Soursop: Nutrition, Benefits and Is Soursop Safe to Eat?

Soursop (Annona muricata), also called guanabana or graviola, is a large, spiny green fruit with soft white flesh and black seeds. USDA data show the pulp supplies fiber, vitamin C and some potassium. The harder question is safety. Research from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has linked heavy, long-term soursop consumption with an unusual form of parkinsonism, and a compound in the fruit called annonacin is the main suspect. This guide covers soursop nutrition, what is and is not known about soursop benefits, the annonacin research, and what Memorial Sloan Kettering says about graviola supplements.

Peptide Labs does not sell soursop, graviola or soursop products. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

What is soursop fruit?

Soursop belongs to the Annonaceae family, the same plant family as cherimoya, sugar apple and bullock’s heart. Memorial Sloan Kettering lists guanabana, graviola and custard apple among its common names, and research from the French Caribbean calls it corossol. Custard apple is a name that is also used for several related fruits (see our cherimoya guide). The fruit can be large; USDA lists a whole soursop at about 625 grams. The flesh is fibrous and juicy, and it is most often eaten fresh, blended into drinks, or sold as frozen pulp and canned nectar. The leaves are used in traditional medicine and brewed as herbal tea, including in Guadeloupe, and that tea matters for the safety research below.

Soursop nutrition facts from USDA

The table uses the USDA SR Legacy entry for raw soursop (FDC 167761), per cup of pulp (225 grams), with percent Daily Value based on FDA reference values.

Per 100 grams, USDA lists soursop at 66 calories with 3.3 grams of fiber and no vitamin A. Fat and protein are low. Most of the calories come from natural sugars, so the pulp is sweeter than the name suggests; our guide to sugar in fruit puts that in context. Commercial nectars and drinks often add sugar and lose much of the fiber, so the Nutrition Facts label on the can matters more than the fruit numbers.

How soursop compares with other tropical fruits

Per 100 grams of raw fruit in USDA SR Legacy, soursop sits in the middle of the pack. It has more fiber than mango or papaya, but much less vitamin C than guava.

If vitamin C is the goal, guava, papaya and the fruits in our vitamin C foods list supply more per bite. For fiber, see our high fiber foods guide, and for potassium, our potassium foods list. Our mango guide uses the same USDA comparison entries.

What about soursop benefits?

The well-supported soursop benefits are the nutritional ones in the tables: fiber, vitamin C, copper and potassium in a fruit that most people enjoy. Online claims go much further, describing soursop or graviola as a remedy for serious illness, infections, diabetes, high blood pressure or poor sleep. Those claims rest on lab dishes and animal studies of leaf and seed extracts, not on trials of people eating the fruit.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which reviews herbs and supplements for patients, states that graviola is promoted as an alternative cancer therapy but that there is no proof it has benefits for cancer patients, and that human studies are lacking. Its review also notes that graviola may add to the effects of diabetes and blood pressure medicines, and it advises people to avoid graviola before imaging tests such as PET scans, because animal studies showed it can change how tracers are taken up. Anyone with cancer should discuss any herb with their oncology team.

Is soursop safe? The annonacin research

The safety concern began with a 1999 case-control study in The Lancet. Researchers in Guadeloupe examined 87 consecutive patients with parkinsonism and found an unusually high share of atypical forms, including a condition resembling progressive supranuclear palsy. Those patients reported eating far more soursop and sugar apple fruit, and drinking more of the leaf tea, than patients with typical Parkinson’s disease or controls. The authors called the link possible and asked for larger studies.

• Lab studies (2003, 2007): in brain cell cultures, annonacin, the main acetogenin in soursop, blocked energy production in mitochondria and killed dopamine-producing neurons, and it also disturbed the tau protein inside neurons.
• Rat study (2004): purified annonacin infused into rats for 28 days reached the brain and caused loss of neurons in regions affected in parkinsonism.
• Fruit analysis (2005, 2017): annonacin was found in soursop fruit, commercial nectar and leaf tea, and a 2017 analysis found acetogenins in the pulp of all seven fruit samples tested, with large differences between fruits. The 2005 authors estimated that a fruit or a can of nectar a day for a year could approach the exposure that caused brain damage in rats given purified annonacin.
• Patient studies (2007 to 2026): a study of 160 patients in Guadeloupe again found higher soursop consumption in the atypical forms, and later studies in Caribbean patients linked Annonaceae fruit, juice and leaf tea with more severe symptoms. A 2022 research team called for more restrictive public health advice on these products.

These findings deserve caution in both directions. The human studies are observational, rely on people remembering what they ate over decades, and cannot prove that soursop causes disease. Other local factors, such as a banned pesticide that still contaminates the environment in the French Caribbean, are also being studied. Rats received purified annonacin into the bloodstream, which is not the same as eating fruit. Still, no official body has set a safe amount, and the people most studied were long-term, regular consumers of the fruit, nectar and leaf tea.

Practical safety notes

• Frequency matters most in the research: the concern centers on regular, long-term intake of fruit, nectar and leaf tea, not on tasting soursop on a trip.
• Talk to a clinician if: you have Parkinson’s disease, another movement disorder or memory problems, or if you drink soursop juice or leaf tea often and notice tremor, stiffness, balance changes or falls.
• Supplements and leaf teas: graviola capsules and leaf products are usually made from leaves or stems, and leaf tea was one of the exposures in the Guadeloupe studies. Ask your healthcare provider first, especially if you take diabetes or blood pressure medicines or have an imaging test coming up.
• Seeds: spit them out. Annonaceae seeds hold the highest acetogenin levels measured in a related fruit.
• Allergy: soursop is not one of the nine major food allergens on US labels, but any fruit can trigger a reaction. Hives, swelling or trouble breathing needs urgent care, and our elimination diet guide explains why food testing should be supervised.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Cherimoya Nutrition, Custard Apple Names, Seeds and How to Eat It, Guava: Benefits, USDA Nutrition, Vitamin C and How to Eat It, Foods High in Vitamin C: USDA List of Fruits and Vegetables.