Annona squamosa

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This article is about the plant Annona squamosa. For the fruit, see Sugar-apple.

Annona squamosa

Sugar-apple

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Angiosperms
 Clade: Magnoliids

Order: Magnoliales

Family: Annonaceae

Genus: Annona

Species: A. squamosa

Binomial name

Annona squamosa
L.[1]

Synonyms

Annona asiatica L.[2]

Annona cinerea Dunal
Guanabanus
squamosus(L.)M.Gómez[3] Xylopia
glabra L.[4]
Annona forskahlii DC.[5]

Annona squamosa is a small, well-branched tree or shrub[6] from the family Annonaceae that bears
edible fruits called sugar-apples or sweetsops. It tolerates a tropical lowland climate better than its
relatives Annona reticulata and Annona cherimola[5] (whose fruits often share the same
name)[2] helping make it the most widely cultivated of these species.[7] Annona squamosa is a small,
semi-(or late)deciduous,[8] much branched shrub or small tree 3 metres (9.8 ft)[6] to 8 metres (26 ft)
tall[8] very similar to soursop (Annona muricata)[9]with a broad, open crown or irregularly spreading
branches[5] and a short trunk short, not buttressed at the base.[8] The fruit of A. squamosa (sugar-
apple) has delicious whitish pulp, and is popular in tropical markets.[8]
Branches in Hyderabad, India.

Stems and leaves

Branches with light brown bark and visible leaf scars; inner bark light yellow and slightly
bitter; twigs become brown with light brown dots (lenticels - small, oval, rounded spots upon
the stem or branch of a plant, from which the underlying tissues may protrude or roots may
issue).[5]
Thin, simple, alternate leaves[9] occur singly,[5] 5 centimetres (2.0 in) to 17 centimetres (6.7 in)
long and 2 centimetres (0.79 in)[8] to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) wide;[5] rounded at the base and
pointed at the tip (oblong-lanceolate).[8] Pale green on both surfaces and mostly
hairless[5] with slight hairs on the underside when young.[6] The sides sometimes are slightly
unequal and the leaf edges are without teeth, inconspicuously hairy when young.[5][9]
Leaf stalks are 0.4 centimetres (0.16 in) to 2.2 centimetres (0.87 in)[8] long, green, and
sparsely pubescent.[5]

flower in Hyderabad, India.

Flowers
Solitary or in short lateral clusters of 2-4 about 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) long,[8] greenish-
yellow flowers on a hairy, slender[5] 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long stalk.[8] Three green outer
petals, purplish at the base, oblong, 1.6 centimetres (0.63 in) to 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in)
long, and 0.6 centimetres (0.24 in) to 0.75 centimetres (0.30 in) wide, three inner petals
reduced to minute scales or absent.[6][8] Very numerous stamens; crowded, white, less than
1.6 centimetres (0.63 in) long; ovary light green. Styles white, crowded on the raised axis.
Each pistil forms a separate tubercle (small rounded wartlike protuberance), mostly 1.3
centimetres (0.51 in) to 1.9 centimetres (0.75 in) long and 0.6 centimetres (0.24 in) to 1.3
centimetres (0.51 in) wide which matures into the aggregate fruit.[5]
Flowering occurs in spring-early summer[8] and flowers are pollinated by nitidulid beetles.[10]
Fruits and reproduction
Aggregate and soft fruits form from the numerous and loosely united pistils of a
flower[5] which become enlarged[8] and mature into fruits which are distinct from fruits of other
species of genus[5] (and more like a giant raspberry instead).
The round or heart-shaped[5] greenish yellow, ripened aggregate fruit is pendulous[8] on a
thickened stalk; 5 centimetres (2.0 in)[5][6] to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in diameter[8][9] with many
round protuberances[5] and covered with a powdery bloom. Fruits are formed of loosely
cohering or almost free carpels (the ripened pistels).[6]
The pulp is white tinged yellow,[6] edible and sweetly aromatic. Each carpel containing an
oblong, shiny and smooth,[5] dark brown[6] to black, 1.3 centimetres (0.51 in) to 1.6
centimetres (0.63 in) long seed.[5]

