Annona reticulata L. ANNONACEAE
Synonyms: Annona humboldtiana, Annona humboldtii
Common name: Custard apple
Dhivehi names: Dhan’digandu atha, vilaathu atha
Status: Occasional; grown as fruit tree in home gardens.
Description: An erect, deciduous tree of about 4 to 10 m height with round or spreading crown. Bark is smooth, thin and grey in colour. Leaves are quite pretty,larger and darker than that of Annona muricata, alternate in arrangement and oblong or oblong-lanceolate in shape. Flowers are in groups of two or three on lateral deduncles, drooping and fragrant; there are three narrow, fleshy outer petals which are light green in colour externally and pale yellow inside with a red or purple spot at the base. Flowers never open fully. Fruits are pulpy of various shapes, ovoid,symmetrically heart shaped, lopsided, or irregular with deep or shallow notch at the base. Skin is thin and in ripened fruit it is yellow or brownish in colour with a pinkish,reddish or brownish-red blush and has a reticulate pattern of clear indentation on the surface. The flesh is creamy-white, thick and divided into juicy segments around a pointed, fibrous central core. Each fruit contains many seeds, which are hard,smooth, shiny and dark-brown in colour.
Uses: Fruits are edible; flesh may be scooped from the skin and eaten as is or served with a sprinkling of sugar. It is added to milkshakes to make a delicious drink. Fruit should be picked from the tree after it has lost all green colour and ripens without splitting. Leaves, bark and green fruits are all boiled together to prepare extremely potent decoction to cure severe cases of diarrhoea and dysentery. Decoction of leaves is used to relieve toothache. Seed kernels are very toxic.
Ecology propagation and management: It grows well in deep, rich soil with sample moisture and good drainage. It is also capable of growing in light sand but less drought-tolerant and prefers more humid atmosphere. Propagation is mainly by seeds. It can also be propagated by inarching, or by budding or grafting onto its own seedlings or onto soursop, sweetsop or pond apple rootstocks. Its seedlings are often used as root stock for soursop and sweet sop.