Soar Sop: An emerging fruit of future

Abstract

Soap sop (Annona muricata L) is a native of South America belonging to the family Annonaceae. It is commonly known as Guanábano, Catuche, Catoche, anona , Graviola, in different countries of the world. It is found both wild and cultivated throughout the West Indies and from southern Mexico to Peru and Argentina up to an altitude of 1100 m msl. It is grown mostly in tropical region of the world from South America to Australia, Asia and Africa. In India, the exact detail of the introduction of this plant is not known. But it is considered that it was introduced along with other fruits of this family in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but it gain less popularity than custard apple and sweet sop. This might be due to typical tropical climatic requirement, acidic taste and characteristic smell of fruit. It was used as rootstock for custard apple and sweet sop. Presently it is found growing the tropical humid part of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The sour sop is an evergreen, slender, low branching and bushy tree which grow up to height of 3 to 6 m. The leaves are obviate to elliptic, 7-20 cm long and 3 to 6 cm wide , with acute tip, entire margin, alternate with smooth, dark green and glossy upper surface and light green lower surface. Leaves emit a strong odour when crushed. Flowers are solitary or in small clusters, 2 to 4 cm long with 6 thick, fleshy petals arranged in two whirls. The outer three petals are more fleshy greenish yellow with tip curved outwardly whereas inner three petals less fleshy and pale yellow colour. The flower has a peculiar smell. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The fruit a syncarp is broadly ovoid or ellipsoid and usually irregularly shaped or curved due to improper carpel development. Fruit are nearly always longer than they are wide. Fruit weight varies from 500g to 1.5 kg which is largely dependent upon the extent of pollination and fertilization. A normal fruit is generally heart shaped to oval, but if there is poor pollination, unfertilized ovules fail to develop and the resulting fruit assumes disturbed irregular shapes and is usually undersized. The skin is dark green with many curved, soft spines 0.5-0.3 cm apart. The fruit stalk is about 3-8 cm long and woody. The ripe pulp which adheres to the skin but is easily separated into segments is juicy creamy white with a cottony texture and contains many black flat round seeds about 2cm size. The pulp has an agreeable sub-acid taste with a distinct flavour. Fruits are harvested when fully mature and turned yellowish green. The ripe fruit are usually consumed fresh as a dessert or snack item. Less acidic and low fibrous lines may be eaten fresh after cutting in sections and with a spoon. The fruit pulp is an excellent source of vitamins B and C, potassium, riboflavin and niacin. This fruit are excellent for processing after removal of seeds and outer skin. The fruit observation studies at CHES Chettalli revealed that the It contains 62 to 85 % pulp, 25 to 30 % Skin and 2 to 3 % seed on weight basis. Fruit pulp is thick and requires dilution before use as juice or squash. The pulp may be sweetened after adding sugar and citric acid. The pulp may be stored at low temperature without loss of taste and other properties. Enriched pulp, sweetened or unsweetened can be processed and stored frozen for use in various products or reconstituted directly by the consumer. Puree and juice concentrates can be used to prepare iced sour sop drink of mixed with other juices. The juice, with the addition of sugar, makes an excellent ice cream or sherbet . A refreshing drink, Champola, made with strained pulp, milk and sugar is famous fruit drink in Brazil and Cuba. The fruit also makes excellent preserve, jam or jelly. In Malaysia a delicate flavor of sour sop is popular for flavoring ice cream and puddings. In the Philippines and Indonesia, young immature fruits are cooked as vegetables or used in soup. The alkaloids muricine, and muricinine are found in the bark of tree. The bark is high in hydrocyanic acid. Only small amount of hydrocyanic acid is found in the leaves and roots and a trace in the fruit. These compounds are toxic.