Annona Species Monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

Chapter 6. Properties
M. C. R. Cordeiro and A. C. de Q. Pinto
6.1 Chemical properties
Leaves, roots, bark, fruits and seeds of annonas contain numerous bioactive
chemical substances, such as acetogenins, alkaloids, terpenes, flavonoids and
oils. At least some acetogenins have insecticidal, cytotoxic, antitumoral,
antifeedant, antibacterial, immuno-suppressant, pesticidal or antihelminthic
properties (Rupprecht et al., 1990). Alkaloids, terpenes and flavonoids are
potentially useful in medicine. A list of some of the chemical compounds
present in annonas is given in Appendix A.
Acetogenins isolated and characterized from different annonas have
monotetrahydrofuran (MTH) or bis-tetrahydrofuran (bis-THF), with adjacent
and nonadjacent bis-THF systems, in their structures (Cortés et al., 1993 a, b;
Duret et al., 1994). These substances can be extracted from seeds using
ethanol, methanol or petroleum ether (Rupprecht et al., 1990).
Cherimoya: At least 6 types of acetogenins have been identified in cherimoya
roots (Cortés et al., 1993 b; Duret et al., 1994) and some of them exhibit
cytotoxic and antiparasitic activities. Three alkaloids have been identified
from the leaves and stem (Fresno and Cañavate, 1983). The stems also
contain acetogenins, amides, kauranes, purine and steroids (Chen et al.,
1998). Ethanol extracts of cherimoya seeds also have bioactive acetogenins
(Cortés et al., 1993 a, b; Sahpaz et al., 1996; Chen et al., 1999) and alkaloids
(Fresno and Cañavate, 1983). Moreover, cherimoya seeds have oils
containing oleic (43%), linoleic (35%), palmitic (12%), stearic (8%),
linolenic (1%) and traces of arachidic acids (Lizana and Reginato, 1990).
Soursop: Roots, stems and leaves of soursop have different kinds of
acetogenins. Some of them have antitumoral activities and act preferentially
against human cancer cell lines (Wu et al., 1995 a, b, c; Zeng et al., 1996;
Kim et al., 1998 a, b). Acetogenins found in soursop leaves and stems are
used to prepare extracts that have insecticidal activities. These compounds
are similar to anonins and muricins (Pinto and Silva, 1994). Additionally,
biogenetic intermediaries of acetogenins are found (Gleye et al., 1997). In
soursop seeds there are amyloids (Kooiman, 1967), acetogenins (Myint et al.,
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