AgroForestryTree Database
Annona cherimola
 Species identityEcology and distributionPropagation and managementFunctional usesPests and diseasesAdditional InfoBibliographyImages |
Species identity
TaxonomyCommon names
(Creole) : cachiman la Chine
(English) : cherimoya, custard apple
(French) : anone, cherimolier
(Portuguese) : grabiola, graveola, graviola
(Spanish) : anona poshte, cherimolia, cherimoyer, chirimolla, chirimorrinon, chirimoya
(Swahili) : mtomoko, mtopetope
Botanic description
Annona cherimola is a fairly dense, fast-growing, evergreen tree, erect but low branched and somewhat shrubby or spreading; ranging from 5 to 9 m in height; and its young branchlets are rusty-hairy. The attractive leaves are single and alternate, 2-ranked, with minutely hairy petioles 6 to 12.5 mm long; ovate to elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, short blunt-pointed at the apex; dark green and slightly hairy on the upper surface, velvety on the underside; 7.5-15 cm long, 3.8-8.9 cm wide. The fragrant flowers are borne solitary or in groups of 2 or 3, on short, hairy stalks along the branches, have 3 outer, greenish, fleshy, oblong, downy petals to 3 cm long and 3 smaller, pinkish inner petals. The compound fruit is conical or somewhat heart-shaped, 10-20 cm long and up to 10 cm in width, weighing on the average 150-500 g but extra large specimens may weigh 2.7 kg or more. The skin may be smooth with fingerprint like markings or covered with conical or rounded protuberances. The fruit opens to expose the snow-white, juicy flesh, of pleasing aroma and delicious, subacid flavor; and containing numerous hard, brown or black, beanlike, glossy seeds, 1-2 cm long.
Ecology and distribution
History of cultivationExcellent cultivars are known, all produced by vegetative propagation, which are planted on a commercial scale in Spain, Chile, Australia, Israel, the United States of America (California, Florida) and the island of Madeira. In Bolivia, it flourishes best around Cochabamba, and around La Paz. Its cultivation must have spread in ancient times to Chile and Brazil for it has become naturalized in highlands throughout these countries. Seeds were sent from Guatemala in 1629 and 13 years after this introduction the cherimoya was observed in cultivation and sold in the markets of Lima, Peru. Seeds were sent to Mexico also in 1629 where it thrives between 1 312-1 640 m elevation. It is commonly grown and naturalized in temperate areas of Costa Rica and other countries of Central America. In 1757, it was carried to Spain where it remained a dooryard tree until the 1940's and 1950's when it gained importance in the Province of Granada, in the Sierra Nevada mountains, as a replacement for orange trees that succumbed to disease. By 1953, there were 262 acres (106 ha) of cherimoyas in this region. In 1790 the cherimoya was introduced into Hawaii where it is still casually grown in the islands and naturalized in dry upland forests. It reached Jamaica in 1785, where it is cultivated and occurs as an escapee on hillsides between 1 066-1 524 m. The first planting in Italy was in 1797 and it became a favored crop in the Province of Reggio Calabria. The tree has been tried several times in the Botanic Gardens in Singapore since 1878 but has always failed due to the tropical climate. In the Philippines, it does well in the Mountain Province at an altitude above 750 m. It was introduced into India and Sri Lanka in 1880 and there is a small-scale culture in both countries at elevations between 457-2 134 m. The tree was planted in Madeira in 1897, then in the Canary Islands, Algiers, Egypt and, probably via Italy, in Libya, Eritrea and Somalia. Seeds were first introduced to United States in 1871.
Natural Habitat
The cherimoya is subtropical or mild-temperate and does not succeed in the lowland tropics. It requires long days. In Colombia and Ecuador, it grows naturally at elevations between 1 400-2 000 m where the temperature ranges between 17-20 deg. C. In Peru, the ideal climate for the cherimoya lies between 18-25 deg. C in the summer and 18-5 deg. C in winter. In Guatemala, naturalized trees are common between 1 200-2 500 m though the tree produces best between 1 200-1 800 m and can be grown at elevations as low as 900 m. The tree cannot survive the cold in the Valle de Mexico at 2 195 m. In Argentina, young trees are wrapped with dry grass or burlap during the winter. The cherimoya can tolerate light frosts. Young trees can withstand a temperature of –3 deg. C, but a few degrees lower severely injures or kills mature trees. The tree prefers a rather dry environment as in southern Guatemala where the rainfall is 127 cm and there is a long dry season. The tree should be protected from strong winds that interfere with pollination and fruit set.
