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Tropical Plant "Soursop"
Annona Muricata.
Of the 60 or more species of the genus Annona, family
Annonaceae, the soursop, A. muricata L., is the most
tropical, the largest-fruited, and the only one lending itself
well to preserving and processing. It
is generally known in most Spanish-speaking countries as guanabana;
in E1 Salvador, as guanaba; in Guatemala, as huanaba;
in Mexico, often as zopote de viejas,
or cabeza de negro; in Venezuela, as catoche
or catuche; in Argentina, as anona de puntitas
or anona de broquel; in Bolivia, sinini; in
Brazil, araticum do grande, graviola, or jaca do
Para; in the Netherlands Antilles, sorsaka or zunrzak,
the latter name also used in Surinam andJava; in French-speaking
areas of the West Indies, West Africa, and Southeast Asia,
especially North Vietnam, it is known as corossol,
grand corossol, corossol epineux, or cachiman epineux.
In Malaya it may be called durian belanda, durian maki;
or seri kaya belanda; in Thailand, thu-rian-khack.
In
1951, Prof. Clery Salazar, who was encouraging the development
of soursop products at the College of Agriculture at Mayaguez,
Puerto Rico, told me that they would like to adopt an English
name more appealing than the word "soursop", and not as likely
as guanabana to be mispronounced. To date, no altematives
have been chosen.
Soursop Description
The
soursop tree is low-branching and bushy but slender because
of its upturned limbs, and reaches a height of 25 or 30 ft
(7.5-9 m). Young branchlets are rusty-hairy. The malodorous
leaves, normally evergreen, are alternate, smooth, glossy,
dark green on the upper surface, lighter beneath; oblong,
elliptic or narrowobovate, pointed at both ends, 2 1/2 to
8 in (6.25-20 cm) long and 1 to 2 1/2 in (2.5-6.25 cm) wide.
The flowers, which are borne singly, may emerge anywhere on
the trunk, branches or twigs. They are short stalked, 1 1/2
to 2 in (4 5 cm) long, plump, and triangular-conical, the
3 fleshy, slightly spreading, outer petals yellow-green, the
3 close-set inner petals pale-yellow.
The
fruit is more or less oval or heart-shaped, some times irregular,
lopsided or curved, due to improper carper development or
insect injury. The size ranges from 4 to 12 in (10-30 cm)
long and up to 6 in (15 cm) in width, and the weight may be
up to 10 or 15 lbs (4.5-6.8 kg). The fruit is compound and
covered with a reticulated, leathery-appearing but tender,
inedible, bitter skin from which protrude few or many stubby,
or more elongated and curved, soft, pliable "spines".
The tips break off easily when the fruit is fully ripe. The
skin is dark-green in the immature fruit, becoming slightly
yellowish-green before the mature fruit is soft to the touch.
Its inner surface is cream-colored and granular and separates
easily from the mass of snow-white, fibrous, juicy segments-much
like flakes of raw fish-surrounding the central, soft-pithy
core.
In aroma, the pulp is somewhat pineapple-like, but its musky,
subacid to acid flavor is unique. Most of the closely-packed
segments are seedless. In each fertile segment there is a
single oval, smooth, hard, black seed, l/2 to 3/4 in (1.25-2
cm) long; and a large fruit may contain from a few dozen to
200 or more seeds.
Soursop Origin
and Distribution
Oviedo,
in 1526, described the soursop as abundant in the West Indies
and in northern South America. It is today found in Bermuda
and the Bahamas, and both wild and cultivated, from sea-level
to an altitude of 3,500 ft (1,150 m) throughout the West Indies
and from southern Mexico to Peru and Argentina. It was one
of the first fruit trees carried from America to the Old World
Tropics where it has become widely distributed from southeastern
China to Australia and the warm lowlands of eastern and western
Africa.
It is common in the markets of Malaya and southeast Asia.
Very large, symmetrical fruits have been seen on sale in South
Vietnam. It became well established at an early date in the
Pacific Islands. The tree has been raised successfully but
has never fruited in Israel.
In
Florida, the soursop has been grown to a limited extent for
possibly 110 years. Sturtevant noted that it was not included
by Atwood among Florida fruits in 1867 but was listed by the
American Pomological Society in 1879. A tree fruited at the
home of John Fogarty of Manatee before the freeze of 1886.
In the southeastern part of the state and especially on the
Florida Keys, it is often planted in home gardens.
