Annona glabra L. - syn. Annona humboldtiana Kunth; Annona humboldtii Dunal; Annona palustris L. - Annonaceae
bagá (span.), pond apple, alligator apple, monkey apple, mangrove anona, Mangroven-Annone, Alligatorapfel, Wasserapfel

Shrub or tree, up to 15m tall, native to the tropical America (Florida-Brazil) and West Africa, cultivated and naturalized elsewhere; leaves alternate, ovate to elliptic, glabrous; flowers solitary, from leaf axils on new shoots, outer petals cream-white, ovate-cordate, inner petals cream-white, inside base deep purple, oblong-ovate; fruit pendulous on thickened peduncle, dull yellow blotched with brown, ovoid, 5-12 cm, smooth with reticulate pattern formed by pistil boundaries. „Annona glabra ( Annona sect. Phelloxylon Safford) has edible although scarcely desirable, yellow-fleshed fruits.“ http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200008506

„Pulp is fleshy, pinkish-orange or orange, aromatic and pungent. Each fruit contains about 100 light brown coloured seeds, which are about 1 cm in length. Uses: Fruits are delicious and eaten raw. They are also used in the preparation of a sweet drink.“
[Trees and shrubs of the Maldives., Selvam, V, RAP Publication 12, 2007] http://www.fao.org/forestry/14635-087ce4f27d7aee9662f6996003709769c.pdf

„Mature fruit have a sweet aroma. The pulp is fleshy, mealy and pithy. The color is yellowish-orange. They are an important wildlife food favored by birds, raccoons, squirrels, turtles and even alligators. Ripe fruits are considered edible but unpalatable to humans.“
[Pond apple - Annona glabra, factsheet, The State of Queensland, Depar tment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2014] [Brown, S.H., Mark, S. Annona glabra Family: Annonaceae., 2013] http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Pond_Apple.pdf

Pond apple is a major environmental weed in Australia. As the seeds are dispersed by water, disturbed flood-prone ecosystems, particularly mangroves, are most at risk from pond apple invasion.
https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/76002/IPA-Pond-Apple-PP58.pdf

„The volatile constituents of the fruits of Annona glabra L. growing wild in North Brazil were analysed by GC-MS. The fruits were collected at three stages of ripening: unripe, half-ripe and ripe. The most abundant class of compounds found in the aromas were terpenoids. The major components identified were α-pinene (unripe, 18.5%; half-ripe, 11.3%; ripe, 15.0%), limonene (unripe, 20.0%: half-ripe, 20.7%; ripe, 20.6%), α-phellandrene (unripe, 21.0%; half-ripe, 1.2%; ripe, 2.0%) and (E)-β-ocimene (unripe, 15.8%; half-ripe, 19.7%; ripe, 18.3%).“
[Volatile constituents of fruits of Annona glabra L. from Brazil., Santos, A.S., Andrade, E.H.D.A., Zoghbi, M.D.G.B., Maia, J.G.S., Flavour and fragrance journal, 13(3), 1998, 148-150]

„Volatile components of baga fruit were isolated by simultaneous hydrodistillation/solvent extraction. The fruit had 887.9 mg/kg of total volatile compounds. Major components were myrcene (47.1%), (Z)-β-ocimene (16.3%), limonene (11.2%) and α-pinene (9.5%).“
[Volatile components of baga (Annona glabra L.) fruit., Pino, J.A., Marbot, R., Agüero, J., Journal of Essential Oil Research, 14(4), 2002, 252-253]

annona_glabra.jpg
Annona glabra L. as Annona palustris L., Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, vol.72 [ser.3, vol.2] t.4226 (1846) [W.H.Fitch]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=66239