Soursop (graviola) fruit and leaves: What is it and what kind of benefits can achieve

 What is it:

Both fruit and leaves can be consumed with innumerable benefits that we are going to discuss in the next chapter, this fruit comes from South America where is commonly used in different ways.

The Fruit:

It's a delicious taste that reminds a combination of pineapple and strawberry, and you can easily it this raw without any other sort of preparations.

The Leaves:

This needs to be prepared before consumed but nowadays it's easy to find the powdered version of the leaves which is easier to use if you don't want to deal with the leaves for example as juice or teas or even ice cream 

Nutrients:

Before checking the benefits here the nutrients of the fruit in numbers for 100 gr:

Around 60 calories

Mostly carbs 17 gr

Low protein 1gr

With good amount of Fibres 3 gr Potassium and Vitamin C 

Benefits:

- High in Antioxidants:

Thanks to a variety of compounds such as luteolin and tangeretin it helps to prevent damage in cells and the mixture of this compounds are giving a high antioxidant power 

- Killing cancer cells

Including the benefits above plus other compounds contained especially in the leaves extract have shown good results in fighting cancer cells.

- Reduces inflammation and harmful bacteria

Not only has antibacterial properties, but also reduces the levels of inflammation as a positive outcome from the reasons listed above. 

- Helps to sleep better

Thanks to the muscle relaxant properties it works as a natural sedative.

Where to find it:

Nowadays is widely available online on different shops including amazon or small businesses as well, also checking on any south American grocery shop could be a good idea.

Reference:

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8878098/

- Van Wyk BE. Food Plants of the World.

- Waizel-Bucay J. Las Plantas y su Uso Antitumoral.

- Yang C, Gundala SR, Mukkavilli R, Vangala S, Reid MD, Aneja R. Synergistic interactionsamong flavonoids and acetogenins in Graviola (Annona muricata) leaves confer protectionagainst prostate cancer. Carcinogenesis. 2015;36(6):656-65. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgv046.