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Sunday, September 2, 2007

SOURSOP




Common Name: Soursop
Vernacular Names: Sour sop, Guanabana, Soursap;
Botanical Name: Annona muricata
Specimens From: Malaysia

Soursop, a native fruit from the West Indies, Central America, down to Brazil and it is a common fruit in tropical Asia nowadays. This fruit can be round, oval or irregular heart shaped. Some cultivars are huge, almost the size of a watermelon. It is dark green when unripe, as shown on the first photo, and will turn yellowish-green and slightly soft when it matures. Black blotches will start to appear and that indicates over-ripes.

As the name says it all, it is sour. As a rough guide, it is about 80% sour with 20% sweetness. Soursop is extremely juicy and seedy, hence it is quite a messy fruit to eat. The skin may look leathery but it tears easily. Just cut it like you would cut a watermelon. The interior texture may not look nice but the taste is refreshing and flavorful.

If you don't want it to mess up the whole place, pull off the inedible skin and the center soft core and put the creamy, fibrous pulp onto a big bowl. Use a fork and spoon to dig out the numerous, black toxic seeds and there you have a nice dessert with all its juice retain in a bowl.

Alternatively, since this fruit is juicy, you can juice it and drink it on its own. But if you find it too sour to your liking, blend it with milk and it will taste just nice, yummy! There are several uses of this fruit as it can be processed into ice cream or sorbet and also in cooking, though it is not common.

Soursop is also known as "western durian" among the Chinese community, mainly because of the soft spikes on the skin that look similar to the durian. But it is totally unrelated, as in fruit family classifications, and tastes totally different too.


Fruit: Soursop ; Annona muricata ; Annonaceae.


Other fruits in the same family: Atemoya , Sugar Apple[red rind] , Sugar Apple[green rind].


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43 comments:

Anonymous said...

This fruit is absolutely yummy. In Malaysia, we call it Durian Belanda.

Mom Knows Everything said...

It's amazing that there are so many different fruits out there that I have never heard of.

Fruity said...

Hi Borzack
Thanks for stumbling in. Did I hear durian? The western durian.. Cheers from Fruity

Fruity said...

Hi Tammy, welcome back. Oh, is it? Probably your place that you are staying don't sell much of those exotic fruits..

Sue said...

Hi Fruity,
I love your blog. It's sweet, refreshing and very interesting.

Rolando said...

Wow, those are some interesting fruits. From what I remember Durian has an unusual smell.

Fruity said...

Hi Sue: Thanks for coming by and glad that you like it. Welcome anytime. Cheers from Fruity

Fruity said...

Hi Rolando: Yes, the real durian got a very strong smell but not these. Thanks for dropping by. Cheers from Fruity

Unknown said...

i love this fruit very much...
why don't u try soursop ice blended during summer time...Awesome...oo oo i am thirsty now....

Fruity said...

Hi Linda: Yes, I always mixed it with ice, cool and refreshing! Thanks for coming down. Cheers from Fruity

Shirley Twofeathers said...

You have just posted my favorite fruit. I grew up in South America, we called it something different there, and it's been so long ago that now I can't remember what. But I do remember the fruit. I haven't seen it anywhere her in the Midwest - or if I did it was so pathetic looking that I didn't want to buy it.

Interestingly, as a kid, I never knew the seeds were poisonous. I can remember sucking on them, and then spitting them out - shooting them out of my mouth - we used to have contests to see who could spit the seeds the farthest.

Thank you for this nice little blast from the past

Anonymous said...

Its always something fruity new in your blog - this one looks real tasty!

Kimberly McKay said...

That's making my mouth water!

aTxVegn said...

How I love this blog! I am great at eating veggies, but seriously lacking when it comes to fruit consumption. Learning about these interesting fruits is so much fun!

Fruity said...

Hi Two feathers:
In spanish-speaking South America, it is known as guanabana. Or are you referring to cherimoya? Yes, the seed is toxic. Well, as a kid, it was always fun to do funny things. Sometimes, even as an adult too :)

Hi Rennyba:
Yes, always new. tasty as long as you can stomach the sourish taste.

Hi Wornoutwoman:
Why worn out? Be careful not too drip and waste it :) Welcome aboard. Cheers from Fruity

Hi Atx:
Glad you like it here. Eating more fruits will do you good. Thanks for dropping by. Cheers from Fruity

Shirley Twofeathers said...

