Annona muricata

An evergreen tree reaching 7m tall and wide, growing at a fast rate. Hardy to UK zone 10, frost-tender. Pollinated by flies, beetles, and other insects. Grows in light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with preference for good drainage; tolerates nutritionally poor soil. Adapts from very acidic to very alkaline soils. Grows in semi-shade or full sun; prefers moist soil and tolerates drought.

Description

It is a low bushy tree 8-10 m high. The leaves are long (14 cm) and narrow (4 cm). The leaves are thick and slightly shiny on top. The flowers are large (2-3 cm), rounded and produced on short stems on the branches. They occur singly, or in groups of three. The flowers have two layers of thick fleshy petals. The fruit are 10-30 cm long. The fruit is spiny and the flesh is juicy. Many black seeds are embedded in the white flesh. Fruit are often distorted due to only some of the ovules being fertilised. Beetles are normally thought to do the pollinating. This means fruit end up heart shaped when unevenly pollinated. The flesh of the fruit is white. Several kinds with different sweetness, shape and juiciness occur.

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit Leaves Shoots Edible Uses: Fruit - raw or cooked. Juicy and refreshingly acid. The fruit has a pineapple like aroma, but its subacid to acid flavour is unique and the pulp is very juicy and rich in vitamin A and C. The fruits are consumed fresh for dessert when fully ripe or mixed with ice cream or milk to make a delicious drink. Immature fruits, harvested when the seeds are still soft, are cooked as a vegetable in soups etc. The most desirable characteristics of the fruit are its extremely pleasing fragrance and flavour. The ovoid fruit is up to 20 x 10cm and can weigh 1 kilo. Young shoots - cooked. Eaten as a vegetable. A tea, called corossol tea, is made from the leaves.

Traditional Uses

Fruit can be eaten fresh or used in ice-cream and for drinks. Young fruit can be cooked as a vegetable. Leaves are edible cooked. They are used for tea. CAUTION The seeds are toxic, so should be removed before processing.

Medicinal Uses

Antianxiety Antibacterial Antidiarrhoeal Antifungal Antirheumatic Antiscorbutic Antispasmodic Cardiac Cardiotonic Carminative Cytotoxic Dysentery Febrifuge Hypotensive Malaria Narcotic Parasiticide Sedative Skin Uterine tonic Vasodilator Vermifuge Sour sop is often used in traditional medicine. Research has shown that it is antimalarial, uterine stimulant, anticrustacean, antiparasitic, cytotoxic (acetogenins), cardiac depressant, antiamoebic, antibacterial, antifungal, hypertensive, spasmogenic, vasodilator, insecticide, smooth muscle relaxant. The plant contains isoquinoline alkaloids including reticuline. The seed contains galactomannan, sitosterol, stigmasterol and cholesterol. The leaves are antispasmodic, calmative, narcotic. The crushed leaves are used as a remedy for distension and dyspepsia, scabies and skin diseases, rheumatism, coughs and colds. A decoction, often combined with Ludwigia erecta, is used to treat hypertension and heart conditions such as palpitations. A decoction of the leaves, combined with the leaves of avocado (Persea americana) is drunk as an antihypertensive. The leaves may also be used to make a decoction, which is taken orally with salt for digestive tract ailments and to relieve fatigue. The pungent leaves are well-known for their sleep-inducing properties - they can be taken in an infusion, or simply placed under the pillow. Applied externally, the crushed leaves are used to maturate boils and abscesses. A massage of the leaves is good for remedying nervous shock. The fruit is antiscorbutic, febrifuge, mildly antidysenteric and a good vermifuge. It is used to treat bedwetting in children. A decoction is used to remedy excess foot and hand perspiration. The fruit is used to make a tonic that is used for treating fever, headache, hypertension, and heart problems. A crushed leaf and seed decoction is taken orally for intestinal malaise. The leaves and bark are cardiotonic and sedative. A decoction is used for treating anxiety attacks. The green bark is rubbed on wounds to stop bleeding. Flower or flower bud tea is mixed with honey for colds, chest pain and nerve disorders. The bark and young fruits, which contain tannin, are used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. The green bark is rubbed on wounds to stop bleeding. The seed is an ingredient in a remedy for treating convulsions.

Known Hazards

The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center cautions, "alkaloids extracted from graviola may cause neuronal dysfunction". Annonacin has been shown in laboratory research to be neurotoxic. In 2010, the French food safety agency concluded that "it is not possible to confirm that the observed cases of atypical Parkinson syndrome ... are linked to the consumption of Annona muricata".

