Botryodiplodia sp. - Crops for the Future

6.2.1.2 Annona muricata
Annona muricata is the species out of the genus Annona which produces the biggest flowers
as well as the biggest fruits. The common English name is soursop and the Sri Lankan call the
plant “katu anoda”. There is no clarity about the exact origin of the fruit. Most authors opine
that soursop is native to Central America, the Antilles or the
northern South America (DE Q. PINTO et al., 2005, MORTON,
1987b and MAHDEEM, 1994). The soursop was one of the first
fruits carried out from South America to the Old World
tropics where it has become widely distributed, from
southeaster China to Australia and the warm lowlands of
eastern and western Africa. It is also found in Sri Lanka up to
en elevation of 460 m above sea level (DE Q. PINTO et al.,
2005).
The soursop tree has a height of 4 to 10 m and is described as
a low branching and bushy but slender tree (Figure 7). The
evergreen tree has alternated, smooth and glossy leaves with
short petioles (3 to 7 mm long). The upper surface is dark
green whereas lighter beneath. The leaves are oblong-ovate to
cylindrical, 6 to 20 cm long and 3 to 7 cm wide.
Figure 7: Annona muricata
tree
The plant has very big flowers compared to the other Annona species, being 3 to 5 cm long.
The greenish-yellow flowers born single and emerge anywhere on the trunk, branches or
twigs.
Figure 8: Annona
muricata
The fruits of Annona muricata are oval or heart-shaped,
sometimes irregular due to bad pollination (Figure 8). The size of
the fruit is very variable in a range from 10 to 30 cm in length and
up to 20 cm in width with a weight of 0.5 to 10 kg. The skin of the
fruit has many short, fleshy and pointed protuberances and is
popularly regarded as “spiny”. The colour is dark green when
unripe and turns into a slighter yellowish-green when ripe. Its
inner surface is cream-coloured and granular and separates easily
from the mass of snow-white, cotton-fibrous, juicy segments
surrounding the central, soft-pithy core.
16