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Botany
Guayabano is a small tree, usually
less than 7 meters high. Leaves are smooth, shiny, oblong-obovate to oblong,
7 to 20 centimeters in length, pointed on both ends, with petioles about 5
millimeters long. Flower is solitary, large, solitary, yellow or
greenish-yellow. Three outer petals are broadly ovate with a heart-shaped
base, up to 5 centimeters long, and 3 centimeters wide; and the inner three
are also large, elliptic to obovate, and rounded. Fruit is ovoid and large,
up to 18 centimeters long, covered with small scattered, soft spinelike
processes. Skin is thin, and the pulp is soft, rather fibrous, white, and
fleshy, with an agreeable, but rather sour flavor.
Distribution
- Cultivated for its edible fruit.
- Prevalent in the rain forests of Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia.
Constituents
· Alcoholic extract of leaves,
when distilled with steam, yielded a small amount of essential oil with a
strong, somewhat agreeable odor.
· The extract also yielded a dark-green resin containing: myricyl alcohol,
sitosterol, fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, and stearic acids, together with a
higher fatty acid, possibly lignoceric acid) and a diphydric alcohol, anonol.
· Flesh of fruit contains saccharose 2.53%, dextrose 5.05 percent, and
levulose 0.04%.
· Bark yielded an amorphous alkaloid, found to be poisonous, causing
tetanus-like convulsions when injected to mice.
· Seed contains a nonpoisonous alkaloid.
· Recent studies isolated three acetogenins: annonacin, annonacin A and
annomuricin A.
· Stem bark yielded one acetogenin, solamin and two triterpenoids,
stigmasterol and sitosterol.
Properties
- Fruit is reported antiscorbutic and astringent.
- Flowers are pectoral.
- Leaves are antispasmodic.
- Seeds are emetic.
- Infusion of leaves are sudorific.
- Recent studies suggest a
potential for antiviral, antiparasitic, antileishmanial, antinociceptive,
anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, and anti-cancer properties.
Parts utilized
Leaves, flowers, fruit.
Uses
Nutrition
· Juicy ripe fruit is eaten raw;
also used in making beverages, ice cream, and jelly tarts.
· Fruit is an excellent source of vitamins B and C.
Folkloric
· Unripe fruit used for dysentery.
· Ripe fruit is antiscorbutic.
· Seeds and green fruit are astringent.
· Flowers are antispasmodic.
· Infusion of leaves used as sudorific, antispasmodic and emetic.
· In some cultures, the fruits and leaves are used for tranquilizing and
sedative properties.
· Juice of ripe fruit used as diuretic and for hematuria and urethritis.
· Flesh of soursop used as poultice to draw out chiggers.
·Decoction of leaves used of head lice and bedbugs.
· Pulverized seeds and seed oil effective for head lice.
· Fruit used as a bait in fish traps.
· Decoction of leaves used as compresses for inflammation and swollen feet.
· Poultice of mashed leaves and sap of young leaves used for eczema and skin
eruptions.
· Flowers used to alleviate catarrh.
· In Mexico used as pectoral, antiscorbutic
and febrifuge; seeds and green fruit used as astringent and for dysentery.
· In Yucatan juice of the fruit is used for
dysentery.
· In Antiles and Reunion, infusion of leaves used as sudorific.
· In the Peruvian Andes, leaf tea is used for
catarrh and crushed seeds for parasitism.
· In the Peruvian Amazon, bark, roots and
leaves used for diabetes, as sedative and as antispasmodic.
· In the Brazilian Amazon, the oil of leaves
and unripe fruit is mixed with olive oil and used externally for neuralgic,
rheumatism and arthritis pains.
Others
· Bark has been used in tanning.
· The wood is a potential source of paper pulp.
· For a good night's sleep, leaves are put in the pillow slip or strewn in
bed.
Studies
• Cytotoxicity / Antileishmanial: Cytotoxicity
and antileishmanial activity of Annona muricata pericarp: Extracts and
fractionation led to the isolation of three acetogenins—annonacin, annonacin
A and annomuricin A
• Diabetes: (1) Morphological Changes
and Hypoglycemic Effects of Annona Muricata Linn. (Annonaceae) Leaf Aqueous
Extract on Pancreatic Cells of Streptozotocin-Treated Diabetic Rats. (2)
Histopathologic study showed regeneration of ß-cells of pancreatic islets in
A. muriatica- treated rats
(3) A. muricata treatment showed beneficial effects on pancreatic tissues
subjected to STZ-induced oxidative stress by directly quenching lipid
peroxides and indirectly enhancing production of endogenous antioxidants.
(4) Study of methanolic extract on streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar
rats demonstrated anti-hyperglycemic activities.
• Anti-Herpes Simplex Virus: Study
showed the extract of AM to inhibit the cytopathic effect of HSV-1 on vero
cells indicating an anti-HSV1 potential.
• Anticancer / Acetoginins: (1) There
are much publicized studies on the anti-tumor, anti-cancer and selective toxicity
of Annona muricata against several types of cancer cells. One study showed
that one of the acetoginins was selectively cytotoxic to colon adenocarcinoma
cells, with a potency 10,000 times that of adriamycin. (2) Study on the
chemical constituents of Annona muricata yielded two new and known
acetogenins. Annonaceous acetogenin (polyketide) is a potential
antineoplastic agent from the Annonaceae plants.
• Anti-Cancer : Graviola extracts were
show to be effective against growth of Adriamycin-resistant human
adenocarcinoma (MCF-7/Adr) by blocking the cancer cell's access to ATP and by
inhibiting the actions of plasma membrane glycoprotein.
• Anti-Hyperlipidemia: Study of
methanolic extracts of AM on serum lipid profiles in experimentally-induced
diabetic Wistar rats showed antihyperlipidemic activities with significant
reductions in total cholesterol, LDL and VLDL and a significant increase in
HDL and antiatherogenic index.
• Anti-depression: Graviola may have
antidepressive activity due to its ability to stimulate serotonin receptors.
• Antimicrobial: Annona muricata
extract of leaves exhibited a broad spectrum of activity against a panel of
bacteria (B. subtilis, Staph aureus, K. pneumonia, P. vulgaris, etc.)
responsible for common bacterial diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, UTIs and
skin infections.
• Cytotoxicity:
A crude hexane extract of Annona
muricata L. gave a significant activity with an IC50 value of 0.8 pg/ml
against CEM-SS cell line while the crude ethyl acetate (EA) extract also gave
a significant activity with an IC50 value of 0.5 pg/ml but against HL-60 cell
line.
Toxicity
· Presence of alkaloids anonaine and anoniine have been reported.The bark
yields muricine and muricinine and is high in hydrocyanic acid; small amounts
are found in the leaves and roots, and a trace in the fruit.
· Caribbean study suggested a connection between consumption of soursop and
atypical forms of Parkinson's disease due to the very high concentration of
Annonacin.
· Graviola may cause movement disorders and myeloneuropathy with symptoms
similar to Parkinson's disease.
Availability
Fruit cultivation.
Capsules, extracts in the cybermarket.
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