The Humble Soursop
I miss my soursop juice on Sunday, sweetened with condensed milk, vanilla and nutmeg.
And the wonderful “country vibes”, that sweet afternoon breeze that caresses your cheek while the sun blazes down and you are washing your hair with cactus you picked from the fields. Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. LOL.
The soursop seeds have emetic properties and can be used in treating vomiting. Crushed fresh leaves are applied on skin eruptions to promote healing. The juice is a remedy for urethritis, haematuria and liver ailments. The juice when taken while fasting, is believed to relieve liver ailments and leprosy.
To speed the healing of wounds, the flesh of the soursop can be applied as a poultice for 3 days. A decoction of the young shoots or leaves is regarded as a remedy for gall bladder trouble, as well as coughs, catarrh, diarrhea, dysentery, fever and indigestion.
Mashed leaves are used as a poultice to alleviate eczema and other skin problems and rheumatism. The root bark is used as an antidote for poisoning. Soursop flowers are believed to alleviate catarrh. Decoction of leaves used as compresses for inflammation and swollen feet.
Laboratory research supports the potential benefits of soursop as a remedy for disease. In one study, published in “Journal of Ethnopharmacology,” an extract of soursop inhibited the growth of Herpes virus in the laboratory. In addition, the Cancer Center summarizes findings that suggest soursop extracts might slow growth of cancer cells or make them more susceptible to anti-cancer drugs.
By Neo Makeba