In
regions where sweet fruits are preferred, as in South India
and Guam, the soursop has not enjoyed great popularity. It
is grown only to a limited extent in Madras. However, in the
East Indies it has been acclaimed one of the best local fruits.
In Honolulu, the fruit is occasionally sold but the demand
exceeds the supply. The soursop is one of the most abundant
fruits in the Dominican Republic and one of the most popular
in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Colombia and northeastern
Brazil.
In
1887, Cuban soursops were selling in Key West, Florida, at
10 to 50 cents apiece. In 1920, Wilson Popenoe wrote that:
"In the large cities of tropical America, there is a good
demand for the fruits at all times of the year, a demand which
is not adequately met at present."
The island of Grenada produces particularly large and perfect
soursops and regularly delivers them by boat to the market
of Port-of Spain because of the shortage in Trinidad. In Colombia,
where the soursop is generally large, well-formed and of high
quality, this is one of the 14 tropical fruits recommended
by the Instituto Latinoamericano de Mercadeo Agricola for
large-scale planting and marketing. Soursops produced in small
plots, none over 5 acres (2.27 ha), throughout Venezuela supply
the processing plants where the frozen concentrate is packed
in 6 oz (170 g) cans. In 1968, 2,266 tons (936 MT) of juice
were processed in Venezuela.
The strained pulp is also preserved commercially in Costa
Rica. There are a few commercial soursop plantations near
the south coast of Puerto Rico and several processing factories.
In 1977, the Puerto Rican crop totaled 219,538 lbs (99,790
kg).
At
the First International Congress of Agricultural and Food
Industries of the Tropical and Subtropical Zones, held in
1964, scientists from the Research Laboratories of Nestle
Products in Vevey, Switzerland, presented an evaluation of
lesser-known tropical fruits and cited the soursop, the guava
and passionfruit as the 3 most promising for the European
market, because of their distinctive aromatic qualities and
their suitability for processing in the form of preserved
pulp, nectar and jelly.
Soursop Varieties
In
Puerto Rico, the wide range of forms and types of seedling
soursops are roughly divided into 3 general classifications:
sweet, subacid, and acid; then subdivided as round, heart-shaped,
oblong or angular; and finally classed according to flesh
consistency which varies from soft and juicy to firm and comparatively
dry.
The University of Puerto Rico's Agricultural Experiment Station
at one time cataloged 14 different types of soursops in an
area between Aibonito and Coamo. In El Salvador, 2 types of
soursops are distinguished: guanaba azucaron
(sweet) eaten raw and used for drinks; and guanaba
acida (very sour), used only for drinks. In the Dominican
Republic, the guanabana dulce (sweet soursop)
is most sought after.
The term "sweet" is used in a relative sense to indicate low
acidity. A medium-sized, yellow-green soursop called guanabana
sin fibre (fiberless) has been vegetatively
propagated at the Agricultural Experiment Station at Santiago
de las Vegas, Cuba. The foliage of this superior clone is
distinctly bluish-green. In 1920, Dr. Wilson Popenoe sent
to the United States Department of Agriculture, from Costa
Rica, budwood of a soursop he named 'Bennett' in honor of
G.S. Bennett, Agricultural Superintendent of the Costa Rican
Division of the United Fruit Company.
He
described the fruit as large and handsome (as shown in the
photograph accompanying the introduction record No. 51050)
and he declared the tree to be the most productive he had
seen.
Soursop Climate
The
soursop is truly tropical. Young trees in exposed places in
southem Florida are killed by only a few degrees of frost.
The trees that survive to fruiting age on the mainland are
in protected situations, close to the south side of a house
and sometimes near a source of heat. Even so, there will be
temporary defoliation and interruption of fruiting when the
temperature drops to near freezing. In Key West, where the
tropical breadfruit thrives, the soursop is perfectly at home.
In Puerto Rico, the tree is said to prefer an altitude between
800 and 1,000 ft (244300 m), with moderate humidity, plenty
of sun and shelter from strong winds.
Soursop Soil
Best
growth is achieved in deep, rich, well-drained, semi-drysoil,
but the soursop tree can be and is commonly grown in acid
and sandy soil, and in the porous, oolitic limestone of South
Florida and the Bahama Islands.
