Soursop
Annona muricataA single soursop can weigh several kilograms; the white flesh under its spiny skin is said to taste like strawberry, pineapple and lemon together.
What is Soursop?
Soursop (Annona muricata) is a plant of the Annonaceae family. Traditions that use it: Amazon. Part used: fruit, leaf, seed.
What is Soursop used for?
Traditional use: The fruit is eaten fresh and made into drinks. Scientific evidence: traditional. Acetogenins in the leaves and seeds kill cancer cells in the lab, but the same compounds are toxic to nerve cells.
Is Soursop safe?
Safety label: caution. Eating the fruit occasionally is not considered a problem. Long-term use of leaf tea, capsules and seeds has been linked to Parkinson-like movement disorders. Not for people with Parkinson’s, or pregnant or breastfeeding women. Always talk to a doctor before using it instead of, or alongside, cancer treatment.
Traditional use
The fruit is eaten fresh and made into drinks. Leaf tea is drunk in folk medicine for sleeplessness, fever and parasites.
It is sold online as a cancer cure with claims such as “thousands of times stronger than chemotherapy”; these rest on lab experiments and are unproven in people.
In nature
Mix-up risk
Its relatives sugar apple (Annona squamosa) and cherimoya (A. cherimola) have similar fruits; cherimoya is grown on a small scale on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast.
Preparation
The flesh is eaten fresh or blended with milk. Internal use of leaf, bark and seed is not recommended.
What science says
Acetogenins in the leaves and seeds kill cancer cells in the lab, but the same compounds are toxic to nerve cells. There are no controlled studies of it as a cancer treatment in people. Studies in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean found atypical parkinsonism to be more common among people who regularly consumed soursop fruit and tea.
Safety
Eating the fruit occasionally is not considered a problem. Long-term use of leaf tea, capsules and seeds has been linked to Parkinson-like movement disorders. Not for people with Parkinson’s, or pregnant or breastfeeding women. Always talk to a doctor before using it instead of, or alongside, cancer treatment.
Drug interactions
| Medicine or substance | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Blood pressure and diabetes medicines | May lower blood pressure and blood sugar. |
| Parkinson’s medicines | Its effects on the nervous system may worsen the disease. |
This list is not complete. If you take regular medication, ask your pharmacist or doctor before trying Soursop.
Similar plants
Sources
- ResearchPossible relation of atypical parkinsonism in the French West Indies with consumption of tropical plants (Lancet 1999)
- ResearchQuantification of acetogenins in Annona muricata linked to atypical parkinsonism in Guadeloupe (Mov Disord 2005)
- ResearchAnnona muricata: A Review of Its Traditional Uses, Isolated Acetogenins and Biological Activities (Int J Mol Sci 2015)
- Botanical recordKew Plants of the World Online: Annona muricata
- Titles of research sources are summarised in Turkish on the Turkish page; links open the original English publications.
Written by Edanaz Tınmazlar · Last reviewed: · Türkçe