ANNONA MURICATA (GUANABANA - COROSSOL)

MINIMUM TEMPERATURE SUPPORTED +3°C

(DATA REFERS TO AN ADULT PLANT IN OPTIMAL HUMIDITY AND SOIL CONDITIONS)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Annona muricata L. , 1753 it's a plant belonging to family from the Annonaceae ^[2] which produces a fruit commonly called soursop , guanabana , corasol or corossole .

Description

The tree reaches a height of 8-12 meters and is little branched. The flowers are oblong and have three sepals and three petals green and yellow in color.^{[ without source ]}

Graviola is 20–30 cm long with thin dark green skin and soft spines, whose weight can reach 2.5 kg. Internally it is white, soft, juicy and very sweet.

Distribution and habitat

It is a strictly tropical tree native to the low humid lands of the Caribbean which can reach up to 1,500 meters above sea level above sea level only at the equator , while at tropical latitudes it does not go beyond 500 m. In Florida it survives only in the far south, protected from northerly winds. The plant shows signs of distress already at 5 °C, defoliates at 2 °C and dies at 0 °C.^{[ without source ]}

Probably originally from Antilles , Annona muricata it was already widespread along the entire strip tropical American during the settlement of the first Spanish settlers. Also present in South Asia , in Madagascar ^[3] and other areas of Africa ^[4] , is encountered on a limited scale in northern Australia and, in a few specimens, in the south of Florida .

Property

Graviola contains a good percentage (about 20%) of sugars , a fair amount of proteins and it is rich in C vitamin .

In recent years it has been hypothesized that its consumption would help fight the cancer : research results are not definitive at the moment ^[5] despite having experienced a reduction in potential metastatic ^{[6] [7]} for some types of neoplasm.

Recent studies instead seem to correlate the consumption of soursop with atypical forms of Parkinson's disease due to the high concentration of annonacina present in its fruits, which is 100 times greater than that present in the leaves of the tree with which tea is prepared in various areas of the American continent. A 2005 study estimated that consuming one piece of fruit or one jar of juice per day for a year would be equivalent to taking enough annonacin to induce brain damage in laboratory rats ^[8] . A 2007 study of 160 patients Guadeloupe demonstrated that heavy consumers of the fruit more often developed particular forms of parkinsonism ^[9] .

Consumption

The ripe fruit is consumed cut in half and eaten with a spoon or blended. In Colombia it is blended with the addition of cold milk.

Perishable and short-lived, graviola should be consumed as soon as it is ripe.