Soursop

Where does Soursop grow?

Found in: Africa, Amazon, Andamans, Angola, Antingua and Barbuda, Antilles, Argentina, Aruba, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bougainville, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Caroline Islands, Central Africa, Central America, Chile, China, Chuuk, Colombia, Cook Islands, Congo DR, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, FSM, French Guiana, Gabon, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guam, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Hispaniola, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mexico, Micronesia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pohnpei, Puerto Rico, Rotuma, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South America, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Wallis & Futuna, West Africa, West Indies, West Timor, Yap, Zimbabwe

Notes: There are about 100-150 Annona species. It has anticancer properties. It is also used for a range of other medicinal conditions.

Status: A quite popular fruit in many coastal areas of Papua New Guinea and other tropical countries.

Growing Soursop

Cultivation: Trees are grown either as seedling trees or grafted plants. They can be grown from cuttings or air layering. Trees are easy to grow and maintain. Plants can easily be grown from seeds. Seeds can be planted fresh or stored. Seeds grow in about 15 to 20 days. Trees grown from seeds vary in the quality of the fruit. Seedlings are transferred to polythene bags when 15 cm tall. Trees can also be grown from cuttings or by grafting. This allows better trees to be selected and produced. Seedlings are suitable for grafting after 6 months. Trees need to be about 5m apart. Flowers are pollinated by insects. Hand pollination of flowers can increase the number of fruit that are produced. Fruit are soft and fleshy and difficult to transport.

Edible Uses: Fruit can be eaten fresh or used in ice-cream and for drinks. Young fruit can be cooked as a vegetable. Leaves are edible cooked. They are used for tea. CAUTION The seeds are toxic, so should be removed before processing.

Production: Trees grow quickly. Trees commence bearing by the third year. It bears fruit almost continually throughout the year, but there is normally one season when more fruit are getting ripe. Fruit can weigh up to 4-5 kg each. A tree can produce 12-24 fruit in a year. The fruit contain 11-14% sugars.

Nutrition Info

Soursop Photos

References

Soursop references

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