Colombian native

Mamey

Mammea americana

Mamey (also mamey de Cartagena)

Field guide

🗓️ Season

● peak · ○ available · — scarce

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🗺️ Where it grows

Native to the Caribbean islands and the warm coasts of northern South America, including Colombia's Caribbean lowlands.

Elsewhere in the world: Also grown in Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Altitude: 0–1,000 m

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MedellínBogotáCartagenaCaliLeticia

Caribbean coast

Caribbean lowlands, and warm valleys of Antioquia.

👀 Look

A grapefruit-sized sphere in matte brown suede. Under a thick bitter rind: firm apricot-colored flesh around one to four large seeds.

👃 Aroma

Apricot and honey when ripe; nearly silent before.

👅 Taste

Apricot + red berry + a touch of almond bitterness at the rind. Firm like a ripe peach.

Sweetness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🍽️ How to eat it

Peeled completely (the rind and the film around the flesh are bitter), sliced, sometimes with sugar or in dulce de mamey preserves.

🧃 Drinks

Occasional jugo de mamey with milk on the coast.

🏪 Buying tips

Scratch test — vendors nick the skin; orange underneath = ripe, green = wait. Heavy fruit is juicier.

💰 Price

Per unit, commonly 3.000–6.000 COP. Typical market price.

🌎 Local lore

Don't confuse it with Central America's mamey sapote — different tree entirely. Traditional Caribbean medicine used the seed and rind against parasites; you should use them against nothing and eat only the flesh.

⚠️ Watch out

Rind and seed are mildly toxic — flesh only. A heavy fruit; share one.

🎉 Fun fact

Its intensely fragrant flowers were once distilled in the French Caribbean into a liqueur poetically called Eau de Créole. Nearly every part of the tree is a natural insecticide, used in the Caribbean to kill ticks, fleas and chiggers.

⭐ Worth trying?

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Worth trying once, especially if you love apricots.