A lot of us are familiar with this unusually shaped fruit – the soursop fruit looks like an apple that crossbred with strawberry and grew horns.
It’s native to Central and South America and is a well-known, sweet delicacy within tropical climates.
The soursop fruit is a member of the custard apple family, and it comes from the Annon Muricata broadleaf evergreen.
It is popularly known for its variety of powerful health benefits such as healing stomach issues, improving the immune system, and reducing inflammation.
Soursop has a pleasant flavour profile and tastes like a combination of pineapple, strawberry and other citrus fruits. The soursop can also grow quite large – measuring up to a foot in length.
Nutrition Facts
| Soursop Nutrition Facts | |
| Serving Size 1 cup (225 g) | |
| Per Serving | % Daily Value* |
| Calories 148 | |
| Calories from Fat 4 | |
| Total Fat 0.7g | 1% |
| Saturated Fat 0.1g | 1% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2g | |
| Monounsaturated Fat 0.2g | |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 0.1mg | 0% |
| Potassium 422.44mg | 12% |
| Carbohydrates 37.9g | 9% |
| Dietary Fiber 7.4g | 12% |
| Sugars 30.5g | |
| Protein 2.3g | |
| Vitamin A 0% · Vitamin C 77% | |
| Calcium 3% · Iron 8% | |
| *Based on a 2,000 calorie diet |
1. Carbs in Soursop
The soursop contains a high amount of carbohydrates, almost 38grams per cup. According to the dietary guideline of the USDA, you should consume about 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates, which equals about 130 grams. This makes one serving of soursop about 25 percent of your daily carbohydrate limit.
However, the carbs in soursop do come from a natural fruit source rather than unhealthy sources such as processed foods which offer little nutritional value.
2. Fats in soursop
Despite its high sugar content, the soursop remains low in fat and also maintains a two-to-one ratio of good to bad fats. You will find that the unsaturated doubles the saturated fats. To increase the healthy fats in your diet, you should add foods such as nuts and avocados, and fatty fish like herring, salmon, and trout.
3. Protein in soursop
The protein contained in a soursop serving is only 2.3 grams. Current USDA dietary guidelines state that adult women and men should consume approximately 10 to 35 percent of their total calories from protein per day.
To get the required amount, you should incorporate proteins such as lean meat, legumes and salmon to help you reach the daily suggestion.
4. Micronutrients in soursop
Soursop packs quite a lot of sugar; a serving contains around 30.5 grams. (you might want to consider taking it as a dessert).
But, the fruit does contain a high dose of macronutrients, such as 77 percent of your daily amount of vitamin C for boosting your immune system, more than 400 grams of potassium for rapid workout recovery and blood pressure regulation, as well as a strong amount of fibre for healthy digestion.
Health benefits
Whether consumed whole or used as an ingredient in desserts, the soursop fruit provides a variety of health benefits which includes the following;
1. Digestive health
Soursop can aid with proper digestion due to its high fibre content. The fruits juice can also function as a diuretic and cleanse the gastrointestinal tract by eliminating excess sodium in the body.
2. Cancer prevention
I recent study supports that graviola, a tea produced from soursop, has the therapeutic potential to prevent cancer and other non-malignant diseases. However, more human data are needed to back this claim.
Experts from the Cancer Treatment Centres of America cautions against using soursop as a cancer fighter and they highlighted that soursop is linked with numerous unsubstantial claims.
3. Infections
Some people often use Graviola tea to treat infections (both viral and Bacterial) that cause cold-like symptoms like, sneezing, coughing and fever. Plus, it is used by some people to treat sexually transmitted diseases like herpes. However, more scientific evidence is needed to support these claims.
4. Inflammation
Packed with inflammatory compounds, soursop can help rid the body of any unwanted parasites and also reduce pain in the stomach and colon. This is especially helpful if you travel a lot and consume foods that could upset your stomach.
Recipes and tips
As with other fruits, soursop can be consumed on its own, as you would any raw fruit. You can also add soursop into smoothies, syrups, and other desserts like candies, ice creams, and sweet beverages. Soursop is also popular in tea.
Interactions and allergies
According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, you should avoid eating soursop or drinking it in a tea if you fall under any of these categories;
- You have liver disease
- You are taking blood pressure medication.
- You have kidney disease.
- You have diabetes, as Graviola lowered blood sugar in laboratories animals.
- You have a low platelet count.
- You are under hypertension-reducing medications, as Graviola has been revealed to have additive effects when taken with drugs for this health issue.
The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre also indicated that compounds in Graviola caused movement disorders in laboratory animals an also myeloneuropathy, a disease with possesses symptoms similar to Parkinson’s Disease.