Contents
[hide]

 1Distribution
 2Climate and Cultivation
 3Uses
 4Chemical constituents
 5References
 6External links

Distribution[edit]
Annona squamosa is native to the tropical Americas and West
Indies, but the exact origin is unknown. It is now the most widely
cultivated of all the species of Annona, being grown for its fruit
throughout the tropics and warmer subtropics, such
as Indonesia, Thailand, and Taiwan; it was introduced to
southern Asia before 1590. It is naturalized as far north as
southern Florida in the United States and as south
as Bahiain Brazil, and is an invasive species in some areas.[5][7][9]
Native
Neotropic
Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti,Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands
Antilles, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the
Grenadines,Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands.
Central America: El Salvador Guatemala
Northern South America: Suriname, French Guyana, Guyana, Venezuela
Western South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Southern South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay[5]
Current (naturalized and native)
Neotropic
Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Florida, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat,Netherlands
Antilles, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the
Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands.
Pacific: Samoa, Tonga
North America: Mexico
Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
Northern South America: French Guyana, Guyana, Venezuela
Western South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Southern South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Afrotropic: Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar
Australasia: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Indomalaya: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakist
an, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
Palearctic: Cyprus, Greece, Malta[5]

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Annona
squamosa.

Azores (Pico Island), Portugal

Climate and Cultivation[edit]

Young sugar apple seedling

Like most species of Annona, it requires a

tropical or subtropical climate with summer
temperatures from 25 °C (77 °F) to 41 °C
(106 °F), and mean winter temperatures
above 15 °C (59 °F). It is sensitive to cold
and frost, being defoliated below 10 °C
(50 °F) and killed by temperatures of a
couple of degrees below freezing. It is only
moderately drought-tolerant, requiring at
least 700 mm of annual rainfall, and will
not produce fruit well during droughts.
It will grow from sea level to 2,000 metres
(6,600 ft) and does well in hot dry
climates, differing in its tolerance of
lowland tropics from many of the other fruit
bearers in the Annona family.
It is quite a prolific bearer, and it will
produce fruit in as little as two to three
years. A five-year-old tree can produce as
many as 50 sugar apples. Poor fruit
production has been reported in Florida
because there are few natural pollinators
(honeybees have a difficult time
penetrating the tightly closed female
flowers); however, hand pollination with a
natural fiber brush is effective in increasing
yield. Natural pollinators include beetles
(coleoptera) of the
families Nitidulidae, Staphylinidae, Chryso
melidae, Curculionidae and Scarabeidae.[7]
[11]

In the Philippines, the fruit is commonly

eaten by the Philippine fruit
bat (kabag or kabog), which then spreads
the seeds from island to island.
It is a host plant for larvae of the
butterfly Graphium agamemnon (tailed
jay).

Uses[edit]
In traditional Indian, Thai, and American
medicine, the leaves are used in
a decoction to treat dysentery and urinary
tract infection.[12] In traditional Indian
medicine, they are also crushed and
applied to wounds.[12] In Mexico, the leaves
are rubbed on floors and put in hens' nests
to repel lice.[7]

Chemical constituents[edit]
The diterpenoid alkaloid atisine is the most
abundant alkaloid in the root. Other
constituents of Annona squamosa include
the
alkaloids oxophoebine,[13] reticuline,[13]isoco
rydine,[14] and methylcorydaldine,[14] and
the flavonoid quercetin-3-O-glucoside.[15]
Bayer AG has patented the extraction
process and molecular identity of the
annonaceous acetogenin annonin, as well
as its use as a biopesticide.[16] Other
acetogenins have been isolated from the
seeds,[17] bark,[18] and leaves.[19]

