2023 White Sapote Taste Test - Best Ones on Your Trees

[sc4001992]

I had posted this in another thread so I moved it here to highlight the white sapote for 2023.

If you have tasted any of your white or yellow sapote, please post a photo, variety name, and taste results.

Here's the older thread of my info below:
=========================================================
Update, now that is has been a few years since this post was active, I can give you some updates on my white sapote fruits.

I have now tasted the following fruits:
1. McDill
2. Yellow Sapote (from Arboretum)
3. Younghan's Gold
4. Super sweet
5. Cuccio
6. Suebelle
7. Vernon

My favorite so far on this list is from best to worst.
1. Younghan's Gold
2.  McDill
3. Cuccio
4. Vernon
5. Super Sweet

I have the following flowers/fruits on my grafts this year, so I hope to add to the list of fruits I tasted this year.
1. Clytia (from Jack)
2. Younghan's Gold
3. Super Sweet
4. Vernon
5. Butterscotch (AJ)
6. Bonita Springs
7. Vernon
8. Nettie
9. Mary Lane (ML)
10. Yellow Sapote seedling (Arboretum)
======================================================

[sc4001992]

I have tasted the yellow sapote from my tree of the CSUF arboretum variety. It is very good so I will update my favorit list below:

My favorite so far on this list is from best to worst.
1. Younghan's Gold
2.  McDill
3. Yellow Sapote (CSUF) variety - it has no name on the placard.
4. Maddox, yellow sapote seedling of #3 above from CSUF
5. Cuccio
6. Vernon
7. Norm's - this is an old un-named variety
8. Nasrin - from AJ
9. Super sweet

Should be able to taste the C. tetrameria #7 very soon, huge fruit.
 

[sc4001992]

I finally picked the C. Tetrameria #7 that is grafted on my white sapote (McDill) seedling tree. This is the first time I had full size fruits on the graft. It had 3 large fruits growing so I had to remove 2 of them since the grafted branch was not that large/thick to hold the weight of 3 fruits.

This fruit is a record size for me, almost 2 lbs, wow!

Here's the photo below. Brix reading was 15, not real sweet, but still very good tasting. It has no off taste, you can eat the skin (soft) if you like. Seeds are on the smaller size for this fruit. My wife said it tasted like a banana to her.

[sc4001992]

Ok, another update on my list:

My favorite so far on this list is from best to worst.
1. Younghan's Gold
2.  McDill
3. Yellow Sapote (CSUF) variety - it has no name on the placard.
4. Maddox, yellow sapote seedling of #3 above from CSUF, ate many fruits now (3), still have 2 more hanging.
5. C.Tetrameria #7
6. Cuccio
7. Vernon
8. Norm's - this is an old un-named variety from CRFG member.
9. Nasrin - from AJ, first time to fruit, very small fruit but tasty, it's a keeper.
10. Super sweet

Should be able to taste the Clytia in another month, fruit size is small/medium.
 

[jbirdfunk]

This thread is great, can't believe I didn't see it before. I've been eating a lot of these recently from a local tree and some farm stand finds, and wanting get some of the best ones. That Tetrameria #7 is incredible looking. Would love to see photos of each variety.

I'm germinating lots of seedlings for some grafting later on. Where have you mostly found your scions? Hoping the local CRFG exchange in January has some.

[Bush2Beach]

Your best bet for scions is TFF.

[sc4001992]

I agree with Jonah, this is the best place. I got all of my 34 varieties (now 26) from our forum members. Jonah got me started with many of my white sapotes, then got the rest from our senior members here.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Nice to see your opinion on yellow sapote (Casimiroa tetrameria) # 7 is in agreement with an old CRFG taste test.  CRFG #6 is out there, but most prefer CRFG#7.  I've posted this before, doing it again: using C. tetrameria as a rootstock for C. edulis severely dwarfs the white sapote down to 4 ft. Using C. edulis as a R/S for C. tetrameria makes a much smaller tree, about 8 ft. Both have remained  compatible for over 20 years and produce normal sized fruit.  It would be interesting to see what an interstock of various lengths would do.

