Soursop (Annona muricata)

[sjbrownderby]

Does anyone have any experience of the fruit known as soursop? My wife calls it 'durian nahm' but it is definitely not durian. It has many other names depending on which part of the world it is grown. It is reported to have certain cancer killing properties as well as many other health benefits. Does anyone grow the trees or drink tea made with the leaves or even drink the juice made from the fruit? I do not see much of it in Thailand and never in any of the markets I have visited. 

[thaisail]

Which fruit are you looking for information about. The first photo is what they call Soursap in the Caribbean. In Thai it is called Noi Na. This is extremely sweet. We have a tree in our garden in Phuket. You can buy this in the fruit market when it is in season. 

 

The second photo is the one that you are writing about. That one is called Durian Nam. It is not so common in Thailand. My wife bought a small tree in Phu Luah near Loei. We have planted that tree on our farm in Chaing Kahn near the Mekong River. I think if you show the photos of the fruit at the fruit markets in Thailand, you should be able to find them but they are not so easy to find. Please let us know if find them because we would like more plant on our farm. 

 

[Oxx]

You may be interested in reading about its toxic properties and the prevalence of fake health claims about it on the Internet.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soursop#Health

[sjbrownderby]

12 hours ago, thaisail said:

Which fruit are you looking for information about. The first photo is what they call Soursap in the Caribbean. In Thai it is called Noi Na. This is extremely sweet. We have a tree in our garden in Phuket. You can buy this in the fruit market when it is in season. 

 

The second photo is the one that you are writing about. That one is called Durian Nam. It is not so common in Thailand. My wife bought a small tree in Phu Luah near Loei. We have planted that tree on our farm in Chaing Kahn near the Mekong River. I think if you show the photos of the fruit at the fruit markets in Thailand, you should be able to find them but they are not so easy to find. Please let us know if find them because we would like more plant on our farm. 

 

Your first photo looks like a sugar apple and is definitely not a soursop, in the Caribbean it is called a sweetsop ( annona squamosa). What I am referring to is what I see in the second photo (annona muricata). My wife's family have a number of trees on various bits of land around our village. Some of the trees are currently in fruit. Part of the problem with soursop is it's extremely short life once picked. It can not be stored for more than a few days because it ripens very quickly. From  a fruit I first tried two months ago I am now cultivating from seeds, more than fifty have successfully germinated so far. With my post I was trying to find out how many people actually know about this fruit.  Most people here in Thailand do not know it. When I have the fruit I make juice but it is also possible to make pulp and freeze it for later use. On your final sentence I do have some available. I live in southeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province.

[sjbrownderby]

3 hours ago, Oxx said:

You may be interested in reading about its toxic properties and the prevalence of fake health claims about it on the Internet.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soursop#Health

I have read this and I am approaching things cautiously. First of all the fruit is really tasty and distinctive. For that alone it is worth trying. So far as the health benefits are concerned there have been laboratory tests which proved that soursop kills certain types of cancer cells but there have been no extensive human tests. There are many reasons why no trials have been done on humans but I will not go into that now. What I will say is that there is plenty of information as to the efficacy of soursop as a remedy in it's various forms including extensive anecdotal evidence, in written and video form, from people who use soursop. Incidentally some of the information on the Cancer Research UK website (referred to in Wikipedia) regarding soursop is factually incorrect but they do point out the laboratory tests I alluded to. 

[Sheryl]

I know people who took this for cancer, in some cases going ot a great deal of trouble to source it from Cambodia.

 

No apparent benefit to any of them.

 

The claims AFAIK are unfounded and there are dangers associated with large consumption of this.

 

https://www.cancercenter.com/discussions/blog/experts-caution-against-soursop/

[sjbrownderby]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

I know people who took this for cancer, in some cases going ot a great deal of trouble to source it from Cambodia.

 

No apparent benefit to any of them.

 

The claims are unfounded and there are dangers associated with large consumption of this.

 

https://www.cancercenter.com/discussions/blog/experts-caution-against-soursop/

I understand that it's properties will not be beneficial in many types of cancer case. A study was done in Guadeloupe which concluded that the consumption of soursop could be linked with Parkinson's disease,  based on the consumption of soursop by those studied who already had Parkinson's anyway. The study did not take into consideration anyone who consumed soursop regularly and did not have Parkinson's disease so it can hardly be considered as exhaustive, the consumption of soursop just happened to be a common thread amongst those diagnosed with the disease in a place where soursop consumption is common anyway. How many people in Guadaloupe, who regularly consume soursop, did not have Parkinson's disease?  That question was not answered by the study.