Soursop Propagation
The
soursop is usually grown from seeds. They should be sown in
flats or containers and kept moist and shaded. Germination
takes from 15 to 30 days. Selected types can be reproduced
by cuttings or by shield-budding. Soursop seedlings are generally
the best stock for propagation, though grafting onto custard
apple (Annona reticulata), the mountain soursop (A.
montana), or pond apple (A. glabra), is usually
successful. The pond apple has a dwarfing effect. Grafts on
sugar apple (A. squamosa) and cherimoya (A. cherimola)
do not live for long, despite the fact that the soursop is
a satisfactory rootstock for sugar apple in Ceylon and India.
Soursop Culture
In
ordinary practice, seedlings, when 1 ft (30 cm) or more in
height are set out in the field at the beginning of the rainy
season and spaced 12 to 15 ft (3.65-4.5 m) apart, though 25
ft (7.5 m) each way has been suggested. A spacing of 20 x
25 ft (6x7.5 m) allows 87 trees per acre (215/ha). Close-spacing,
8 x 8 ft (2.4x2.4 m) is thought aufficient for small gardens
in Puerto Rico. The tree grows rapidly and begins to bear
in 3 to 5 years. In Queensland, well-watered trees have attained
15 to 18 ft (4.5-5.5 m) in 6 to 7 years. Mulching is recommended
to avoid dehydration of the shallow, fibrous root system during
dry, hot weather. If in too dry a situation, the tree will
cast off all of its old leaves before new ones appear. A fertilizer
mixture containing 10% phosphoric acid, 10% potash and 3%
nitrogen has been advocated in Cuba and Queensland. But excellent
results have been obtained in Hawaii with quarterly applications
of 10-10-10 N P K-1\2 lb (.225 kg) per tree the first year,
1 lb (.45 kg)/tree the 2nd year, 3 lbs (1.36 kg)/tree the
3rd year and thereafter.
Soursop Season
The
soursop tends to flower and fruit more or less continuously,
but in every growing area there is a principal season of ripening.
In Puerto Rico, this is from March to June or September; in
Queensland, it begins in April; in southern India, Mexico
and Florida, it extends from June to September; in the Bahamas,
it continues through October. In Hawaii, the early crop occurs
from January to April; midseason crop, June to August, with
peak in July; and there is a late crop in October or November.
Soursop Harvesting
The
fruit is picked when full grown and still firm but slightly
yellow-green. If allowed to soften on the tree, it will fall
and crush. It is easily bruised and punctured and must be
handled with care. Firm fruits are held a few days at room
temperature. When eating ripe, they are soft enough to yield
to the slight pressure of one's thumb. Having reached this
stage, the fruit can be held 2 or 3 days longer in a refrigerator.
The skin will blacken and become unsightly while the flesh
is still unspoiled and usable. Studies of the ripening process
in Hawaii have determined that the optimum stage for eating
is 5 to 6 days after harvest, at the peak of ethylene production.
Thereafter, the flavor is less pronounced and a faint offodor
develops. In Venezuela, the chief handicap in commercial processing
is that the fruits stored on racks in a cool shed must be
gone over every day to select those that are ripe and ready
for juice extraction.
Soursop Yield
The
soursop, unfortunately, is a shy-bearer, the usual crop being
12 to 20 or 24 fruits per tree. In Puerto Rico, production
of 5,000 to 8,000 lbs per acre (roughly equal kg/ha), is considered
a good yield from well-cared-for trees. A study of the first
crop of 35 5 year-old trees in Hawaii showed an average of
93.6 lbs (42.5 kg) of fruits per tree. Yield was slightly
lower the 2nd year. The 3rd year, the average yield was 172
lbs (78 kg) per tree. At this rate, the annual crop would
be 16,000 lbs per acre (roughly equal kg/ha).
Soursop Pests
& Diseases
Queensland's
principal soursop pest is the mealybug which may occur in
masses on the fruits. The mealybug is a common pest also in
Florida, where the tree is often infessed with scale insects.
Sometimes it may be infected by a lace-wing bug.
The
fruit is subject to attack by fruit flies-Anastrepha
suspensa, A. striata and Ceratitis capitata.
Red spiders are a problem in dry climates.
