Common names: Guanabana, Huanabano, Masasamba, Corosol, Graviola, Brazilian custard
It is a small tree (8 to 10 m tall) that grows in almost all of cultivated tropical America. The fleshy fruit is 15 to 20 cm long, has a very pleasant taste and the flavor is used industrially for the preparation of juices, nectars, jams, ice creams, etc.
In traditional medicine the fruits are used to combat rickets.
The root, bark and leaves are used to treat diabetes (infusion) and also as an antispasmodic.
Leaves crushed with salt, applied as plasters are used to mature tumors. The leaves are also useful in cooking, as an anti-diuretic.
But now its importance lies in the possibility of being used in the treatment of certain cancers, the presence of substances in the leaves such as acetogenins, which have an activity similar to that of certain products that are used in chemotherapy (as the adriamycin), without similar negative side effects. |
