddings, pancakes, and used as jam to spread bread.

Alkesa tree wood is grayish brown to reddish in color, smooth, strong, hard and of medium to heavy weight making it suitable for making boards or blocks. Alkesa plant stems have a milky sap or latex that will come out when the skin is cut. In Central America, the latex is tapped to mix manila sapodilla gum as an ingredient in chewing gum. Alkesa trees are often planted as shade or garden decoration.

Alkesa fruit is dubbed a superfood because it contains many nutrients, including carotene which is good for the eyes, thiamine, niacin, carbohydrates, vitamin C, vitamin A, phosphorus, calcium. In addition, this fruit can also be a source of energy because it has a fairly high carbohydrate content.

The various nutrients contained in it make this fruit provide many health benefits when consumed, including improving eye health, strengthening muscles, improving brain function, fighting free radicals, reducing the risk of hypertension, reducing the risk of diabetes, improving joint and cartilage health, increasing immunity. body, and overcome constipation.

Alkesa is cultivated by planting its seeds or grafting. However, grafting has more advantages, namely it will provide seeds with stronger roots, as well as better able to absorb nutrients in the soil and produce large fruit. Thanks to its superior roots, at the age of 1 year, this grafted plant can bear fruit