Soursop (Annona muricata)

Sirsak or soursop (Annona muricata) is a plant species in Annonaceae, a small tree, growing upright to a height of 10 m, stem diameter of 10-30 cm and young branches are hairy, evergreen, edible fruit and have a sour or sweet taste to some varieties.

A. muricata has long to oval leaves, 8-16 cm long and 3-7 cm wide, dark green and shiny without hair on the upper side, paler and hairless on the lower side. Petiole has a length of 4-13 mm and without hair.

The flower stalks are 2-5 mm long and woody, appear opposite to the leaves or in addition to near the petioles, each with one or two flowers each. The stems of each flower are woody, smooth or hairless and 15-20 mm long with small bractlets closer to the base of thick hairy.

The outer petals are thick and yellowish, meet at the edges without overlapping and are broadly ovoid, 2.8-3.3 cm with 2.1-2.5 cm, tapering to a point with a heart-shaped base, thick and covered with long hair, sleek, externally soft and silky tangle with soft hair inside.

The inner petals are oval and overlapping, 2.5-2.8 cm by 2 cm, sharp angled and tapered at the base. Thin margins with fine hair tangled on both sides. Cone-shaped container and hair. Stamens have a length of 4.5 mm and are narrow wedge-shaped.

Thick and non-overlapping sepals. Carpets are linear and have a base that grows from one base. The ovary is covered with thick reddish brown hair, short and stigmatized. Pollen dripping as permanent tetrads.

The fruit is pseudo, has a dark green outer shell but is yellowish green and glossy when ripe, the surface is rough and thorny, ovoid and can reach 30 cm with a rather hard texture. Flesh runny, sour or sweet, whitish, fibrous, strong-scented and edible.

Each fruit contains 20-70 seeds, flat, blackish brown and hard, blunt tip, smooth and shiny surface, 16.8 mm long and 9.6 mm wide. Soursop is easy to grow in warm and humid tropical climates, altitudes up to 1200 m, temperatures 22-28C and rainfall 1500-2500 mm/year.

Some varieties have sweetened fruit that has high commercial value as a low-cost agricultural commodity that does not require much care. Fruit is more preferred as a table fruit that is served fresh or processed as juice, syrup, pudding and fruit ice mixture.

Sirsak fruiting after more than three years old, flowering season is October-November and fruit season is January-February. A tree produces 2-30 fruits with a weight of 200-1200 grams each. Production will decline after the age of 8-10 years and requires rejuvenation.

Raw soursop is 81% water, 17% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and has negligible fat. In a 100 gram reference amount, the raw fruit supplies 66 calories, and contains only vitamin C as a significant amount (25%) of the Daily Value, with no other micronutrients in appreciable amounts.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Annona
Species: A. muricata

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