INTRODUCTION
Annona muricata L., or soursop, has attracted popularity because of its unique flavors and aromas. This tropical fruit is native to the Caribbean and can be found in the warm lowlands of both eastern and western nations, including South-East Asian and African nations. The soursop is a spiny aggregate fruit made of a berry lead of multiple ovaries. A dark-green shell with an irregular, conical, or oval heart shape is the phenotypical result of insufficient carpel development. More than 80% of the fruit is composed of the white pulp, which is mostly made up of water, non-reducing sugars, and carbohydrates.
SOURSOP BASED PRODUCTS IN MARKET
Soursop puree, soursop juice, yoghurt, soursop candy, frozen pulp, jam, jelly, ice cream, wine, gummies, liquid drops, dried leaves, powder
NUTRITIONAL & HEALTH COMPOSITION OF SOURSOP
The soursop fruits composed of 4% core, 8% seeds, 20% peel, and 67% edible pulp. Protein, carbohydrates, water, non-reducing sugar, vitamins B1, B2, and C, minerals and dietary fibre were found abundant in their pulps.
Besides, being a vital native medicinal plant, it’s an asset for food sector and biological activity. The plant possesses insecticidal, anticancer, and anti-parasitic effect. The medicinal use of fruits includes treating fever, worms, increasing a mother’s milk after giving birth, treating diarrhoea and dysentery. Rheumatism, neuralgia, and arthritic pain were all treated with an infusion of unripe fruit blended with olive oil. In traditional medicine, the leaves are used to treat heart conditions, headaches, hypertension, coughs, and asthma. The fruit juice is utilized not just as nourishment but also as a treatment for liver, heart, and diarrheal illnesses. The fruit extracts revealed an appropriate amount of flavonoids and alkaloids, that treats breast cancer. Annona muricata has the ability to slow down the rate of RBC fragility and are effective against sickle cell disease.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF SOURSOP BASED PRODUCTS
Juice from soursop is having potential benefits because of its diuretic, anti-urethritis, anti-haematuria, antibacterial, anti-cancerous, astringent, sedative, and anti-aging properties. They are rich in antioxidants, vitamins C and E, and the juice has predominant flavor and aroma. Soursop juice helps in treating leprosy and liver disorders. Vitamins, fibre, proteins, unsaturated fats, amino acids, and important minerals are all abundant in soursop fruit juice. Yoghurt and frozen dessert that have soursop pulp added to them have more health and technological benefits. This is because soursop pulp contains dietary fibre, ascorbic acid, and polyphenols, which have high levels of antioxidant activity. Researchers additionally found acetogenins, reported to have the primary bioactive ingredient in soursop.
FACTORS AFFECTING SENSORY PROPERTIES OF SOURSOP BASED PRODUCTS
One of the characteristics that attracts customers in the most to exotic fruits is their distinct flavor. With their distinctive sensory qualities, exotic fruits’ vast diversity provides an exciting opportunity for odor research. In order to fulfill this demand, the food industry is currently investigating innovative ways to employ these volatiles for incredible new products. Soursop fruits are renowned as food for a while as well as for making exotic drinks.
CONSUMER PREFERENCE
Consumers has been focusing on soursop recently, due to its nutritional and health-protective properties. Soursop fruit has reported in numerous studies for its high carbohydrate content, a significant amount of vitamins and minerals. The majority of customers had concerns about the soursop’s physical characteristics or intrinsic features. Customers had specific preferences, when it related to size, shape, peel quality, and color. Customers specifically favored fruits with a highly juicy flavor, a good harmony of sweetness and sourness, and a smooth pulp texture with only a hint of grittiness.
MARKET TRENDS & GROWTH OF SOURSOP BASED PORDUCTS
Attitude is the primary predictors of eco-friendly behavior, driving consumers towards green purchases. Though soursop is highly perishable, the fruit remains valuable as both exotic fresh and processed product. Since soursop products offer economic possibilities for export and commercialization, they are viable in the global market. Due to their tendency to bruising and damage, soursop fruit is typically processed into different products such purees, syrups, mixes, concentrated juices, nectars, and shakes. Both pasteurization or freezing can be used to preserve the processed pulp. The search for novel starches has resulted in recent focus on fruit starches. The importance of maintaining surveillance on, assessing, and sustaining the appropriate conditions to ensure Soursop fruit quality while simulating the various supply chain phases. Many studies correlated those of researchers who discovered that consumers who prioritized convenience above quality exhibited a more pessimistic view of foods produced locally, which in turn resulted in a significant decrease in the consumption of those products.
CHALLENGES AND FUTURE
Inadequate processing methods prohibit this fruit from being utilized commercially. Food innovation has rendered it more important to market an experience instead of a product. In order to design food items that provide the intended psychological advantages, there is a growing interest in comprehending the relationship between the sensory characteristics of food and beverages and the state of mind observed during consumption. Therefore, urgent need to explore an affordable and easily adoptable food processing method, could convert the surplus fruits into shelf stable products like juices, jams and jellies, which are easy, cheap and economically reliable alternative that reduces post-harvest losses and prolonged reduces micronutrient deficiencies in individuals. In addition, technological expertise, researchers, their development efforts, economic potential helps in launching an entirely novel product into the market.
CONCLUSION:
The increase in popularity of soursop based products inherit not only with their taste, but also the growing recognition of soursop potential health benefits. Development of soursop based product can increase the shelf life of the fruit throughout the year. However, there is still more research needs to be done in other application areas, particularly in the studies pertaining to soursop peel, on the use of residual constituents from soursop processing in the creation of new goods and uses.
About the Authors:
Karthika. R1, Dr. Dakshayani.R2, Dr.R. Jagan Mohan3
1M. Tech Student, 2Senior Research Fellow, 3Dean (Student Welfare),
National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Thanjavur.
