Sugar Apple

Annona squamosa 'Kampong Mauve'

fruit

Sugar apple, or sweetsop (Annona squamosa Kampong Mauve), is a small, open tropical tree, 10 to 20 ft tall, bearing knobby, segmented, pale-green-to-purple fruit that breaks apart into sweet, fragrant, custard-like white segments, each around a seed, eaten fresh with a spoon. Kampong Mauve is a large, purple-tinged selection. The tree is highly drought tolerant and well adapted to dry tropical and near-tropical areas, but it needs a frost-free climate, tolerating only a few degrees below freezing for short periods.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Banana — A tropical companion that adds humidity and shelter at bloom time
• Comfrey — A nutrient accumulator for a mineral-rich mulch over the shallow roots
• Lemongrass — A clumping tropical grass that mulches the root zone and deters some pests

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Seed borer →

  A wasp larva (Bephratelloides) that infests the seeds and lets fungus in; remove and destroy affected fruit and bag developing fruit where practical

• Mealybugs →

  Cottony clusters on fruit; rinse off, use horticultural oil, and control ants

• Soft scale →

  Bumps on stems and leaves with sticky honeydew; treat with horticultural oil and conserve natural enemies

🌾 Harvest & storage

Harvest sugar apples in late summer and fall when the segments begin to separate and show cream, yellow, or red tints in the seams; fruit picked before this will only dry and blacken rather than ripen. It softens to ready in a few days at room temperature. Break the ripe fruit open and spoon out the sweet segments, discarding the toxic seeds.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Sugar apple is rich in vitamin C and natural sugars, giving very sweet, custard-like flesh. It is eaten fresh with a spoon and blended (seeds removed) into shakes and ice cream.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Eat only the sweet pulp and spit out the seeds. The seeds are poisonous and acrid, and powdered seed is a strong irritant that can seriously damage the eyes (it has historically been used against head lice but must be kept away from the eyes). Never crush or blend the seeds into food.