How Good are Star Apples?

[BonsaiBeast]

Where does a star apple rank among great fruits like mangos, cherimoyas, lychees, etc.?

[JoshuaTilaranCR]

I think they're really good, even though they have quite a bit of latex but...the other day I went to a nursery and got to try and bought an Abiu, Pouteria caimito and it was as good or better than the star apple and the plant I brought home is maybe a year old grafted and it's already loaded with flowers. The guy told me they're very precocious and from what I saw I would have to agree. The fruits are also twice the size of the star apple fruit. Something else to look into

[BoBiscuit]

Has anyone fruited star apple in SoCal?

There's been a few posts recently about the awesome star apple varieties that are available in Australia. They definitely sound worth growing, if we ever got them here, but I've never actually seen/heard of a star apple tree growing in our area.

[LycheeLust]

I think they're really good, even though they have quite a bit of latex but...the other day I went to a nursery and got to try and bought an Abiu, Pouteria caimito and it was as good or better than the star apple and the plant I brought home is maybe a year old grafted and it's already loaded with flowers. The guy told me they're very precocious and from what I saw I would have to agree. The fruits are also twice the size of the star apple fruit. Something else to look into

What variety of Abiu did you get?

[BonsaiBeast]

I think they're really good, even though they have quite a bit of latex but...the other day I went to a nursery and got to try and bought an Abiu, Pouteria caimito and it was as good or better than the star apple and the plant I brought home is maybe a year old grafted and it's already loaded with flowers. The guy told me they're very precocious and from what I saw I would have to agree. The fruits are also twice the size of the star apple fruit. Something else to look into

What nursery was this?

[Mike T]

The batter satrapples don't have much latex when ripe like the better jackfruit and abius. They have a very pleasant taste and the soft flesh has a little milkiness but this is not sticky latex.

[roblack]

Where does a star apple rank among great fruits like mangos, cherimoyas, lychees, etc.?

Of the varieties I've tasted (not the top tier ones yet), would rank star apple below all the fruit you listed. Nowhere near as good as mangoes.

[Mike T]

Still better than sour lychees or poor mangoes but yes they are some of the best.

[skhan]

Where does a star apple rank among great fruits like mangos, cherimoyas, lychees, etc.?

Of the varieties I've tasted (not the top tier ones yet), would rank star apple below all the fruit you listed. Nowhere near as good as mangoes.

I agree, the star apple that remain on the tree during mango season tend to be forgetting.
I'm sure if it wasn't for these new Zill types they'd compete better .
With all that said i still love them

[JoshuaTilaranCR]

LycheeLust and BonsaiBeat  I'm not sure what variety it was but I got it from Zill here in Costa Rica.

MikeT, I've only tried the star apples here in Costa Rica and they definitely leave my lips sticky so I can't comment on ones with less latex. I picked up a tree the other day from the guy in town that has a nursery, it's grafted, about 3 feet tall and covered in flowers. Hopefully it's a good variety. There are trees here in town that are gigantic, probably over 100 feet tall but they were probably grown from seed. The Abiu I tried had very little latex in it and the fruit had a pronounced nipple

[CarolinaZone]

Come on Man. Tell us the nursery. I'm in the market for Abiu plants.

[JoshuaTilaranCR]

Sorry, I thought I did say the nursery, I got it from Zill's here in Costa Rica

[Gogu]

Not of fan of star apples personally. Same with abiu albeit abiu is a bit better. The flavor is just boring to me. The sticky skin is also annoying. I think if you like persimmons you might like star apples and abiu.

[Jaboticaba45]

I think star apples taste better than abiu...even though the star was from the store, it tasted better than abiu from PR. I think abiu is good too, just star apple has a better taste.

[noochka1]

I'm not a fan of star apples at all.  The flavor is insipid, and the latex is really annoying. 

[johnb51]

Not of fan of star apples personally. Same with abiu albeit abiu is a bit better. The flavor is just boring to me. The sticky skin is also annoying. I think if you like persimmons you might like star apples and abiu.

Huh.  I don't think persimmons have a boring flavor.  To me they're richly flavored.  I think the soft jelly texture of ripe astringent persimmons is what some people don't like.

[marklee]

I think they're really good, even though they have quite a bit of latex but...the other day I went to a nursery and got to try and bought an Abiu, Pouteria caimito and it was as good or better than the star apple and the plant I brought home is maybe a year old grafted and it's already loaded with flowers. The guy told me they're very precocious and from what I saw I would have to agree. The fruits are also twice the size of the star apple fruit. Something else to look into

What variety of Abiu did you get?

Yes, I've seen star apples fruited in San Diego.

[brian]

I tried purple star apple once when I was in Hawaii.  It was decent, but I didn't really want another.

[JF]

Caimitos are not desirable fruit but there are some good ones mostly greens....haven’t a a decent purple yet.

[JoeP450]

I agree with most of these assessments, but to chime in on the purple caimitos I’ve had from truly tropical: I found getting latex stuck to my lips annoying on the few times it happened but for the most part I was able to avoid that by eating more carefully, as for flavor it was mildly sweet with faint remnants of grape, even more  faint milky dairy notes,  it for most part is it’s gelatinous texture that is experienced. I ended up buying a green caimito and planting out because I have heard they are better and because of the fact they are in season in FL when most other fruits are not. I didn’t find the purple caimito off putting, and since I enjoy eating fruits from my yard/mini food Forrest I am attracted to and diversified fruit being ready when others aren’t. Some other fruits in season during this time include reticulata and canistel, black sapote which seem to be mostly viewed as second rate by most, so gotta pick your poison 🤷‍♂️

Joe