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Mammee Apple scientifically known as Mammea Americana is actually a native of the West Indies –Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, and the lesser Antilles. It is an Evergreen, medium-sized tree belonging to the family Clusiaceae ⁄ Guttiferae, in the genus Mammea L. Another Common name of Mammee apple includes Mammy-Apple, South American Apricot, Mamey Tree, Mammee, Marmalade Tree, Tropical Apricot, Mammee Apple, St. Domingo Apricot, Santo Domingo Apricot. In Brazil it is referred to as Abricó, Mammi in German and Albaricoque De Santo Domingo Albricoque in Spanish. Round or somewhat irregular-shaped fruit is in fact a storeroom of several health-promoting Nutrients, Vitamins, and Minerals.
| Mammee Apple Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Mammee Apple |
| Scientific Name: | Mammea americana |
| Origin | Native of West Indies –Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the lesser Antilles. |
| Colors | Green while young turning to yellow or russet as soon as they Ripe. |
| Shapes | Round or somewhat irregular, with a short, thick stem, 10–20 cm across, greyish brown with a rugose, 3 mm (0.12 in) thick, leathery rind |
| Flesh colors | Light yellow or orange |
| Taste | Too sour or mawkishly sweet |
| Calories | 51 Kcal./cup |
| Major nutrients | Vitamin C (15.56%), Carbohydrate (9.62%), Copper (9.56%), Iron (8.75%), Vitamin B6 (7.69%) |
| Health benefits | For Weight Loss, Helps prevents premature aging, Immune system, Constipation, Helps Relieve Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome |
Mammee, also known as mammee apple, mamey, and South American apricot, is actually a tropical tree that produces edible fruit.It is actually a berry not a drupe which is 0.5-2 kg which is found used in different types of foods items around the world.
| Name | Mammee Apple |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Mammea americana |
| Native | Native of West Indies –Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the lesser Antilles. |
| Common/English Name | Mamey Tree, Tropical Apricot, Mammee, Mammee Apple, St. Domingo Apricot, Mammy-Apple, Marmalade Tree, Santo Domingo Apricot, South American Apricot, |
| Name in Other Languages | Spanish : Albaricoque De Santo Domingo Albricoque German : Mammi, Mammiapfel Brazil : Abricó-De-São-Domingos, Abricó Danish : Mammeaæble French : Abricot D’ Amerique, Abricot, Abricot De Saint Domingue Portuguese : Abricó, Abrico Do Pará, Abrico Selvagem Eastonian : Ameerika Mammea, Vili: Mammea Czech : Mamej Americká |
| Description | Mammee apple is a round or somewhat irregular fruit that has a flavor similar to Apricot or red raspberry. It is loaded with many health-promoting Nutrients, Vitamins, and minerals. |
| Plant Growth Habit | Evergreen, medium-sized tree |
| Growing Climate | Limited to tropical or near-tropical moist to wet climates, prefers full sun or light shade |
| Soil | It Favors deep, rich, well-drained soil, but is apparently quite adaptable to even shallow, sandy terrain, and it grows naturally in limestone areas too. |
| Plant Size | 18 m– 21 m (59 ft-69 ft.)Tall |
| Stem | Short and reaches 1.9 m- 1.2 m (6 ft 3 in-3 ft 11 in) in diameter |
| Leaf | Leaves are simple, opposite, coriaceous, glabrous, glossy dark-green, broadly elliptic, up to 20 cm long and 10 cm wide. |
| Flowering Season | Starts from May-October |
| Flower | Flowers are fragrant, with 4–6 white petals and orange stamens or pistils, 2.5–4 cm wide when fully open, pistillate or hermaphrodite, staminate, |
| Fruit shape & size | Round or somewhat irregular, with a short, thick stem, 10–20 cm across, greyish brown with a rugose, 3 mm (0.12 in) thick, leathery rind |
| Fruit Weight | 0.5-2 kg |
| Fruit color | Green while young turning to yellow or russet as soon as they Ripe. |
| Flesh Color | Light yellow or orange, not fibrous, the flesh smells pleasant and appetizing. |
| Fruit Peel | Skin is light brown or greyish-brown with small, scattered, scurfy, or warty areas, leathery, about 3 mm thick, and bitter. |
| Flavor/aroma | Resembling the apricot or red raspberry in flavor. |
