Annona muricata (Soursop) fruits are shape oval or irregular, about 10 to 30 cm long and up to 15 cm in width, colored dark-green, and the color turns to yellowish-green when mature. Fully matured fruit will be soft to the touch.The inner surface of the fully matured fruit is cream-colored and granular, can be separated easily from the mass of snow-white, fibrous, juicy segments—much like flakes of raw fish—surrounding the central, soft-pithy core. The edible pulp has the aroma somewhat pineapple-like, but its musky, subacid to acid flavor is unique. In each fertile segment there is a single oval, shiny, hard, black seed; but some segment may seedless. Generally a large fruit may contain a few dozen to 200 or more seeds.
Annona muricata trees are native to the Caribbean and Central America, and now are widely cultivated throughout the world.
Medicinal uses
The juice of the matured fruit is used as diuretic and a remedy for haematuria and urethritis.
The chewed leaves, mixed with saliva, are then applied to incisions after surgery, causing proud flesh to disappear without leaving a scar. The leaf decoction is lethal to bedbugs.
A decoction is taken from the pulverized immature fruits, are used as a dysentery remedy.
The roots of the tree are employed as a vermifuge and the root bark are used as an antidote for poisoning. The flowers are believed to alleviate catarrh.
