Improving Pond Apple — Any Attempts?

[Epicatt2]

With the various comments and discussions over time ref Annona glabra (Pond apple) here on TFF, I've got to wondering whether anyone has ever taken this taxon in hand and seriously tried to improve it.

Improvement perhaps by means of the crossing of any of the better tasting individuals, or by out-crossing A. glabra with related species of Annona that have decent flavor.

Of course there is that one costarrican variety called 'Golden Sugar Apple' or 'Golden Honey Sugar Apple' which is considered by many as just a random variety of pond apple.

I guess what I'm mostly wondering is whether A. glabra has potential enough to be worth trying to improve. (I'm guessing, of course, that those aligators in the 'Glades that eat the fruit in the wild are satisfied with the status quo of this species.)

Cheers!

Paul M.
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[Tropical Bay Area]

People have described it as having a bland pineapple flavor, which we could work with, definetly I would at least want it improved
There are many annona enthusiasts including me that would like to have every single annona be improved and have good fruit 

[Tropical Bay Area]

U think “golden sugar apple” tastes better considering they list it as a hybrid? Also it most likely could be hybridized with other “guanabanus” annonas

[Epicatt2]

U think “golden sugar apple” tastes better considering they list it as a hybrid? Also it most likely could be hybridized with other “guanabanus” annonas

I'm merely saying that there are those who say that the golden sugar apple is either a hybrid or maybe just a chance pond apple with a distinctive flavor.  I personally don't know for sure what the actual case is with this plant.

But I do suspect there might the possiblity of improving A. glabra and am wondering whether anyone has tried this before.

Paul M.
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[Galatians522]

At one point I read every thread on this forum that mentioned pond apple and a lot of other articles that I found on the web about the topic. My resulting conclusion was that any hybridization with common anonas of good fruit quality will be difficult at best. Embryo rescue may be necessary, and if a tree does result from all of that work there is a good chance that it will be sterile (or nearly so). I would still like to see the task attempted, though, because it would potentially create an interstem that would make pond apple a truly viable roostock for a higher quality annona.

That being said, there is variation in pond apple and I have eaten some that were pretty good. I plan to try making juice with fruit from our tree this year similar to the way sour sop is used. I'll see how it turns out.

[Epicatt2]

Galatians,

You mentioned that you've eaten a few pond apples that had a fairly good taste.  Could you elaborate on that, please?

Your remarks make me think that this species could likely be improved wth careful intraspecific breeding.

Paul M.
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[Tropical Bay Area]

Galatians,

You mentioned that you've eaten a few pond apples that had a fairly good taste.  Could you elaborate on that, please?

Your remarks make me think that this species could likely be improved wth careful intraspecific breeding.

Paul M.
==

Yes, after all,  most fruits originated from not so good Ancestors... I believe all of you in Florida could do some breeding! I will try but I have been told tour climate it’s hard to grow... I will try to breed some
Good luck all of you in Florida 

[Galatians522]

Galatians,

You mentioned that you've eaten a few pond apples that had a fairly good taste.  Could you elaborate on that, please?

Your remarks make me think that this species could likely be improved wth careful intraspecific breeding.

Paul M.
==

The first description that I heard of pond apple was that it tasted like cantaloupe that had been soaked in Dawn dish detergent. That did not sound very appealing, but I will try almost anything once.

About 6-7 years ago I collected some pond apple seeds under a tree at the Manatee Park along Orange Creek on my way to Fort Meyers. The tree was on dry ground, but there was no fruit to taste. I planted about 20 seeds and only 2 or 3 sprouted. Of those only one grew to become a tree.

Later, I collected some fruits from a tree on a canal bank near Homestead. The fruit looked mature but was still green. When the fruit softened I tasted it and was overpowered with a flavor that reminded me of the way pinesol cleaner smells. If my experience ended there, I would agree with the comments about the fruit being worthless.

By last year, my lone pond apple tree (after several failed grafting attempts) fruited. By the time I got to the fruit, it was fully yellow and had fallen to the ground. I tasted it expecting the same pinesol flavor (apparently I can be a slow learner). Instead, I got a mango passion fruit like flavor with an underlying resin taste that was not offensive. I ate the whole fruit and enjoyed it. In all fairness, I had eaten a miracle fruit shortly before, so my sense of sweetness was altered. It did have a lot of seeds and was somewhat stringy, but the flavor wasn't bad and I could see how it might make a nice jelly. I will see how they taste this year without miracle fruit.

[skhan]

I think it's a worthwhile endeavor.
At least hunting around for a decent one.

The best one tastes close to a store-bought seedy picked too green cherimoya.
Not bad if you don't have anything else to eat.

The first stage would be finding a few decent ones though.
I don't know many people willing to find, pick. sample and log.
I'd like to but don't have many trees nearby.

If anyone in the Coral Springs area knows where a bunch of trees in close proximity are, PM me

[850FL]

Instead, I got a mango passion fruit like flavor with an underlying resin taste that was not offensive. I ate the whole fruit and enjoyed it. In all fairness, I had eaten a miracle fruit shortly before, so my sense of sweetness was altered. It did have a lot of seeds and was somewhat stringy, but the flavor wasn't bad and I could see how it might make a nice jelly. I will see how they taste this year without miracle fruit.

Miracle fruit bias!! Results disqualified
But, that might be the new way of eating them. Good find
And.. Not any different than what these corporate food manufacturers do anyway.. Sell ya cardboard laced with msg and all is good for both parties 😉

I’m interested in finding some individuals that’ll survive this far north. Our lack of diversity is so disappointing (compared to the rest of Fl)

[Galatians522]

I don't know if they will survive that far north. The only place I have seen wild ones here is along Lake Istokpoga. I think this is about the limit of their natural range. On the flip side, I have often seen wild chickisaw plums and rabbit eye blueberries in your area that we do not have here. There are tradeoffs no matter where you live.