| Fruit Taste | Too sour or mawkishly sweet |
| Seed | Fruits contain 1-4 brown, rough, oval, and around 6 cm (2.4 in) long seeds. |
| Season | Fruits take up to a year to mature and are ripe from July-February |
| Major Nutrition | Vitamin C 14 mg (15.56%) Carbohydrate 12.5 g (9.62%) Copper 0.086 mg (9.56%) Iron, Fe 0.7 mg (8.75%) Dietary Fiber 3 g (7.89%) Vitamin B6 0.1 mg (7.69%) Magnesium 16 mg (3.81%) Vitamin B9 14 µg (3.50%) Vitamin B2 0.04 mg (3.08%) Vitamin B3 0.4 mg (2.50%) |
| Health Benefits |
|
| Calories in 1cup (100 gm) | 51 |
| Traditional Uses |
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| How to Eat |
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| Other Facts |
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Mammee Apple Scientific Classification
Scientific Name: Mammea americana
| Rank | Scientific Name & (Common Name) |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Plantae (Plants) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta (Vascular plants) |
| Superdivision | Spermatophyta (Seed plants) |
| Division | Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants) |
| Class | Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons) |
| Subclass | Dilleniidae |
| Order | Theales |
| Family | Clusiaceae/Guttiferae (Mangosteen family) |
| Genus | Mammea L. (Mammea) |
| Species | Mammea americana L. (Mammee apple) |
Plant
Mammee Apple is an evergreen, medium-sized tree-sized 18 m– 21 m (59 ft-69 ft.) tall which is found growing in tropical or near-tropical moist to wet climates. It prefers full sun or light shade and does well in deep, rich, well-drained soil, but is apparently quite adjustable to even shallow, sandy terrain, and it grows naturally in limestone areas too. It has a short stem that reaches 1.9 m- 1.2 m (6 ft. 3 in-3 ft. 11 in) in diameter. Leaves are simple, glabrous, coriaceous, opposite, glossy dark-green, broadly elliptic, up to 20 cm long and 10 cm wide. Flowers are fragrant, along with 4–6 white petals and orange stamens or pistils, 2.5–4 cm wide when fully open, pistillate or hermaphrodite, staminate and are found blooming from May to October.
Fruit
Mammee Apple is round or somewhat irregular fruit, with a short, thick stem, 10–20 cm across, greyish brown with a rugose, 3 mm (0.12 in) thick, leathery rind. It is actually a berry, not a drupe which is 0.5-2 kg. Fruit is normally green while young turning to yellow or russet as soon as they are ripe. The fruit has light brown or greyish-brown with small, scattered, warty, or scurfy areas, leathery, about 3 mm thick, and bitter skin, which encloses light yellow or orange, not fibrous mammee apple which smells pleasant and appetizing. Fruits normally take up to a year to mature and are ripe from July-February. Fruits consist of 1-4 brown, rough, oval, and around 6 cm (2.4 in) long seeds. It has a flavor that resembles that of apricot or red raspberry and is too sour or mawkishly sweet in taste. Due to its unique taste and flavor, it is found used in different types of foods items around the world.
History
Mammee Apple is native to West Indies – Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the lesser Antilles. It is exotic to Barbados, Bahamas, Brazil, El Salvador, Colombia, Bermuda, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Surinam, United States of America (Hawaii and Florida), French Guiana, Costa Rica, Virgin Islands (US), Guyana, Mexico, and Panama. It is of very limited occurrence in West Africa (particularly Sierra Leone), Zanzibar, southeast Asia (Java in Indonesia, Sabah in Malaysia, the Philippines), Queensland in Australia, and Hawaii.
Nutritional Value
Apart from their sweet and tangy, taste Mammee apple is a good source of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Consuming 100 grams of Mammee Apple offers 14 mg of Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid), 12.5 g of Carbohydrate, 0.086 mg of Copper, 0.7 mg of Iron, 3 g of Total Dietary Fiber, and 0.1 mg of Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine). Moreover many Amino acids like 0.005 g of Tryptophan, 0.037 g of Lysine, and 0.006 g of Methionine are also found in 100 grams of this fruit.
