Tsiko
Manilkara zapota · Sapodilla
- Names in the book
- Chico, Sp.-Fil.; Tsiku, Tag.
- Colours
- flowerwhitefruitbrown
- Native range
- Mexico and Central America
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Common all over the Archipelago. Blooms in April.
- Family
- Sapotaceae, filed in the book under Sapotaceæ
- Printed as
- Achras Sapota, L.
- Sources
- Page 156 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as sapodilla (Spanish: [ˌsapoˈðiʝa]), sapote, chicozapote, chico, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, nispero, or soapapple, among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. An example of natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán, in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species. It was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonization. It is grown in large quantities in Mexico and in tropical Asia, including India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, as well as in the Caribbean.
Excerpt from “Manilkara zapota” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Para sa ibang gamit, tingnan ang siko (paglilinaw) at chico (paglilinaw) Ang tsiko o siko (Ingles: sapodilla) ay isang uri ng prutas at puno na may pangalang pang-agham na Manilkara zapota. Mahaba ang buhay ng punong ito na palagiang lunti ang mga dahon at nabubuhay sa mga tropikong lugar ng Bagong Mundo. Katutubo ito sa Mehiko at naipakilala sa Pilipinas noong kapanahunan ng kolonisasyong Kastila.
Sipi mula sa “Tsiko” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 24 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 9 provinces, most often Metropolitan Manila (4), Laguna (2), Batangas (1), Cavite (1), Davao del Norte (1), Davao del Sur (1), Agusan del Norte (1), Iloilo (1), and 1 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The chico is one of the popular fruits of the Philippines, much appreciated by Europeans as well as the natives. When not entirely ripe it yields a resinous juice that sticks to the lips and affords a disagreeable taste; but when once thoroughly ripe it has a slightly vinous, sweetish taste and is easily digested. Therapeutically its seeds are used as a diuretic, but large doses should be avoided as they contain a small proportion of hydrocyanic acid. The proper dose is 5–6 mashed seeds in sweetened water. They contain, in addition to the above, a fatty substance of the consistency of butter.
The trunk bark is tonic and febrifuge; Mr. Bernon has isolated from it a crystalline alkaloid, sapotine, soluble in ether, chloroform or alcohol, but not in water; a large per cent. of sapotanic acid and two resins.
The trunk exudes, when incised, a milky resin, closely resembling guttapercha and possibly susceptible of the same uses.
Botanical description
Trees, about 11° high, with leaves lanceolate, keeled, entire, glabrous. Flowers pure white, solitary or by twos, terminal, very long peduncles. Calyx, 6 sepals, 3 within the others, inferior persistent. Corolla jug-shaped, the border divided into 12 parts, the 6 smaller ones alternating and within the others. Stamens 6, inserted near the border of the inner petals and opposite the outer circle. Filaments very short. Style long. Stigma obtuse, fruit globose, resembling a small pear, russet brown, crowned with the hardened style, more than 10 compartments, each containing a seed. Seed oval, flattened, joined to a central fleshy axis.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Fabrication of jamun seed starch/tamarind kernel xyloglucan bio-nanocomposite films incorporated with chitosan nanoparticles and their application on sapota (Manilkara zapota) fruits
- Regulation mechanism of magnetic field on pectinase and its preliminary application in postharvest sapodilla (Manilkara zapota)
- Manilkara zapota "chicozapote" as a fruit source of health-beneficial bioactive compounds and its effects on chronic degenerative and infectious diseases, a review