Dominguez
Gil (1978 and 1983), presents an extensive list of pests of
the soursop in the State of Zulia, Venezuela. The 5 most damaging
are: 1) the wasp, Bephratelloides (Bephrata)
maculicollis, the larvae of which live in the seeds
and emerge from the fully-grown ripe fruit, leaving it perforated
and highly perishable; 2) the moth, Cerconota (Stenoma)
anonella, which lays its eggs in the very young fruit
causing stunting and malformation; 3) Corythucha gossipii;
which attacks the leaves; 4) Cratosomus inaequalis,
which bores into the fruit, branches and trunk; 5) Laspeyresia
sp., which perforates the flowers. The first 3 are among the
7 major pests of the soursop in Colombia, the other 4 being:
Toxoptera aurantii; which affects shoots, young
leaves, flowers and fruits; present but not important in Venezuela;
Aphis spiraecola; Empoasca sp., attacking
the leaves; and Aconophora concolor, damaging
the flowers and fruits. Important beneficial agents preying
on aphids are A phidius testataceipes, Chrysopa sp.,
and Curinus sp.
Lesser enemies of the soursop in South America include: Talponia
backeri and T. batesi which damage flowers and
fruits; Horiola picta and H. lineolata, feeding
on flowers and young branches; Membracis foliata, attacking
young branches, flower stalks and fruits; Saissetia nigra;
Escama ovalada, on branches, flowers and fruits; Cratosomus
bombina, a fruit borer; and Cyclocephala signata,
affecting the flowers.
In
Trinidad, the damage done to soursop flowers by Thecla
ortygnus seriously limits the cultivation of this fruit.
The sphinx caterpillar, Cocytius antueus antueus
may be found feeding on soursop leaves in Puerto Rico. Bagging
of soursops is necessary to protect them from Cerconota
anonella. However, one grower in the Magdalena Valley
of Colombia claims that bagged fruits are more acid than others
and the flowers have to be handpollinated.
It
has been observed in Venezuela and El Salvador that soursop
trees in very humid areas often grow well but bear only a
few fruits, usually of poor quality, which are apt to rot
at the tip. Most of their flowers and young fruits fall because
of anthracnose caused by Collectotrichum gloeosporioides.
It has been said that soursop trees for cultivation near San
Juan, Puerto Rico, should be seedlings of trees from similarly
humid areas which have greater resistance to anthracnose than
seedlings from dry zones. The same fungus causes damping-off
of seedlings and die-back of twigs and branches. Occasionally
the fungus, Scolecotrichum sp. ruins the leaves in
Venezuela. In the East Indies, soursop trees are sometimes
subject to the root-fungi, Fomes lamaoensis and Diplodia
sp. and by pink disease due to Corticum salmonicolor.
Soursop Food
Uses
Soursops
of least acid flavor and least fibrous consistency are cut
in sections and the flesh eaten with a spoon. The seeded pulp
may be torn or cut into bits and added to fruit cups or salads,
or chilled and served as dessert with sugar and a little milk
or cream. For years, seeded soursop has been canned in Mexico
and served in Mexican restaurants in New York and other northern
cities.
Most
widespread throughout the tropics is the making of refreshing
soursop drinks (called champola in Brazil; carato
in Puerto Rico). For this purpose, the seeded pulp may be
pressed in a colander or sieve or squeezed in cheesecloth
to extract the rich, creamy juice, which is then beaten with
milk or water and sweetened. Or the seeded pulp may be blended
with an equal amount of boiling water and then strained and
sweetened. If an electric blender is to be used, one must
first be careful to remove all the seeds, since they are somewhat
toxic and none should be accidentally ground up in the juice.
In
Puerto Rican processing factories, the hand-peeled and cored
fruits are passed through a mechanical pulper having nylon
brushes that press the pulp through a screen, separating it
from the seeds and fiber. A soursop soft drink, containing
12 to 15% pulp, is canned in Puerto Rico and keeps well for
a year or more.
The
juice is prepared as a carbonated bottled beverage in Guatemala,
and a fermented, cider-like drink is sometimes made in the
West Indies. The vacuum-concentrated juice is canned commercially
in the Philippines. There soursop drinks are popular but the
normal "milk" color is not. The people usually add pink or
green food coloring to make the drinks more attractive. The
strained pulp is said to be a delicacy mixed with wine or
brandy and seasoned with nutmeg. Soursop juice, thickened
with a little gelatin, makes an agreeable dessert.
In
the Dominican Republic, a soursop custard is enjoyed and a
confection is made by cooking soursop pulp in sugar sirup
with cinnamon and lemon peel. Soursop ice cream is commonly
frozen in refrigerator ice-cube trays in warm countries.
In
the Bahamas, it is simply made by mashing the pulp in water,
letting it stand, then straining to remove fibrous material
and seeds. The liquid is then blended with sweetened condensed
milk, poured into the trays and stirred several times while
freezing. A richer product is made by the usual method of
preparing an ice cream mix and adding strained soursop pulp
just before freezing. Some Key West restaurants have always
served soursop ice cream and now the influx of residents from
the Caribbean and Latin American countries has created a strong
demand for it. The canned pulp is imported from Central America
and Puerto Rico and used in making ice cream and sherbet commercially.