Geographic distribution
Native : Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Israel
Exotic : Algeria, Australia, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, France, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Italy, Jamaica, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Somalia, Spain, United States of America, Venezuela
Biophysical limitsAltitude: 700-2 400 m. Soil type: The cherimoya tree performs well on a wide range of soil types from light to heavy, but seems to do best on a medium soil of moderate fertility. In Argentina, it makes excellent growth on rock-strewn, loose, sandy loam 60-90 cm above a gravel subsoil. The optimum pH ranges from 6.5-7.6. A greenhouse trial in sand has demonstrated that the first nutritional deficiency evoked in such soil is lack of calcium.
Reproductive Biology
A problem with the cherimoya is inadequate natural pollination because the male and female structures of each flower do not mature simultaneously. Few insects visit the flowers. Therefore, hand-pollination is highly desirable and must be done in a 6-8 hour period when the stigmas are white and sticky. It has been found in Chile that in the first flowers to open the pollen grains are loaded with starch, whereas flowers that open later have more abundant pollen, no starch grains, and the pollen germinates readily. Partly-opened flowers are collected in the afternoons and kept in a paper bag overnight. The next morning the shed pollen is put, together with moist paper, in a vial and transferred by brush to the receptive stigmas. Usually only a few of the flowers on a tree are pollinated each time, the operation being repeated every 4-5 days in order to extend the season of ripening. The closely related A. senegalensis, if available, is a good source of abundant pollen for pollinating the cherimoya, that of the sugar apple is not satisfactory. Fruits from hand-pollinated flowers are normally superior in form and size. The leaves are briefly deciduous (just before spring flowering). The flowers appear with new growth flushes in April to mid-summer and fruits ripen from October to May in California.
Propagation and management
Propagation methodsWhile the tree is traditionally grown from seed in Latin America, the tendency of seedlings to produce inferior fruits has given impetus to vegetative propagation. Seeds for rootstocks are first soaked in water for 1-4 days and those that float are discarded. Planting is done directly in the nursery rows unless the soil is too cool, in which case the seeds must be placed in sand peat seedbeds, covered with 2.5 cm of soil and kept in a greenhouse. They germinate in 3-5 weeks and when the plants are 7.5-10 cm high, they are transplanted to pots or the nursery plot with 50 cm between rows. When 12-24 months old and dormant, they are budded or grafted and then allowed to grow to 0.9-1.2 m high before setting out in the field. Large seedlings and old trees can be topworked by cleft-grafting. It is necessary to protect the trunk of topped trees to avoid sunburn. The cherimoya can also be grafted onto the custard apple (A. reticulata). In India this rootstock has given 90% success. Cuttings of mature wood of healthy cherimoya trees have rooted in coral sand with bottom heat in 28 daysTree Management
The young trees should be spaced 8-9 m apart each way in pits 50-60 cm wide, enriched with organic material. In Colombia, corn, vegetables, ornamental foliage plants, roses or annual flowers for market are interplanted during the first few years. In Spain, the trees are originally spaced 5 m apart with the intention of later thinning them out. Pruning to eliminate low branches, providing a clean trunk up to 80 cm, to improve form, and open up to sunlight and pesticide control, is done preferably during dormancy. After 6 months, fertilizer (10-8-6 NPK) is applied at the rate of 227 g/tree and again 6 months later at 450 g/tree. In the 3rd year, the fertilizer formula is changed to 6-10-8 NPK and each year thereafter the amount per tree is increased by 450 g until the level of 2.27 kg is reached. Thenceforth this amount is continued each year per tree. The fertilizer is applied in trenches 15 cm deep and 20 cm wide dug around each tree at a distance of 5 m from the base, at first; later, at an appropriately greater distance. Young trees are irrigated every 15-20 days for the first few years except during the winter when they must be allowed to go dormant-ideally for 4 months. When the first leafbuds appear, irrigation is resumed. With bearing trees, watering is discontinued as soon as the fruits are full-grown. The cherimoya begins to bear at 3 ½-5 years old and production steadily increases from the 5th to the 10th year, when there should be a yield of 25 fruits/tree (5 000 per ha). In Colombia, the average yield is 25 fruits and in Italy, trees 30-35 years old produce 230-280 fruits annually.
