Cherimoya (Peruvian Apple) - Useful Properties

Author: Leticia Celentano Time for reading: ~2 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

Cherimoya (Peruvian Apple) - Useful Properties

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

Cherimoya - benefit and harm from the consumption of the fruit, nutritional composition.

Cherimoya is an exotic fruit whose shape can be heart-shaped or conical. Its length varies between 10 and 20 centimeters, the width reaches 10 centimeters. The flesh of the fruit is fragrant and fibrous creamy, and its color is white. It has about 20 black seeds. The weight of the cherimoya can be from 0.5 to 3 kilograms. The plant is also known as the "ice cream tree" (the name is due to the consistency of the fruit, which in frozen form resembles ice cream; also because of the delicate sweet taste that serves as an addition to the iced dessert), and as a golden Peruvian apple.

If we have to describe the taste of cherimoya, it can be said that it resembles pineapple, strawberry, mango, papaya, banana and liquid cream at the same time.

Useful properties

The fruits of the cherimoya tree contain many useful substances: proteins, carbohydrates, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, glucose, fructose, sucrose, cellulose, lignin and pepsin, as well as organic acids - citric and succinic, vitamin

Thanks to the perfect combination of sugars and acids, the fruits are easily absorbed by the body, are nutritious and very tasty. Their consumption normalizes stomach acidity, improves liver function, promotes weight loss.

The plant is also used for medicinal purposes. Substances with high antibacterial activity were found in it. Its leaves and stems are rich in specific alkaloids - liriodenin, anonine, michelalbine and reticulin. Cherimoya leaves and seeds contain many essential oils, which are wonderful insecticides. An alcoholic solution of the juice extracted from these parts of the plant kills lice and other parasites. In the tropics, the extract of seeds, stems and leaves is used as a natural repellent.

The bark and leaves in South America are used to make a soothing and relaxing tea that improves digestion and has a mild laxative effect. In India, cherimoya leaves are believed to prevent the development of tumors. Two spoons of crushed dried fruit are an excellent antidote for food poisoning.

Harm and contraindications

Cherimoya contains large amounts of sugar and carbohydrates, so people suffering from diabetes should be careful with the consumption of the product. Other serious contraindications are not known. Of course, individual intolerance is possible.

It should also be known that the seeds inside the fruit are not eaten because they are poisonous. They are used to prepare antiparasitic drugs and help with food poisoning, but do not experiment to do them yourself, unless you have the exact and original recipe for it. Nature has thought about human safety by making the seeds extremely hard to be edible, but there are still people who want to try them. It is absolutely forbidden to crush, grind, chew and take the seeds at all.

Fruit juice is dangerous for eyesight. In the eyes, it can even lead to blindness.

Cherimoya (Peruvian Apple) - Useful Properties

CHAPTERS (Table Of Contents)

Useful properties

Harm and contraindications

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