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How did domestication change the chayote?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

August 11, 2005

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The mirliton or chayote (Sechium edule (Jacquin) Swartz) is a member of the Sicyinae, a subtribe of the Cucurbitaceae, the cucumber family. Members of this subtribe have spiny pollen and produce a single-seeded pendant fruit. The chayote is native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. Depending upon the authority, there are three to seven species of Sechium.

Plant of the Week 08/08/2005

Chayote (Sechium edule (Jacquin) Swartz)
Plant of the Week 08/08/2005

In the mid-1500s, the Spanish recorded the cultivation of the chayote by the Aztecs. It was probably under cultivation for much longer, but there is no direct archaeological evidence. The fruit and seeds do not preserve like ears of corn or squash seeds; no one has ever excavated any remains of chayote. And oddly, the cultivation of chayote did not spread beyond Mexico and Central America until sometime after the Conquest.

Chayote has wild and domesticated varieties. Wild types generally produce light to dark green fruit, often with spines, and extremely bitter. Domesticated varieties have fruit that range from light green to white or pale yellow, smooth, and bland to slightly sweet.

But it is not simply the appearance and flavor of the chayote that changed with domestication. The germination of the seed changed also. Chayote seeds germinate while still inside the fruit, but wild types do not germinate until the fruit has fallen from the vine. Domesticated varieties germinate while the fruit still hangs on the vine.

Since a fruit with roots and a shoot is not desirable for consumption, the gardener must prevent the seed from germinating while the fruit ripens. A small slit is made in the bottom of the fruit and into the seed to damage the embryo so it cannot develop.

Scott Appell has written an article about his experience growing chayote in a pot and included a recipe for Chayote, Avocado and Watercress Salad with Lime Vinaigrette. The article has been posted to the internet by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. To read the article and try a new recipe, click on the link:

http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/kitchen/2002su_chayote.html

(Compiled from: "Chayote", Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, NY, 1976 and "Chayote. Sechium edule (Jacq) Sw., Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops." Rafael Lira Saade, Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Rome 1996)

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