Nutritional value of Mammee Apple
Calories 51 Kcal.Calories from Fat 4.5 Kcal.
| Proximity | Amount | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 86.2 g | N/D |
| Energy | 51 Kcal | N/D |
| Energy | 213 kJ | N/D |
| Protein | 0.5 g | 1.00% |
| Total Fat (lipid) | 0.5 g | 1.43% |
| Ash | 0.3 g | N/D |
| Carbohydrate | 12.5 g | 9.62% |
| Total dietary Fiber | 3 g | 7.89% |
| Minerals | Amount | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Copper, Cu | 0.086 mg | 9.56% |
| Iron, Fe | 0.7 mg | 8.75% |
| Magnesium, Mg | 16 mg | 3.81% |
| Phosphorus, P | 11 mg | 1.57% |
| Calcium, Ca | 11 mg | 1.10% |
| Selenium, Se | 0.6 µg | 1.09% |
| Potassium, K | 47 mg | 1.00% |
| Sodium, Na | 15 mg | 1.00% |
| Zinc, Zn | 0.1 mg | 0.91% |
| Vitamins | Amount | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) | 14 mg | 15.56% |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | 0.1 mg | 7.69% |
| Vitamin B9 (Folate, Folic acid) | 14 µg | 3.50% |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | 0.04 mg | 3.08% |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | 0.4 mg | 2.50% |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) | 0.103 mg | 2.06% |
| Vitamin A | 12 µg | 1.71% |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) | 0.02 mg | 1.67% |
| Lipids | Amount | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid) 16:00 | 0.042 g | N/D |
| Stearic acid (octadecanoic acid) 18:00 | 0.094 g | N/D |
| Oleic acid (octadecenoic acid) 18:1 | 0.205 g | N/D |
| Linoleic acid (octadecadienoic acid) 18:2 | 0.079 g | N/D |
| Amino Acids | Amount | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Tryptophan | 0.005 g | 1.14% |
| Lysine | 0.037 g | 1.11% |
| Methionine | 0.006 g | 0.36% |
Health benefits of Mammee Apple
1. For Weight Loss:
Fruits and juices are proven to be rich in Vitamin C and help to lose fat and maintain a healthy weight. Many dieticians and nutritionists recommend including Vitamin C enriched fruits and vegetables in diet charts to remain healthy and fit. Several scientific evidence shows that regular intake of Mammee Apple helps in losing weight considerably. Besides that it will help to lower insulin levels, thus instead of storing sugar and converting it to fats, it utilizes it as a fuel which results in weight loss. Mammee Apple consists of a huge amount of Vitamin C 14 mg which is 15.56% of the daily recommended value. Therefore, including a Mammee Apple, a day to your dietary regimen can keep you fit and healthy for many years.
2. Helps Prevent Premature Aging
Copper is an essential trace mineral required for survival. It is a powerful antioxidant, which in presence of antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase to safeguard the cell membranes from free radicals. Superoxide dismutase is one of the sturdiest antioxidants that work within the body in the fight against free radicals. Free radicals may attack different organ systems but are especially well-studied in terms of their effect on aging, which includes age spots, wrinkles, macular degeneration, susceptibility to various types of cancer, and kidney malfunctions. A single cup serving of Mammee Apple contains 100 g Copper which is 9.56% of the daily recommended intake. So consuming Mammee apple regularly may fulfill the copper requirement of your body. Having enough copper in your daily diet can keep you looking younger for longer!
3. Immune System
Mammee Apple is loaded with many health endorsing Nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Among other minerals, iron plays an important role in offering strength to the immune system of the human body. Thus the body becomes capable enough to fight against numerous diseases and infections. Red blood cells are essential for providing oxygen to damaged tissues, cells, and organs. There would be no hemoglobin without iron; without hemoglobin, there would be no oxygen. The healing process needs iron to happen! Thus Iron plays an important role in providing strength to the immune system of the human body. Mammee Apple consists of a moderate amount of Iron 0.7 mg which is 8.75% of the daily recommended value.
