The soursop It is a delicious fruit native to Peru, it is the fruit of a tree of the Annonaceae family, genus Annona, and is known in some regions of South America as graviola.
This fruit is characterized by a prickly rough green rind and a very soft whitish pulp with large black seeds. The fruit reaches a length of 15 to 30 centimeters and can weigh about 3 to 4 kilos.
This fruit is an important source of vitamins, mainly vitamin C and vitamins of group B, potassium, calcium and magnesium. It is rich in vegetable fiber and fructose.
Soursop main uses
This fruit can be eaten directly or used in various preparations such as juices, smoothies, ice cream, sorbets and jams, or in pastries as the main ingredient in preparations such as mousse or cakes.
It is important to bear in mind that this fruit must be handled with great care, since it is possible that it will break or easily spoil with rough or improper handling.
Soursop health benefits
This fruit has a large number of beneficial properties. The fruit is used to help combat conditions such as constipation due to its high fiber content.
It also has an antimicrobial effect, which helps fight gastrointestinal infectious disorders, as well as an antiparasitic effect that helps fight various intestinal parasites; However, if consumed in large quantities, it can affect the bacterial flora and promote the appearance of diarrhea.
Soursop leaves are used to combat disorders such as insomnia due to stress and anxiety as it has a sedative and relaxing effect on the nerves.
Soursop has anticancer effects
One of the main benefits of this fruit is its recognized anticancer effect, which is achieved mainly by consuming the leaves of the soursop tree prepared in the form of an infusion, although the components of this fruit are currently available in capsule form. or supplements.
This property derives from its content in cytotoxic acetogenins, substances capable of killing cancer cells in a similar way to several drugs used in chemotherapy, which allows the immune system to fight the tumor. This effect is achieved by affecting the production of energy in the mitochondria of malignant cells, which interferes with the metabolism of these cells, thus causing their death.
This anticancer effect has been investigated mainly in lung, pancreas, stomach, breast and colon cancer.
Photos: iStock - ISMODE / Just2shutter