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in tropical lowland areas below 1200 m altitude. In Colombia it grows between 100-2,000 m above sea level. It can tolerate quite poor soils and a humid climate. It cannot tolerate frost. The trees can withstand temperatures down to freezing (0°C) for a short time but salt laden winds from the sea can kill the trees. They need a well drained soil and cannot tolerate water-logging. The trees continue to grow and produce satisfactorily in fairly poor compact soil. But improving the fertility increases the amount of fruit. They can grow well in hot humid areas but a fungus disease called Blossom blight can cause flowers to fall off. In XTBG Yunnan. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.

Where It Grows

Africa, Amazon, Andamans, Angola, Antingua and Barbuda, Antilles, Argentina, Aruba, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia*, Bougainville, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Caroline Islands, Central Africa, Central America, Chile, China, Chuuk, Colombia, Cook Islands, Congo DR, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, FSM, French Guiana, Gabon, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guam, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Hispaniola, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mexico, Micronesia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Niue, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pohnpei, Puerto Rico, Rotuma, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South America, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, USA, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Wallis & Futuna, West Africa, West Indies*, West Timor, Yap, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Trees are grown either as seedling trees or grafted plants. They can be grown from cuttings or air layering. Trees are easy to grow and maintain. Plants can easily be grown from seeds. Seeds can be planted fresh or stored. Seeds grow in about 15 to 20 days. Trees grown from seeds vary in the quality of the fruit. Seedlings are transferred to polythene bags when 15 cm tall. Trees can also be grown from cuttings or by grafting. This allows better trees to be selected and produced. Seedlings are suitable for grafting after 6 months. Trees need to be about 5m apart. Flowers are pollinated by insects. Hand pollination of flowers can increase the number of fruit that are produced. Fruit are soft and fleshy and difficult to transport.

Propagation

Seed - usually breeds true to type. Sow in individual pots, not deeper than 2cm, at 21c. Seeds may be sown directly into the field or in a nursery bed. The seed of many species in this genus has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Semi-ripe cuttings.

Other Uses

Fuel Insecticide Insecticide Parasiticide Wood Other uses rating: Low (2/5). Seaside, Backyard Tree, Screening, Large Container, Courtyard, Conservatory, Xerophytic. Agroforestry Uses: Sour sop is suitable for intercropping between larger fruit trees like mango or avocado. When these achieve crown closure the sour sops can be removed. Other Uses A powder of the dried leaves and sap from fresh ones are useful in destroying vermin. A powder or oil from the seeds has been used to kill lice and bedbugs. All tree parts have insecticidal properties and can also be used, with fruit as bait, to kill fish. The heartwood is brown; the sapwood is whitish. The wood is soft, light (specific gravity of 0.4), not durable. It is rarely used as a construction timber but has been used for ox yokes. The wood makes a suitable fuel. Special Uses Food Forest

Production

Trees grow quickly. Trees commence bearing by the third year. It bears fruit almost continually throughout the year, but there is normally one season when more fruit are getting ripe. Fruit can weigh up to 4-5 kg each. A tree can produce 12-24 fruit in a year. The fruit contain 11-14% sugars.

Other Information

A quite popular fruit in many coastal areas of Papua New Guinea and other tropical countries.

Notes

There are about 100-150 Annona species. It has anticancer properties. It is also used for a range of other medicinal conditions.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Ai-ata, Ai pen mamami, Anoanaa, Anuune, Ata, Atti, Bei, Catuche, Corossol, Durian belanda, Durian benggala, Durian maki, Duyin-awza, Ekarebang, Ekereket, Graviola, Guanabana, Guayabano, Guyubana, Ilabanos, Ingbe, Jojaab, Kaiedi, Kaliklik, Karaosoly, Katu-anoda, Katu-attha, Khan thalot, Khiep thet, Koitchila laka lakaran, Koropataka, Laguana, Maiasi, Ma thurian, Mang cua, Mbundu ngombe, Mtopetope, Mundla sitaphal, Mullatha, Muri at, Nangka belanda, Nangka seberang, Pohon sirsak, Ramphal, Rata-attha, Rian-nam, Salifa, Saput, Sasapo, Saua sap, Sausau, Seetha, Sei, Sele, Seremaia, Sirsak, Sitha-seetha palam, Soensaka, Soran, Talapo, Te tiotabu, Thurian khaek, Thurian thet, Tiep banla, Tiep barang, Voantsokona, Zuurzak

References (181)

• Soursop references
• Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 42
• Ajesh, T. P., et al, 2012, Ethnobotanical Documentation of Wild Edible Fruits used by Muthuvan Tribes of Idukki, Kerala-India. International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences 3(3): 479-487
• Alexander, D. M., Scholefield, P.B., Frodsham, A., 1982, Some tree fruits for tropical Australia. CSIRO, Australia. p 45
• Allen, B. M., 1975, Common Malaysian fruits. Longmans p 5

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