General Information

Etymology: so named because of its astringent taste and soft moist pulp
Family: Annonaceae
Climate: tropical
Origin: West Indies and northern South America
Cultivation: warm moist climates including Southeast Asia, parts of Australia, China and Africa

The soursop is the fruit of the soursop tree, a low-branching bushy tropical tree that can reach 7-9 metres in height. Its flowers produce about 12-20 oval or heart-shaped fruits per tree, each weighing up to 1 kg. The fruit has an inedible bitter skin covered with soft spines; the skin tends towards light green when the fruit is ripe. Its refreshingly sour creamy white flesh usually contains 50-100 hard black seeds.

Culinary uses
 - the soursop ripens very quickly outdoors
 - soursop pulp can be bought in cans from Asian groceries
 - sour taste
 - can be eaten plain, but is more often used in sorbets and drinks

Soursop Sorbet – Jean-Pierre Challet
 peel and seed the soursop;
 process the soursop pulp in a sorbet maker with the juice of one lemon, 20 g (3 tbsp.) of icing sugar and few drops of banana extract (optional);
 place in the freezer and wait at least two hours before serving.