Botanical Name: Annona muricata
Soursop is a fruit that has the most delectable flavor. The soursop is a large fruit of a small, fast-growing tree. The fruit is picked from the tree before it has fully ripened as it will be badly bruised if allowed to ripen and fall.
The fruit is mature and is ready for eating when it feels slightly soft and is light green externally. The skin is thin and is covered with conical nibs. The white, pulpy flesh, which contains juice, is peppered with small shiny, black inedible seeds, and has a pleasant, sweet-acidic taste.
As it is rather fibrous, its squeezed juice makes a better choice, and has, in fact become more popular than the fresh fruit as such. Soursop has few seedless varieties, but they are rare, and tend to have fibrous flesh.
Health Benefits of Soursop Fruit: Soursop is not only a delicious and healthy fruit but it is use medicinally to treat illness ranging from stomach ailments to cancer.
- The juice of the Soursop can be taken orally as a remedy for urethritis (inflammation of the urethra – a tube that carries urine) and haematuria (presence of blood in urine).
- Soursop juice when taken during fasting was believed to relieved liver ailments and leprosy.
- To speed the healing of wounds, the flesh of the Soursop is applied as a poultice unchanged for 3 days.
- Eating 300 grams of Soursop fruit everyday can fulfill your vitamin C requirement.
- Soursop fruit can help attack cancer cells effectively and safely without the after effect (nausea, weight loss, hair loss) experienced in chemo therapy. Patient instead experience renewed strength by eating Soursop regularly.
- Soursop juice can help treat oily skin. Rub juice from fresh fruit on face and affected areas and leave for 2-3 minutes. Rinse off.
Medicinal Uses of Soursop Leaves:
- Soursop leaf tea is effective for head lice and bedbugs. Use the decoction as final rinse.
- Soursop leaf can help cure gall bladder trouble, as well as coughs, catarrh, diarrhea, dysentery, and indigestion. It is also used to induce sweating and lower fever.
- The leaves tea wre also used as compresses for inflammation and swollen feet.
- The crushed fresh leaves were used as a poultice to alleviate eczema and other skin problems and rheumatism.
Medicinal Uses of Soursop Seeds:
- The seeds, which have emetic properties, can be used in the treatment of vomiting and intestinal worm.
- Soursop seed contains irritant oil which kills lice. For hair and body lice: Powder seeds and mix with an equal amount of coconut oil. Rub on affected hair and body parts. Let stand for 30-60 minutes. Rinse off.
Medicinal Uses of Soursop Root Bark:
- The root bark tea is use as an antidote for poisoning.
- Extract from the Soursop tree bark is said to be 10,000 times better than chemotherapy in terms of slowing the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy both attacks the cancer cells and healthy cells, because it cannot distinguish between cancer cells and healthy cells. Soursop will strengthen the weakened cells to fight the cancer cells.
Medicinal Uses of Soursop Flower: Soursop flower tea is believed to alleviate catarrh.
Nutrient Content of Soursop Fruit per 100 grams servings:
- Vitamin: C 20.6
- Calcium: 14
- Iron: 0.6
- Calories: 66
- Dietary Fiber: 3.3g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 14mg
- Sugars: 13.54g
- Total Carbohydrate: 16.84g
- Total Fat: 0.3g
- Saturated Fat: 0.05g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0.09g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.06g
Culinary uses: eaten fresh as fruit; made into cakes, ice cream, preserved, beverages and for flavoring. The young soursop, where the seeds are still soft, is used as a vegetable. The fermented fruit is also use to make an apple cider-like drink.
Varieties: about nine, differing in shape, texture and flavors
How to Make Soursop Leaves Tea:
- 3-4 soursop leaves
- 2 cups of water
Add 2 cups of water in a pan; bring it to a boil then put the soursop leaves. As soon as you put the soursop leaves turn off the fire. Let it remain there. After 20 minutes it’s ready to drink.
- Different parts (fruit, leaves, stems, seeds, and tree bark) of Soursop or Graviola tree are used in the treatment of Cancer so it is up to you to choose which one you like best. I also want to point that Soursop fruit is the mildest treatment of the three and the tree bark tea is the most potent.
- Soursop is effective in the treatment of colon, prostate, breast, pancreas, liver and lung cancer.
“This post was originally published on December 31, 2011 @02:59”