Lisa atemoya is one variety of atemoya. It has pinkish skin, a pink core and white pulp. Originally, the seedling was grown in an experimental field (in row 48 the 26th plant) at Zill High Performance Plants. So for a long time, it was called 48-26. Later, the hybridizers changed its name to Lisa, after the long-time secretary at Zill High Performance Plants.

The different varieties of atemoya you can find are:

  • Lisa
  • Geffner
  • Chocolate Lisa
  • African Pride (AP)
  • Priestly
  • Bradley
  • Phet Pak Chong (PPC)

What is Atemoya Fruit?

Atemoya fruit is a hybrid between sugar apple (Annona squamosa) and cherimoya (Annona cherimola). It is believed to have originated from Israel. The variety was not created intentionally though.

It is said that someone had a sugar apple tree next to a cherimoya. And it was actually the bugs who helped cross pollinate the two by accident. When they planted the seeds, they saw that the new plant leaves were about half way between the sugar apple tree leaves and the leaves of the cherimoya tree.

The word atemoya is a combination between 'ate' (pronounced: A-Teh), which in some country means sugar apple, and 'moya' as the last part of cherimoya. So atemoya is a cross between these two species. And this tree thrives in Florida, Texas and some parts of California.

What Does Atemoya Taste Like?

Atemoya tastes really sweet with a little bit of tartness to balance out the flavor. For the Geffner atemoya variety specifically, it has a very nice aroma to it. The skin is thin with little bumps on the outside. The pulp is firm and even quite rubbery. Compared to sugar apple, it has fewer seeds and a lot of nice pulp to enjoy.

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Cover image source

(pls note: the cover image is not the Lisa variety)