The pulp is used, too, for making tarts and jelly, sirup and
nectar. The sirup has been bottled in Puerto Rico for local
use and export. The nectar is canned in Colombia and frozen
in Puerto Rico and is prepared fresh and sold in paper cartons
in the Netherlands Antilles. The strained, frozen pulp is
sold in plastic bags in Philippine supermarkets.
Immature
soursops are cooked as vegetables or used in soup in Indonesia.
They are roasted or fried in northeastern Brazil. I have boiled
the half-grown fruit whole, without peeling. In an hour, the
fruit is tender, its flesh off-white and mealy, with the aroma
and flavor of roasted ears of green corn (maize).
Soursop Toxicity
The presence of the alkaloids anonaine
and anoniine has been reported in this species. The alkaloids
muricine, C19H21O4N (possibly
des-N-methylisocorydine or des-N methylcorydine) and muricinine,
C18H19O4
(possibly des-N-methylcorytuberine), are found in the bark.
Muricinine is believed to be identical to reticuline. An unnamed
alkaloid occurs in the leaves and seeds. The bark is high
in hydrocyanic acid. Only small amounts are found in the leaves
and roots and a trace in the fruit. The seeds contain 45%
of a yellow non-drying oil which is an irritant poison, causing
severe eye inflarnmation.
Soursop Other
Uses
Soursop Fruit:
In the Virgin Islands, the fruit is placed as a bait in fish
traps.
Soursop Seeds:
When pulverized, the seeds are effective pesticides against
head lice, southern army worms and pea aphids and petroleum
ether and chloroform extracts are toxic to black carpet beetle
larvae. The seed oil kills head lice.
Soursop Leaves:
The leaf decoction is lethal to head lice and bedbugs.
Soursop Bark:
The bark of the tree has been used in tanning. The bark fiber
is strong but, since fruiting trees are not expendable, is
resorted to only in necessity. Bark, as well as seeds and
roots, has been used as fish poison.
Soursop Wood:
The wood is pale, aromatic, soft, light in weight and not
durable. It has been used for ox yokes because it does not
cause hair loss on the neck.
In
Colombia, it is deemed to be suitable for pipestems and barrelstaves.
Analyses in Brazil show cellulose content of 65 to 76%, high
enough to be a potential source of paper pulp.
Soursop Medicinal
Uses: The juice of the ripe fruit is said to be diuretic
and a remedy for haematuria and urethritis. Taken when fasting,
it is believed to relieve liver ailments and leprosy. Pulverized
immature fruits, which are very astringent, are decocted as
a dysentery remedy. To draw out chiggers and speed healing,
the flesh of an acid soursop is applied as a poultice unchanged
for 3 days.
In
Materia Medica of British Guiana, we are told
to break soursop leaves in water, "squeeze a couple of limes
therein, get a drunken man and rub his head well with the
leaves and water and give him a little of the water to drink
and he gets as sober as a judge in no time." This sobering
or tranquilizing formula may not have been widely tested,
but soursop leaves are regarded throughout the West Indies
as having sedative or soporific properties. In the Netherlands
Antilles, the leaves are put into one's pillowslip or strewn
on the bed to promote a good night's sleep.
An
infusion of the leaves is commonly taken internally for the
same purpose. It is taken as an analgesic and antispasmodic
in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. In Africa, it is given to
children with fever and they are also bathed lightly with
it. A decoction of the young shoots or leaves is regarded
in the West Indies as a remedy for gall bladder trouble, as
well as coughs, catarrh, diarrhea, dysentery and indigestion;
is said to "cool the blood," and to be able to stop vomiting
and aid delivery in childbirth.
The
decoction is also employed in wet compresses on inflammations
and swollen feet. The chewed leaves, mixed with saliva, are
applied to incisions after surgery, causing proudflesh to
disappear without leaving a scar. Mashed leaves are used as
a poultice to alleviate eczema and other skin afflictions
and rheumatism, and the sap of young leaves is put on skin
eruptions.
The
roots of the tree are employed as a vermifuge and the root
bark as an antidote for poisoning. A tincture of the powdered
seeds and bay rum is a strong emetic. Soursop flowers are
believed to alleviate catarrh.
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