Black sapote is sometimes called the chocolate pudding fruit, not because it contains chocolate, but because its ripe flesh turns soft, dark, and creamy like melted chocolate. And although its mild, mellow flavour doesn’t taste like chocolate, it has many culinary uses as a substitute for chocolate.
In this article, I share what I learnt from a backyard orchard grower about growing black sapote in a home garden – from planting and pruning to harvesting and eating.
How to Grow Black Sapote: Getting Started
Botanically known as Diospyros nigra, black sapote is a tropical fruit tree native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and Colombia. It needs a warm climate to thrive.
So, if you’re also planning to grow black sapote in your backyard in Nigeria, here are some basic steps to guide you:
- Start with a young plant or grafted seedling – These tend to fruit sooner than trees grown from seed.
- Pick a sunny location for your tree. Black sapote needs up to 10 hours of direct sunlight to grow and fruit optimally.
- Space trees 4-6m apart for roots and branches to spread.
- Dig a wide hole and enrich the soil with compost or aged manure.
- Plant the tree, covering the root ball up to the crown with soil. Don’t plant so deep that the crown is covered.
- Water regularly, especially during the dry season and in the first few years. Ensure the soil drains well.
Tip: Plant trees at the start of the rainy season in May to enable them to establish before the dry season.
Caring for Black Sapote
Once your tree is established, it doesn’t need much fuss. Here’s what I learnt from @fruithunterlagos about caring for black sapote in a home garden:
- Prune regularly to control the height. Black sapote trees can grow up to 25m tall, making harvesting difficult if not properly managed. Pruning also encourages branching and good structure.
- Fertile, well-drained soil helps the tree thrive. Do not plant your tree in a low-lying, swampy location. Adding compost or manure once or twice a year can support growth.
- Black sapote is relatively pest- and disease-free in our climate, so you might not need any chemical sprays.
- Warm, tropical conditions support flowering and fruiting all year round.
Tip: Black sapote has dark, dense, durable wood similar to ebony trees. Save pruned branches for use in woodwork and crafts.
Harvesting and Ripening Tips
The tree bears flowers and fruits virtually throughout the year. According to @fruithunterlagos, “there are always fruits on the tree at different stages of maturity and ripeness.” It takes 3-4 months from flowers to mature fruits.
In her experience, a mature black sapote tree yields 500-1000 fruits a year, more than enough for daily harvests throughout the year.
Mature fruits are about 10cm or more in diameter, smooth, globular, and light green. You can tell it’s ready to harvest when the pedicels (fruit stalks) start to lift slightly off the surface of the fruit.
Black sapote is a climacteric fruit, meaning it ripens off the tree. So, harvest the fruits and leave them to ripen on a kitchen counter over a few days. You’ll need a tool like a pair of secateurs to harvest black sapote, because the wood is very hard to cut.
The freshly harvested fruits are still firm and green. As they ripen, the skin turns olive green, and the flesh softens and darkens, going from light brown to dark brown with a rich, pudding-like softness. Some people like to wait until the fruit is very soft before eating it.
Fruits contain 6-12 hard, brown seeds. Remove the seeds before eating your black sapote.
How to Enjoy Black Sapote Fruit
Here are a few simple ways to enjoy the fruit after peeling off the skin:
- Eat it fresh out of hand, like an avocado
- Scoop the pulp into a bowl and chill or freeze to enjoy as a frozen dessert with a sprinkling of coconut flakes
- Mix it with milk or other fruits to make a smoothie
- Use it in cakes and other baked foods
I use black sapote in place of bananas in a banana muffin recipe to make ‘chocolate’ muffins. The soft texture blends easily into batter and lends that rich, moist quality that bananas give to baked foods. It doesn’t taste like chocolate, but adding cocoa powder will give it a chocolate taste, too.
Should You Grow Black Sapote?
If you’re interested in growing tropical fruit trees in Lagos or other warm regions, black sapote might be worth considering. It’s especially appealing if you’re looking for unusual tropical fruits that give high yields with minimal fuss.
It does require patience: fruiting begins only after several years. But once established, the tree is generous, relatively problem-free, and a conversation starter in any garden.
Good luck!
