Kaymito/Star Apple

Chrysophyllum Cainito

Kaymito is one of my favorite fruit when I was growing up. My hometown has a lot of kaymito trees. Almost every house with a backyard has a kaymito tree. It is in season during the summer months of March till May. During the flowering season, the trees are swarmed by bees because the flowers have such sweet smell. My grandparents have two types of kaymito, the green and the purple or “morado”. I like the purple more because it taste sweeter. I always end up with dirty mouth after eating so much of kaymito because of the latex from the skin.

Kaymito must have come from the word “cainito” since Tagalog language don’t have the letter “c”. They also call it star apple because if you cut it crosswise you will see a star pattern. We don’t cut it when we eat it though. When the fruit is ripe enough, you’ll know it by touch it would have a give, we just squeeze it hard to open it and eat it under the tree where we pick it.

Kaymito belongs to the family of Sapoteceae which is also the family of chico, another one of my favorite fruit.
It is native to Central America and like other fruits, it must have been introduced by the Spaniards to the Philippines during the colonial times.
The tree grows up to at least 20 meters in height. The leaves are evergreen, shiny and the undersides are golden in color.
The fruit is round, green and sometimes maroon or purple in color. We call it “morado”. The flesh is white and has brown flat seeds.
The fruit does not store very well so we eat it fresh. You can chill it first before eating as a sweet dessert.
Kaymito has antioxidants just like any other fruits so eating kaymito is also good for you.