Cherimoya toxic?

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Permalink Reply by NathanB on July 26, 2012 at 10:00am

No simple answer to chemimoya toxicity

These are the papers that sparked things off:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10440304

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1471-4159.2003.02138.x...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16092100

This is a study from 2006 that's interesting:

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/130/3/816.full

Here's a decent discussion about the evidence:

http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/forum/48410.html

Long story short - soursop contains large amounts of annonacin and other acetogenins, which are proven to be neurotoxic in the lab. Atypical parkinson's disease is common in Guadeloupe and patients there with atypical parkinson's have been shown to be relatively high consumers of soursop fruit/juice/tea. The same relationship exists in New Caledonia. The brain lesions found in rats given intravenous annonacin matched those in the Guadeloupeans with parkinsonism. This all suggests that regular consumption of soursop (or, presumably, cherimoya) is a risk factor for atypical parkinson's; BUT there's no direct link established between eating the fruit and getting the disease, and there are other ethnic and synergistic factors that might be important. 

Although the research focuses on soursop, it's generally assumed that other Annona species (cherimoya, custard apple etc.) contain similar amounts of annonacin. For example, comparable levels have been found in the US pawpaw, which is from the same family: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22130466

Conversely, there's some recent research suggesting annonacin is a potent anticarcinogen.

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Permalink Reply by Durifran on July 26, 2012 at 11:21am

I always get headaches after eating custard apples (australian version of cherimoya)

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Permalink Reply by ola johansson on July 26, 2012 at 8:28pm

thanks for your answers it helped clear up things!

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Permalink Reply by ola johansson on July 26, 2012 at 8:39pm

It feels like it's best to stay away from them.

or eat them to a minimum

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Permalink Reply by Omni on July 26, 2012 at 9:26pm

Last cherimoya season I ate them all the time (#1 favorite food) and never noticed any issues.Im very interested to see what other replies come up.

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Permalink Reply by ola johansson on July 27, 2012 at 12:58am

I have only eating them in small amounts before I wen't lfrv, I didn't feel any difference after eating them. Next week I am moving to were they have a lot more of that kind of fruit, and i really like the taste of them.

that's why I'm concerned.

I also heard someone say that the toxic is only in the seeds.

nice to hear that you feel fine on them Omni.

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Permalink Reply by NathanB on July 27, 2012 at 7:07am

The seeds and skin have a greater concentration of toxin but it's also present in the flesh. You should definitely avoid commercially produced juice/nectar because the skins & seeds will be processed not just the flesh.

The researchers above suggest that because the annonacin bypasses the blood-brain barrier, the risk is that it gradually accumulates in the brain. Although you might feel fine after eating them, it's still a potential long-term health risk. Problem is no-one knows how much of a risk.

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Permalink Reply by ola johansson on July 27, 2012 at 7:12am

ok

thanks for the info

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