Annona purpurea (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Annona purpurea Sessé & Mocino ex Dunal

Family: Annonaceae

Vernacular names

• Soncoya (En, Sp).

Distribution

Wild and cultivated in southern Mexico and Central America. Introduced and cultivated in the Philippines.

Uses

The fruit is eaten raw and also made into juice. Medicinally the juice is regarded as a remedy for fever, chills and jaundice; a decoction of the bark is effective against dysentery and edema; seed extracts destroy fleas.

Observations

• Tree, 6-10 m tall.
• Leaves deciduous, large, brown hairy on both sides.
• Fruit a globose to ovoid pseudocarp, up to 20 cm diameter, set with hard, 4-sided, conical protuberances, each tipped with a curved hook, brown felty; pulp aromatic, resembling taste of mango, yellow-orange, with numerous dark brown seeds.

Common in coastal lowlands, requiring a hot humid climate. Because of large, aromatic and thick-skinned fruits, the species is of interest for breeding purposes.

Selected sources

• Brown, W.H., 1951 1957. Useful plants of the Philippines. Reprint of the 1941 1943 ed. 3 Volumes. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Technical Bulletin 10. Bureau of Printing, Manila, the Philippines.

• Morton, J.F., 1987. Fruits of warm climates. Creative Resource Systems Inc., Winterville, N.C., USA. 503 pp.

• Ochse, J.J., Soule, M.J., Dijkman, M.J. & Wehlburg, C., 1961. Tropical and subtropical agriculture. 2 Volumes. The Macmillan Company, New York. 1446 pp.

Authors

P.C.M. Jansen, J. Jukema, L.P.A. Oyen, T.G. van Lingen