soursop Archives - Aboutsoursop.com

What are other words for soursop?

Soursop is known by a variety of different words. The following words are soursop synonyms or related terms that are used when speaking or writing about the fruit.

Soursop

Soursop is the primary name most people use to refer to the fruit of the graviola tree. However botanists refer to it as Annona Muricata, and it is a variety of spiny fruit with a soft and sweet pulpy center.

Graviola

A synonym of soursop. Graviola can also be used as a reference to the tree that the fruit grows on.

Guanábana

Guanábana is a common Spanish name for soursop. Read more about guanabana

Brazilian Paw Paw

The paw paw is unassuming fruit tree that produces a delicious and sweet fruit (when ripe). Like soursop, it is a member of the Annonaceae family. Botanists believe that there are eight different species of paw paw. One is soursop which is often called the Brazilian paw paw.

Custard Apple

The creamy texture of the soursop flesh gives the fruit its secondary name “custard apple“.

Cherimoya

The cherimoya (Annona cherimola) was called chirimuya by the Incan people (a race of ancient Mexicans). It is sometimes spelled: chirimoya. It is a cousin of the soursop, just as a fuji apple and a gala apple are both apples but different types of apple.

Guyabano

In the Philippines, soursop is called guyabano. The word is derived from the Spanish word for soursop: guanábana.

Annona muricata

This is the latin based botanical name for the soursop tree.

Guanaba

Guanaba is the word for soursop in E1 Salvador.

Huanaba

Huanaba is the word for soursop in Guatemala.

; in Mexico, often as

Zopote de viejas

Zopote de viejas is a Mexican term for soursop. Translated it would mean old sapote. A sapote is a fruit with soft-flesh.

Cabeza de negro

Cabeza de negro is another way Mexicans describe soursop, although this usually refers to a similar fruit called Annona purpurea by botanists.

Related regional words for soursop

Venezuela: catoche or catuche
Argentina: anona de puntitas or anona de broquel
Bolivia: sinini
Brazil: araticum do grande, graviola, or jaca do Para
Netherlands Antilles: sorsaka
Surinam and Java: zunrzak
French-speaking areas of the West Indies, West Africa, Southeast Asia, especially in North Vietnam: corossol, grand corossol, corossol epineux, or cachiman epineux.
Malaya, In this south Asian nation it may be called durian belanda, durian maki or seri kaya belanda.
Thailand: The Thais call soursop this term: thu-rian-khack

How to grow a soursop tree at home

Want to grow a soursop tree that bears the prickly soursop fruit at home? It is not that hard. However, there are some unique issues that need to be overcome before you can successfully harvest fresh soursop for your DIY growing efforts.

What you will need to grow a soursop tree at home

Here is the equipment and enviroment you will need to grow soursop:

Graviola seeds
Warm environment that can be kept above 30 F or -1 C.
Warm, shady spot for germination.
Peat pots filled with potting soil
A large pot
Garden tools
Peat, mulch and potting soil

Notes about growing soursop trees:

A soursop tree can grow from 25 to 30 feet tall.

The tree produces an oval-shaped spiny fruit with a tender yellow/green skin.

Typically, it is grown in countries like Mexico, Jamaica, the West Indies, northern South America, China, Australia Southeast Asia and Africa. In the U.S., it can grow in central to southern Florida, southern California, southern Arizona and southern Texas.

The tree that produces soursop fruit needs a tropical climate. It will not survive a frost. It will suffer damage at 30 F (around -1 C) and it will die at 26 F (-3 C).

U.S. Plant Hardiness Zones

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 and 11. in rich. In Florida that is the zones south or Orlando and Tampa. In California it is the coast regions from San Luis Obispo south and Bakersfield. Southern Texas and southern Arizona also match this criteria. See more here

Plant a Graviola tree in rich well-drained soil with 5 to 6.5 pH.

How to plant soursop seeds to grow a tree

Soursop seeds are about 3/4 inch and are brown

Indoor graviola tree planting

Wash soursop seeds and prepare a warm, shady indoor spot for germination.
Plant the seeds in peat pots filled with potting soil, less than 30 days after harvesting from fruit.
Keep the soil moist to the touch. Soursop seeds will germinate in 15 to 30 days if the are viable.

Outdoor graviola sapling planting

If you live in a suitable climate as noted above (no frost, warm tropical or sub-tropical temperatures) you can transplant seedlings outdoors, or accommodate the growth of a tall indoor potted tree in a greenhouse.

Prepare a sunny, south-facing spot with wind protection in the garden and rake 2 inches of compost into the soil.
Transplant 12-inch-high seedlings into the yard in the spring, spacing them at least 12 feet apart. Dig holes big enough to hold the root ball of each plant. Cover the base of the plant with soil
Add 3 inches of mulch to keep moist.
Water soursop plants often enough to keep the soil moist, but not wet, during hot weather.
When the weather cools in the winter, be sure to reduce watering. Soursop plants can tolerate drought. That said they can develop pest problems if they are always wet.
Provide soursop plants with 10-10-10 fertilizer, using a total of one-half pound of fertilizer per tree in the first year. Split the amount quarterly. In the 2nd year, raise the amount to 1 pound. Thereafter use 3 pounds of fertilizer per year.
Reapply mulch annually to the trees.
Widening the mulch application area to 5 feet as the tree’s root system expands.

Supplies list for growing a soursop tree

You can plant seeds for up to 30 days after you remove them from the soursop fruit

Here are a list of supplies you will need to grow a soursop tree. The links take you to source where you can by the supplies:

How to harvest soursop fruit:

When soursop fruit is still firm and yellow-green in color, you can harvest it. Don’t allow the fruit to get soft on the tree. Ripen indoors. Store picked firm fruit in the refrigerator for several days until it becomes soft to the touch.

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Soursop synonyms