Sapote

Sapote (; from Nahuatl: tzapotl) is a term for a soft, edible fruit. The word is incorporated into the common names of several unrelated fruit-bearing plants native to Mexico, Central America and northern parts of South America. It is also known in Caribbean English as soapapple.

Species

From Sapotaceae

Some, but not all sapotes, come from the family Sapotaceae:^{: 515, 519}

Sapodilla, also called naseberry (Manilkara zapota) is native to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, and possibly El Salvador. The Sapotaceae were named after a synonym of this species.
Yellow sapote (Pouteria campechiana) is native to Mexico and Central America.
Mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota) is from southern Mexico to northern South America.
Green sapote (Pouteria viridis) is native to lowland southern Mexico.

From other families

Black sapote (Diospyros nigra: Ebenaceae), from eastern Mexico south to Colombia, is probably the original Aztec tzapotl.
White sapote (Casimiroa edulis: Rutaceae) is native to northern and central Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.
South American sapote (Quararibea cordata: Malvaceae) is native to the Amazon rainforests of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Sun sapote (Licania platypus: Chrysobalanaceae) is native to southern Mexico south to Colombia.