Star apple

Overview

Star apple is native native range is a cultigen from Central America although others consider that it may be indigenous to the West Indies. The fruit is usually consumed fresh and may also be used as an ingredient of ice cream and sherbet. The bark, latex, leaves, fruit and seeds possess medicinal properties. The reddish-brown wood is suitable for construction purposes, and the mature branches are used as a medium to grow orchids. The tree is much appreciated as an ornamental.

Vernacular Names

Hsing-p’ing-kuo (Chinese), Sterappel (Dutch), Bon caïmite (French), Sternapfel (German), Tarsiphala (India), Hoshi ringo (Japanese), Pepulut (Malaysia), Kaimito (Tagalog-Philippines).

Agroecology

Prefers a deep, rich loam, and a sunny position. Fertile, well drained and slightly acid soils are ideal for good growth, though the plant can succeed on almost all types of soil. It thrives in the lowlands (up to 400 m elevation) and in areas with a distinct dry season but can grow up to an altitude of 1,000 m.

Morphology

• Branches - numerous and slender, the young tips are copper-colored and covered with appressed hairs.
• Leaves - leathery, ovate or oblong, 7.5-13 cm long, pointed at the tip, blunt or rounded at the base and covered underneath with silky, golden-brown, soft hairs.
• Flowers - purplish-white, small and clustered in the axils of leaves, with 5 sepals, and a tubular corolla with 5 lobes.
• Fruits - large and rounded, 6-10 cm in diameter, shiny and smooth, purplish or light- green skin, with a translucent whitish or purplish, soft pulp. The flesh contains a small amount of milky juice, somewhat fibrous, sweet, mild and pleasant tasting.
• Seeds - 3-10, flattened obovoid, about 2 cm x 1 cm x 0.5 cm, purplish-black, with chartaceous testa and a large lighter-coloured hilum.

Cultivation

• Propagated by seed, greenwood cuttings (the cuttings taken from mature stems root well), air layering, and grafting (grafted trees have been known to commence bearing in their first year).

Chemical Constituents

• Tannin, polyphenolic, saponin, flavonoids, steroid, cardiac glycoside, pouterin, lucumin, glucose, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolics, n-oxides, sterol, triterpenal, polifenol, β-Sitostero, lupeol, galic acid.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• The seed is tonic, diuretic and febrifuge.
• Studies have suggest antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti- inflammatory, hypotensive, and vasorelaxant properties. 
• In tropical America and the Caribbean, the ripe fruit is eaten to treat inflammation in laryngitis, pneumonia and hemorrhage or is cooked and used as anti-pyretic. It is taken as a remedy for diabetes mellitus, and a decoction is gargled to relieve angina. A decoction of the fruit rind, or of the leaves, is taken as a pectoral.
• The undersides of leaves are grated and applied as a poultice to a wound and a leaf decoction is taken orally for hypoglycaemia.
• A decoction of the bark is taken as a tonic and stimulant, and is drunk to stop diarrhea, dysentery and hemorrhage, and also employed as a treatment for gonorrhea and “catarrh of the bladder”.
• The latex is applied on abscesses and, when dried and powdered, it is utilized as a potent vermifuge. It is also taken as a diuretic, febrifuge and remedy for dysentery.