Caroline
Fauna and Flora
This week Moana Voyages invites you to discover a fruit not very well known in the USA, the soursop. Called ” Totara” in French Polynesia, this fruit with a strange shape have many benefits thanks to the essential elements it contains.
Its origins
The soursop is a fruit of the Annonaceae family, it would be native to northern South America. The soursop tree can measure from 4 to 8 meters and flowers throughout the year.
The largeSoursop’s flowers flowers, green and yellow, appear on the branches or directly on the trunk and give soursop. A green exotic fruit, heart-shaped and studded with soft spikes that can grow up to 25 cm long and weigh up 5 kg. Its white and pulpy flesh, especially fragrant, has a taste both sweet and sour approaching the lychee.
This tree likes warm, and moist areas, so it is found in many tropical regions such as the Caribbean island, the island of Réunion, Madagascar but also in Brazil and Peru, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and, of course, in French Polynesia.
Its use
Edible fruit, soursop is much appreciated in French Polynesia. For example, you can mix it with milk and a little sugar, once remained in the refrigerator one hour, this gives a dessert absolutely delicious! But we also make delicious fruit juice drinks, jam, and even sorbets.
However, be careful, not to consume the seeds that can be toxic in high doses.
Its virtues
We recognize the many virtues of the soursop, it would be a very useful fruit to stay in good shape and help fight certain diseases.
In terms of nutritional quality, the soursop is rich in carbohydrates, especially in fructose, and contains significant amounts of vitamins C, B1, B2 and amino acids. It also contains fiber and minerals, including potassium, calcium and magnesium.
The soursop cut in halfAccording to research conducted by the American University of “Purdue”(http://www.lib.purdue.edu/), the leaves of the soursop tree have properties that destroy cancer cells. They are reputed to cure ovarian cancer, breast, prostate, lung, liver and intestines. The fruit has a hypoglycemic action remains very interesting for diabetes, and it’s also an anti-microbial agent for bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections.
It is also good for the heart and to stimulate digestion.In French Polynesia, soursop leaves are used in medical infusions for insomnia depression and nervous disorders. To calm the nervous babies, we put some of this infusion in the bathwater of the infant. We also used these leaves that are rubbed on the body to repel mosquitoes.
During your stay in French Polynesia discover this exotic fruit absolutely delicious!
