Agroforestree Database

Local names:
 Creole (cachiman la Chine), English (custard apple,cherimoya), French (anone,cherimolier), Portuguese (graviola,graveola,grabiola), Spanish (chirimorrinon,cherimolia,anona poshte,chirimolla,chirimoya,cherimoyer), Swahili (mtopetope,mtomoko)

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

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.

Native range
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Israel

Tree 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.

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.

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.

While 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 days

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. 

 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.

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.

Intercropping: In the early years they are interplanted with corn, beans and potatoes.

Alcohol: . The fruit is fermented to produce an alcoholic beverage.