[sc4001992]

Hi Jack, yes, the yellow sapote from you tastes very good. I also got to try the Clytia fruits and I think that was even better. I have one more Clytia fruit (small one) I picked and will try it soon.

So far, the C. tetrameria #6 is growing slowly and I have not had any fruits on those grafts yet.

I do agree with you about the rootstock and using the C. edulis rootstock and grafting with C. tetrameria. I have some seedling rootstocks (from CSUF arboretum fruits) of both C. edulis and C. tetrameria. The large seedling tree I had growing in my son's yard was the McDill seedling, that tree grew over 20 ft and trunk grew large (5-8" diameter) in 7 years. On that tree, I grafted most of my 34 white sapote varieties except the C. tetrameria.

At my yard, I had the same seedlings from CSUF of the McDill and Yellow Sapote, but these were grafted earlier (3-4 yr old seedlings) with a combination of C. tetrameria and C. edulis varieties (24 total). All four of these trees have never grown taller than 10 feet, and the trunk size has stayed smaller (2", 2",3", & 4" diameter). So, it does make sense to graft them at an early age with the Casimiroa tetrameria to keep the tree smaller.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Clytia named after Bob Chambers wife.

https://memorial.gehrigstittchapel.com/robert-chambers/1846783/obituary.php


https://www.whitesapote.com/index.htm

[sc4001992]

Thanks for the info on Clytia and Bob Chambers. I ate the second Clytia and it was just as good as the first on. The fruits are not large but still tastes like the best yellow sapote I ate so far. I will post some photos of the fruits later.

[Reedo]

Here are some images of Malibu #3. Another excellent selection. Very sweet without bitterness. Good vanilla-caramel flavor without any funkiness.

[Reedo]

Nice to see your opinion on yellow sapote (Casimiroa tetrameria) # 7 is in agreement with an old CRFG taste test.  CRFG #6 is out there, but most prefer CRFG#7.  I've posted this before, doing it again: using C. tetrameria as a rootstock for C. edulis severely dwarfs the white sapote down to 4 ft. Using C. edulis as a R/S for C. tetrameria makes a much smaller tree, about 8 ft. Both have remained  compatible for over 20 years and produce normal sized fruit.  It would be interesting to see what an interstock of various lengths would do.

If anyone has CRFG #7 scions, I'd love to experiment with some as intermediate grafts. I have about 50 C. edulis seedlings I was planning on grafting up for local folks in Santa Cruz. No one wants a 30' tree in their backyard. That could be really useful.

On a side note, I noticed Michele has a slightly fuzzy underside of its leaves. Does this indicate it's likely a E. edulis. x C. tetrameria hybrid? I've noticed it is growing painfully slow on an C. edulis seedling. It is about 12" tall white my Walton of the same age has been topped three times and is 15' tall. Perhaps Michele is another candidate for intermediate dwarfing?

[mcoambassador]

Is Redlands still one of the most popular varieties in Florida? I’m curious how that one would stack up.

[sc4001992]

Reedo, Michelle is not dwarfing. I was told the large white sapote tree at the OC Fairgrounds which is about 15-20ft tall is a Michelle. It seems to be a normal size tree. I'll look for a photo I took and post it here for you. Fruit tastes good, not excellent. So maybe just average tasting to me, nothing stands out in the flavor.

[sc4001992]

Reedo,

I will trade you 3 cuttings of my seedling yellow sapote (C. Tetrameria) for your Walton cuttings. My Walton grafted branch is very small so I need to add more on my multi-grafted tree.

The taste of my yellow sapote is good, better than average tasting.

[Reedo]

Reedo, Michelle is not dwarfing. I was told the large white sapote tree at the OC Fairgrounds which is about 15-20ft tall is a Michelle. It seems to be a normal size tree. I'll look for a photo I took and post it here for you. Fruit tastes good, not excellent. So maybe just average tasting to me, nothing stands out in the flavor.

