Annona muricata

The soursop (name of Taíno origin), soursop or graviola (Annona muricata) is a tree of the Annonaceae family. Originally from Mexico, Central and South America, it is cultivated for its edible fruits in many countries with a tropical climate.

Etymology

Annona muricata was described by Carlos Linnaeus and published in Species Plantarum in 1753.

Annona: comes from annon, the Taíno name of the tree.

muricata: Latin word that means "bristle", due to the appearance of the skin of the fruit.

Description

Small tree, 3-8 m high and branched from the base, it gives off a bad smell when crushed. The branches are reddish and hairless, cylindrical, wrinkled, rough and with numerous lenticels. The crown grows extended, with compact foliage. The leaves are simple, oblong-elliptic to oblong-obovate entire, hard, smooth, dark green and 5-15 cm long.

The inflorescences, with only 1 or 2 flowers, are axillary, but they can also be implanted in any part of the trunk or branches. The flowers are the largest of their kind, they have a penetrating aroma and grow on the branches or trunk, they are solitary along the stem, sepals 3, ovate, less than 5 mm long, petals 6, the outer 3 are ovate, free, thick, 2 to 3 cm long, the 3 interiors, thin and small. The 3 sepals, ovate-elliptical to ovate-triangular, measure 3–5 mm. The 6 petals are green and then yellowish, the 3 outer ones thick, broadly triangular, 2.5–5 by 2–4 cm, with the interior finely pubescent and the apex acute to obtuse while the 3 inner ones are ovate-elliptical, 2–4 by 1.5–3.5 cm, somewhat slender, imbricate, pubescent and with an obtuse apex. The numerous stamens, 4–5 mm, have fleshy filaments and a dilated apical connective tissue. The abundant carpels, about 5 mm, are pubescent. It presents protogyny, that is, the female structures mature before the male ones; There is a period of 36 to 48 days in which both sexual structures are mature.

The soursop is actually a syncarp, an aggregate of welded fruits, it can have around 170 seeds, each one corresponding to an individual fruit. The whole is the largest among the Annonaceae, measuring 14 to 40 cm long and 10 to 12 cm in diameter, and weighing an average of 2.9 kg, of which 75.6% correspond to the pulp, 4.8% is seed, 12.7% is the shell and 6.9% is the rachis. The shell is thin, hard and shiny dark green, covered with soft spines turned towards the apex. The pulp is white, relatively fibrous and very aromatic. They are sweet, 17.2 degrees Brix.

The seeds are obovoid and flattened, 15 to 20 mm long with a dark and shiny testa.

Distribution, origin and habitat

Its place of origin is not known with certainty but it is considered native to South America. It is found throughout tropical America and the Caribbean. It is distributed in the lowlands of the tropics, at an altitude of 0 to 1,150 m s. n. m. Widely planted and naturalized in the tropics of America and West Africa. It extends from Mexico to Brazil and the Antilles, except in the Bahamas. In Costa Rica it is widely cultivated and perhaps naturalized in some localities, mainly at low elevations (0-700 m) with humid and hot climates.

The first chronicles name it in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Caribbean area in general. However, many authors place its origin in Colombia, this country being the one that has the greatest number of varieties. It is also cultivated today in areas of Africa such as Equatorial Guinea. Also introduced and cultivated in many tropical and subtropical countries, including China, Australia and Polynesia.

Habitat

It is a primary species, it can be found in tropical deciduous and sub-deciduous forests, evergreen and sub-evergreen tropical forests. Thrives best in warm, humid climates. It grows in medium-textured, non-limestone, well-drained, sandy, silty and clayey soils. It develops in a slightly acidic pH of 5.5 to 6.5. It requires rainfall of 1,000 and tolerates 4,000 mm annually, dry season of 2-4 months, altitude of 0 to 1,150 m above sea level. n. m., an average temperature of 25°C. It does not tolerate frost and requires night temperatures higher than 12 °C, it does not tolerate poor drainage, excess shade produces elongation and disorders in development, compared to the other species of Anonas, Annona muricata, It is a more cosmopolitan species, because it has a wider range of edaphic adaptability. The plant is very sensitive to winds.

Conservation status

One of the species that has achieved the greatest commercial development is the soursop. However, large areas are not planted and it is normally found in home gardens. It is used to provide shade for crops such as coffee in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Being a small tree that produces early, it can be planted in the middle of other trees such as mango or avocado.

The cultivation of these species of Annonnaceae presents great prospects in Mexico, on the one hand for use in genetic improvement programs, for use as rootstocks or as alternative crops, since they have an excellent aroma and flavor on the palate. In general, the cultivation of Annonaceae has not been formalized agronomically and economically in Mexico. It is not a species that is located in any category of standard 059 of the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) of Mexico.

Properties

Both the fruit and the leaves of A. muricataare attributed medicinal properties. The most widespread is that it cures cancer but does not specify what type of cancerous tumor. There is no indication that allows this effectiveness to be sustained, neither with the unprocessed plant, nor with any of its isolated active ingredients or their combinations.

There are some in vitro studies on a substance isolated from several plants of the anonaceae family, annonacin, which have shown its ability to induce apoptosis mediated by cytotoxicity in cultures of gastric and adenocarcinoma cell lines. pulmonary, specifically types C678 and H460.

Toxicity

There are studies that suggest that some atypical forms of Parkinson's disease could be triggered by its consumption, since anonacin is a neurotoxin, it can cause lesions in the nervous tissue and lead to neurodegenerative diseases.

In 2008, the Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments published a report after being asked about the toxicity of the seeds. Although he could not conclude an obvious relationship between anonacin and the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases in the study population, he recommended caution until its safety was established with additional research.

Common names

• Guanabana (Caribe)
• Guanábana (Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela)
• Guanaba (Guatemala, El Salvador)
• Guanabana (El Salvador)
• Guanabana de azucarón (El Salvador), guanabana (Antillas) or yaca de la India.
• Heart of India
• Guanabana (Equatorial Guinea)
• Graviola (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay)
• Sinini (Bolivia)