Germplasm Management
Cherimoya seeds remain viable for 2-3 years if kept dry and protected from weevils and fungi. At 20 deg. C bottom heat, seeds germinate in about 21 days, but require about 40 days under normal ambient growing conditions.
Functional uses
ProductsFood: The white flesh of the ripe cherimoya is sweet, juicy and very fragrant. It is most commonly eaten out of-hand or scooped with a spoon from the cut open fruit. In Mexico, sometimes people add a few drops of lime juice. Occasionally it is seeded and added to fruit salads or used for making sherbet or ice cream. Colombians strain out the juice, add a slice of lemon and dilute with ice-water to make a refreshing soft drink. In Jamaica, the dried flowers have been used as flavoring for snuff. Alcohol: . The fruit is fermented to produce an alcoholic beverage. Poison: The seeds are crushed and used as insecticide. Blindness can result from the juice of the crushed seeds coming in contact with the eyes. The seeds contain several alkaloids: caffeine, ( + )-reticuline, (-)-anonaine, liriodenine, and lanuginosine. Human ingestion of 0.15 g of the dark-yellow resin isolated from the seeds produces symptoms resembling the effects of atropine. . Mixed with grease, powdered seeds are used to kill lice. The twigs possess the same alkaloids as the seeds plus michelalbine. 8 alkaloids have been reported in the leaves: ( + )-isoboldine, (-)-stepholidine, ( + )-corytuberine, ( + ) nornantenine, ( + )-reticuline, (-)-anonaine, liriodenine, and lanuginosine. Medicine: In Mexico, rural people toast, peel and pulverize 1 or 2 seeds and take the powder with water or milk as a potent emetic and cathartic. Mixed with grease, the powder is applied on parasitic skin disorders. A decoction of the skin of the fruit is taken to relieve pneumonia.Services
Intercropping: In the early years they are interplanted with corn, beans and potatoes.
Pests and diseasesCaterpillars (Thecla sp. and Oiketicus kubeyi) may defoliate the tree. A scale insect, Conchaspis angraeci attacks the trunk and branches. Prime enemies are reported to be fruit flies (Anastrepha sp.), leaf miners (Leucoptera sp.), which necessitate the collection and burning of affected leaves plus the application of systemic insecticides; and the seed borer (Bephrata maculicollis). The latter pest deposits eggs on the surface of the developing fruits, the larvae invade the fruit and consume the seeds, causing premature and defective ripening and rendering the fruits susceptible to fungal diseases. The coccid, Pseudococcus filamentosus attacks the fruit in Hawaii, and Aulacaspis miranda and Ceropute yuccae in Mexico. In Spain, the thin-skinned cultivar 'Pinchua' is subject to attack by the Mediterranean fruit-fly, Ceratitis capitata. Cherimoyas are susceptible to Armillaria (Oak root fungus) and Verticillium sp. and should not be planted in old vegetable gardens, near tomatoes, eggplant or asters. Stored seeds for planting are subject to attack by weevils. To avoid damping-off of young seedlings, dusting of seeds with fungicides is recommended. The tree may succumb to root-rot in clay soils or where there is too much moisture and insufficient drainage. Sooty mould may occur on leaves and fruits where ants, aphids and other insects have deposited honeydew.
Bibliography
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/cherimoya.htmlIBPGR. 1986. Genetic resources of tropical and subtropical fruits and nuts (excluding Musa). International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, Rome.
Jackson D. 1986. Temperate and subtropical fruit production. Butterworth Horticultural Books.