Reedo,

I will trade you 3 cuttings of my seedling yellow sapote (C. Tetrameria) for your Walton cuttings. My Walton grafted branch is very small so I need to add more on my multi-grafted tree.

The taste of my yellow sapote is good, better than average tasting.

Sounds good. I have plenty of Walton scions to share. My tree is huge. It's loaded up with fruit for the first time, so I should have some photos and taste reports to contribute in Spring. Also, if you're on FB, Harvey has a white sapote page where he has shared photos and reviews for a number of varieties. It's the only place I've been able to find photos of certain varieties. You might check it out and see if there are photos of varieties you haven't fruit yet. https://www.facebook.com/WhiteSapoteFruit

[sc4001992]

Ok, sounds good.

I haven't seen the FB (Harvey's) page before, thanks, doesn't seem like it is current. Also, Marta has a very good review when she has chance to taste the white sapote. From her blog, I heard about Harvey's seedling variety he calls B3 (Delta Gold) and got that one grafted on my tree.

There is another database on the White Sapote, someone here posted from it before.

[fishie]

Hi Jack, yes, the yellow sapote from you tastes very good. I also got to try the Clytia fruits and I think that was even better. I have one more Clytia fruit (small one) I picked and will try it soon.

So far, the C. tetrameria #6 is growing slowly and I have not had any fruits on those grafts yet.

I do agree with you about the rootstock and using the C. edulis rootstock and grafting with C. tetrameria. I have some seedling rootstocks (from CSUF arboretum fruits) of both C. edulis and C. tetrameria. The large seedling tree I had growing in my son's yard was the McDill seedling, that tree grew over 20 ft and trunk grew large (5-8" diameter) in 7 years. On that tree, I grafted most of my 34 white sapote varieties except the C. tetrameria.

At my yard, I had the same seedlings from CSUF of the McDill and Yellow Sapote, but these were grafted earlier (3-4 yr old seedlings) with a combination of C. tetrameria and C. edulis varieties (24 total). All four of these trees have never grown taller than 10 feet, and the trunk size has stayed smaller (2", 2",3", & 4" diameter). So, it does make sense to graft them at an early age with the Casimiroa tetrameria to keep the tree smaller.

I have quite a few seeds growing from CSUF fruit. Is there a way to differentiate which are c tetrameria and c edulis? Is it identifiable from the fruit size? Or would I have to wait to see the difference in the foliage?

Thanks!

[sc4001992]

Fishie, you can tell from the leaves. The yellow sapote leaves have the fuzzy/wooly bottom side so it's pretty easy to tell. But no, you can't look at the seed and differentiate between the white and yellow seeds.

[fishie]

Ok thanks, Kaz. I’ll keep any eye out on the leaves as they grow.

[Bush2Beach]

What about Lammertz , Suebelle and other Fuzzy/ Wooly C. Edulis's?
Did you read the recent genetic research from Japan someone posted recently saying C. Edulis and C.tetrameria are no different genetically?

Fishie, you can tell from the leaves. The yellow sapote leaves have the fuzzy/wooly bottom side so it's pretty easy to tell. But no, you can't look at the seed and differentiate between the white and yellow seeds.

[sc4001992]

I have not read those articles. I just wondering myself why some varieties such as Younghan's Gold has yellow flesh when ripe but the leaves have no fuzz underneath it. There are some named yellow sapote that can be distinguished by the wooly leaf (CT#6, #7. my seedling Maddox) and the trees do not grow fast, stays small after 5 yrs. The taste of the fruits seems to be different to me when I eat a know white sapote and compare it to the yellow sapote.

I suppose if it white sapote is a cross between the two then there would be no way to categorize it as either.

[Bush2Beach]

Here are some screenshots of this short and sweet info download that was recently posted on TFF.
I sent the link to everyone I know interested in Casimiroa and have yet to discuss with anyone. I think it’s fascinating and am curious on what other Casimiroa enthusiasts think about this.





 

[greenerpasteur]

Kaz, if you ever have a few different variety for taste test, I'd love to buy some to try.