Jocote, Yellow (Spondias Mombin)

LIMITED RELEASE!!

The fast-growing Yellow Hog Plum, also known as Jocote or Caja Fruit, is a tropical/subtropical deciduous fruit tree native to tropical America. A member of the Anacardiaceae family, it is related to Mangoes and Cashews. The humidity-loving fruit tree grows a spreading, dense canopy of compound leaves which drop all their folliage in winter before making small white flowers and eventual edible fruits.

Petite yellow fruits bear single-seeded interiors covered in a leathery skin and sweet, acidic pulp. When unripe, the green fruits can be pickled and eaten like olives. When mixed with sugar, the Jocote is often drunk in Guatemala as a sort of cider. In Amozonas, "Vinho de Taperiba" or wine of Jocote is produced. 

Jocote bears many uses aside from eating the fruit out of hand or using the pulp to flavor desserts. The wood is useful for carpentry and the young leaves can be added to salads or sautees. In folk medicine, Jocote has long been used as anything from a laxative and digestive helper to a sore throat remedy. The tree itself makes for a great living fence post, and its hardy, dense, yet lightweight  wood can be made into wood pulp for paper. Jocote has a long list of uses, and there’s no better way to find out than to plant one for yourself!