Family: Sapotaceae

 Abiu, an Amazonian native with a long history of cultivation, is a fruit-producing tree. It’s easy to grow and has a delicious taste. Inside the fruit, a creamy, custard-like flesh surrounds 1 to 4 seeds. The fruit has a distinctive shape: smooth yellow skin with a round/oval form coming to a point at the distal end. 

Abiu is ripe when the fruit reaches a golden color and is slightly soft. Avoid sticky lips by eating fully ripe fruit. Abiu can be picked and left to sit for a few days to ripen further. Then, to eat, simply cut the fruit in half and scoop it out with a spoon. 

Sow fresh seeds; sprouting should occur within two months. Trees can bear fruit in as little as four years (trees in Colombia have been known to fruit in 1 year; however, the fruit was tiny). Mature trees can produce 100’s of fruit. Trees in Hawaii can produce fruit multiple times a year. Keep tree trimmed for easier access for harvesting. Abiu is self-compatible, but cross-pollination may yield bigger fruit. For the most part, it’s true to seed. 

Plant Uses:

• Edible
• Medicinal
• Ornamental
• Privacy / screening
• Woodworking

Plant Dangers:

• No dangers

High Risk Traits:

• Congeneric weed (e.g., P. campechiana invasive in Florida)
  
• Host for recognized pests & pathogens (fruit flies, trunk borer)
  
• Tolerates wide range of soil conditions
  
• Self-compatible (some trees)
  
• Seeds survive passage through gut (dispersed by primates, potentially pigs)
  
• Intentional dispersal by people (cultivated as fruit tree)
  
• Produces viable seed
  
• Fast germination (15–45 days)
  
• Possibly shade tolerant

Low Risk Traits:

• Not naturalized beyond native range
  
• No spines, thorns, or burrs
  
• No evidence of toxicity to animals or humans
  
• No fire hazard (wet forest habitat)
  
• No vegetative spread
  
• Not wind-dispersed
  
• Not bird-dispersed (fruit too large)
  
• No external animal dispersal
  
• No prolific seed production
  
• No persistent seed bank (recalcitrant seeds)