4. Constipation
Mammee Apple contains significant amounts of Dietary fiber which helps in smooth bowel movements. It consists of a moderate amount of dietary fiber 3 mg which is 7.89% of the daily recommended value. Mammee apple intake helps to push out stubborn stools and relieve a person from constipation. Apart from that, it helps in dealing with other intestinal disorders as well. Fiber present in the mammee apple helps to bulk up stool and helps stimulate the body’s peristaltic motion, which assists to move bowel movements through the intestinal tract. In this way fiber present in mammee apple help to reduce unhealthy digestive problems as well as colorectal cancer.
5. Helps Relieve Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome
Consuming a sufficient amount of vitamin B6 or taking B complex vitamins helps to prevent or treat PMS symptoms. Different research demonstrated that Vitamin B6 helps to fight against nausea, cramps, fatigue, breast pain, and also acne which occurs before Women’s menstrual cycle. An adequate amount of vitamin B6 can be obtained by regular intake of mammee apples. It helps with PMS due to its positive effects on neurotransmitters which are liable for pain management within the brain, as well as its role in increasing blood flow and managing hormones. Therefore it is suitable to consume B complex vitamins frequently, particularly the 10 days just before menstruating, for women who experience frequent PMS Symptoms.
How to Eat
- Salads: Pulp from ripe fruit can be consumed plain along with a dash of lime or lemon juice and sugar, or served with cream and sugar or wine, in fruit salads, and many more.
- Frozen sherbet: Fresh pulp, blended with sugar, is made into frozen sherbet in the Dominican Republic.
- Ade: The juice or syrup of stewed flesh, is seasoned along with sugar and lemon juice to make “ade”.
- Jam: Pulp is steeped in saltwater just before cooking with much sugar to prepare a kind of jam in the Bahamas.
- Jelly: Slightly under-ripe fruits, rich in pectin, are made into jelly.
- Kolashanpan: Mamey flavored carbonated drink called kolashanpan is made from Mammee apple which is considered as the national soda in El Salvador.
- Aromatic liqueur: Flowers are distilled to make an aromatic liqueur, Eau de Créole, or Crème de Créole in French West Indies
- Pies or tarts: Sliced mamey pulp may also be cooked in pies or tarts, and maybe seasoned with cinnamon or ginger.
- Toddy: Wine is processed from the fruit and fermented “toddy” from the sap of the tree in Brazil.
- Pulp is steeped in wine and sugar for a while prior to consumption in Jamaica.
Other Traditional uses and benefits of Mammee Apple
- Mammee has been used in traditional folk medicine for problems of scalp infections, diarrhea, digestive and eye infections in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
- For parasitic skin diseases pulverized mammee seeds are used in Venezuela.
- Pulverized seeds are considered as a convulsant and an infusion is used for anthelmintic infestation in adults in Brazil.
- Pulverized seeds are combined with rum or coconut oil to deal with head lice and chiggers in Trinidad and Tobago.
- Aromatic liqueur called Creme de Creole or Eau de Creole, which is distilled from the flowers, is used as a tonic or digestive in French West Indies.
- For intermittent fever an infusion of the fresh or dry leaves is used.
- Powdered mammee seeds are used against parasitic skin diseases in traditional medicines of Central and South America.
- Ground seeds are stirred into hot water to get an anthelmintic infusion.
Other Facts
- Large spreading lateral roots of mammy apple may help to prevent soil erosion.
- It is a beautiful ornamental tree and it is often planted for shade around houses, parks, and avenues because of its glossy, dark-green, leaves and dense foliage.
- Wood is strong, fairly decay-resistant, used for cabinetwork, rafters, pillars, decorative features of fine houses, fence posts, and many more.
- Tannin from the bark is used for home treatment of leather
- Infusions of the pulverized seeds as well as gum of bark and green fruit rind are utilized as insecticides to kill jiggers, ticks, and fleas.
- Seed extracts are toxic to fish, chicks, and hogs.
- Trees are planted along boundaries and fences.
From Where To Buy
- PACK OF 48: 0.5 ounce strips of Stretch Island All Natural Fruit Leathers in a variety assortment of 6 flavors. Flavors include cherry, apple, strawberry, grape, raspberry, and apricot.
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- ALL NATURAL: No artificial flavors, preservatives, or colors, Stretch Island is gluten free, non-GMO, and vegan.
- CONVENIENT: Take-anywhere, pre-wrapped single serving strips of pure fruit
- Allergen information: dairy_free
References
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- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315720/
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- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291486/
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