Now that I have had some time to think about it, we called them "guayavanas" which was probably a mispronounciation of their real name.

Cherimoyas... love those too.

Fruity said...

Cherimoya tastes great but atemoya is the best among all those in this family. Cheers

Lovelyn said...

In Philippines we call it Guyabano. In most of the restaurants here we have guyabano shake as a drink and very healthy..

i love them. Also we have them in our backyard

Fruity said...

Welcome aboard, Lovelyn. That is great but sour! Good to have some fruit trees behind, just pluck and eat!

LORD MANILA STONE said...

we used to call this fruit guayabano here in my country and we have them in tetra packs for juice, really cool to see this fruit featured here

Fruity said...

Hi LMS:
I saw some of those tetra packs before but most of them with sugar added :) coz usually it's too sour on its own.

Ti said...

wow another favorite fruit, called "sirsak", i like to make juice with this fruit

Maria said...

Awesome fruit! We call it Guanabana in Puerto Rico. I used to make "limbers" when I was little. Made with Guanabana pulp, evaporated milk, sugar, water,and vanilla extract. It is an awesome summer treat.

Anonymous said...

Is this the highly touted medicinal fruit of the Graviola tree? I live in Costa Rica and I want Graviola products what is the local name or even Latin it is supposed to cure cancer and found in the Amazon basin.
Thanks Sr. Cosa

Fruity said...

Yes, it is graviola...

Anonymous said...

AMAZING! if anyone knows how to get this in the US, let me know! i had it in the Solomon Islands and miss it sooooo much...

Nick Snarko said...

Thanks for writing about this unique fruit FS. I had it yesterday and Mom couldn't tell me what it was called! I googled green rind white flesh and bingo!!

FIL Girl said...

I love this fruit... In the Philippines we call it "Guyabano"

Sarah Young said...

I read this in an article...

.......A study published in the Journal of Natural Products, following a recent study conducted at Catholic University of South Korea stated that one chemical in Graviola was found to selectively kill colon cancer cells at "10,000 times the potency of (the commonly used chemotherapy drug) Adriamycin...."

....The most significant part of the Catholic University of South Korea report is that Graviola was shown to selectively target the cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched. Unlike chemotherapy, w! hich indiscriminately targets all actively reproducing cells (such as stomach and hair cells), causing the often devastating side effects of nausea and hair loss in cancer patients.

....A study at Purdue University recently found that leaves from the Graviola tree killed cancer cells among six human cell lines and were especially effective against prostate, pancreatic and lung cancers...

Anonymous said...

The message is mind blowing I did love to taste it. Contended fruit!

suman
------------
Free Satellite TV

Anonymous said...

In Dutch it is called Zuurzak, in the creole language of the Dutch West Indies (papiamento) we call it Sorsaka. It grows naturally here in the Caribbean, but the best ones I have tasted were in the Seychelles.

Anonymous said...

In Guyana we call it Sour Sop also and use it to make drink. Very tasty..

Unknown said...

Can you tell me whether this is available in India and what is it's name in India.

ms pasha said...

i want buy soursop fruit, can any one tell me where i can get this fruit in INDIA.

Unknown said...

can some one please help me...
As i cut the soursop into half and found out that it is still unripe.
The inside is hard and inedible.
What must i do now to save the it???
:(

John Headson said...

This fruit has worth beyond measure according to certain studies as stated by Sarah Young. Soursop has been proven to be an effective killer of cancer cells http://www.soursopgraviola.com and I should mention that some varieties of the fruit are actually quite sweet. We call them sweetsop lol

Anonymous said...

Wher can get this fruit in South Africa.Tim

Anonymous said...

Is the soursop tree available to buy in South Africa?? Where would I look? Can u give me info about acquiring seeds or trees??

Unknown said...

Where can one buy soursop in South Africa

Unknown said...

Please can oyu tell me where this product can be found in South Africa

Anonymous said...

As a breast cancer patient I would love to know where I can buy this fruit in Durban South Africa

KYLZ said...

I love this fruit! Enjoyed it so much when I was living in Seychelles. Anyone know where/if I can get this fruit in South Africa?

KYLZ said...

ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN PURCHASE THIS FRUIT IN SOUTH AFRICA?