Annona Species Monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

Chapter 7. Uses
The same pasteurisation process was used for the pulp (for 3 min at 70°C,
stored in jars and then double boiled for 15 min at 95°C). After 150 days of
storage the only observed change was an increase in total sugars by the end
of the first month and the complete loss of vitamin C content (Leal, 1990).
7.3 Medicinal uses
Various plant parts are also widely used in folk medicine, because of the
bioactive compounds (mainly acetogenins, alkaloids and flavonoids) found in
the roots, leaves, bark, fruits and seeds (listed in Chapter 6 and Appendix A).
Acetogenins are potential anti-cancer treatments, as they have cytotoxic
effects (Chang et al., 1993; Cortés et al., 1993 b). Flavonoids present in the
seeds, roots, bark, stems and fruits are potential chemo-preventive agents,
given evidence that they decrease tumour incidence (for a review, see
Cassady, 1990). Appendix B provides a summary of the known uses, the
most important of which are discussed below.
When a herbal product finds widespread use as a medicine, particularly for
primary health care of people with little access to modern health services, it
is important that natural sources are not over collected and depleted.
Cultivation becomes an imperative, as does the standardization of herbal
preparations (Bajaj and Williams, 1995), and there is some evidence that this
is occurring for A. squamosa as an anti-bacterial herb (Anjaria, 1989). In
Brazil, the National Sanitary Vigilance Agency (ANViSa) has recently
required both evidence of bioactivity and lack of toxicity for medicinal plants
used as phytopharmaceuticals. The latter requirement is especially important
in annonas, given the toxicity of many of the bioactive compounds.
Cherimoya roots have aporphine alkaloids, such as roemerine, anonaine and
dehydroroemerine. These have relaxant effects, provided by the blockage of
calcium movement across the cell membrane through voltage-operated
channels and disruption of the alpha-1 adreno-receptors connected to the
receptor-operated channels (Chuliá et al., 1995). Ethanol extracts of
cherimoya seeds are used in folk medicine for their insecticidal and antiparasitic
activity (Bories et al., 1991). The dark-yellow resin extracted from
the seeds contains substances that dilate pupils, intensify photophobia, cause
dryness of the mouth, burning of the throat, nausea, vomiting and other
symptoms resembling the effects of atropine remedies (Lizana and Reginato,
1990). In Mexico, the powder of two seeds from a fruit, mixed with water or
milk, is a potent emetic and cathartic remedy (Lizana and Reginato, 1990).
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