Chico

Chico is a many-branched tree reaching a height of about 8 feet, more or less.It is commercially grown because of its edible fruits.The fruit is somewhat egg-shaped or rounded with a thin, brown skin. When ripe it is soft and sweet.

Nutritive and Economic Values

* The fruits which are sweet serve as a delicious dessert.
* The fruits are used as a good ingredient for ice cream.
* The Chico fruit is deficient in calcium but fair in iron.

Medicinal Value of Chico

* The seeds which contains saponins and quercetin are diuretic(helps the body dispose of excess water by increasing the amount of urine produced.)They contain 23% oil.

* The mature bark which contains tannin has a medicinal use in Cambodia where it is employed in the cure of diarrhea.

Chico tress may be propagated by seeds,marcotting and inarching. In orchards, plant chico tress about seven to eight meters apart.

Harvest only fully matured fruits.Immature fruits may ripen but the quality is poor, because the skin wrinkles and the taste is inferior.