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Natural Resources
Conservation Service
(NRCS). "PLANTS Profile, Annona
squamosaL.". The PLANTS
Database. United States
Department of Agriculture,.
Retrieved2008-04-17.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b Germplasm
Resources Information Network
(GRIN) (1997-07-
11). "Taxon: Annona
squamosa L.". Taxonomy for
Plants. USDA, ARS, National
Genetic Resources Program,
National Germplasm Resources
Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
Retrieved2008-04-17.
3. Jump up^ Dr. Richard Wunderlin,
Dr. Bruce Hansen. "synonyms
of Annona squamosa". Atlas of
Florida Vascular Plants. Institute for
Systematic Botany, University of
Florida. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
4. Jump up^ Missouri Botanical
Garden (1753). "Annona
squamosa L.". Tropicos.
Retrieved2008-04-17.
5. ^ Jump up
to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Curren
t name: Annona
squamosa".AgroForestryTree
Database. International Center For
Research In Agroforestry. Archived
from the original on 2011-05-26.
Retrieved 2008-04-17.
6. ^ Jump up
to:a b c d e f g h Aluka. "Annona
squamosa L. [family
ANNONACEAE]". African Plants.
Ithaka Harbors,
Inc. doi:10.5555/AL.AP.COMPILATI
ON.PLANT-NAME-
SPECIES.ANNONA.SQUAMOSA
(inactive 2017-01-01). Archived
from the original on 2013-08-01.
Retrieved 2008-04-17.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Morton,
Julia (1987). "Sugar Apple Annona
squamosa". Fruits of warm
 climates. Department of Horticulture
& Landscape Architecture, Purdue
University. p. 69.Archived from the
original on 5 April 2008.
Retrieved 2008-04-17.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Flora
of North America. "2. Annona
squamosa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 537.
1753". Flora of North America. 3.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Pacific Island
Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) (2008-
01-05). "Annona squamosa(PIER
Species info)". PIER species
lists. United States Geological
Survey & United States Forest
Service. Archived from the original
on 12 May 2008. Retrieved2008-04-
17. Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The
flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.
10. Jump up^ McGregor, S.E. Insect
Pollination Of Cultivated Crop
Plants USDA, 1976
11. Jump up^ "Annona
squamosa". AgroForestryTree
Database. Archived from the
original on 14 March 2007.
Retrieved 16 September 2013.
12. ^ Jump up to:a b Dholvitayakhun A,
Trachoo N; et al. (2016). "Using
scanning and transmission electron
microscopy to investigate the
antibacterial mechanism of action of
the medicinal plant Annona
squamosa Linn". Journal of Herbal
Medicine.doi:10.1016/j.hermed.201
6.10.003.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b Dholvitayakhun A,
Trachoo N; et al. (2013). "Potential
applications for Annona
squamosa leaf extract in the
treatment and prevention of
foodborne bacterial
disease".Natural Product
Communications. 8 (3): 385–
388. PMID 23678817.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b Yadav DK, Singh N;
et al. (2011). "Anti-ulcer
constituents of Annona
squamosatwigs". Fitoterapia. 82 (4):
666–
675. PMID 21342663.doi:10.1016/j.f
itote.2011.02.005.
15. Jump up^ Panda S, Kar A (2007).
"Antidiabetic and antioxidative
effects of Annona squamosaleaves
 are possibly mediated through
quercetin-3-O-
glucoside". Biofactors. 31 (3–4):
201–
210. PMID 18997283. doi:10.1002/b
iof.5520310307.
16. Jump up^ Moeschler HF, Pfluger
W; et al. (August 1987). "Insecticide
US 4689232 A". Retrieved 2014-12-
03.
17. Jump up^ Chen Y, Xu SS; et al.
(2012). "Anti-tumor activity
of Annona squamosa seeds extract
containing annonaceous acetogenin
compounds". Journal of
Ethnopharmacology. 142(2): 462–
466. PMID 22609808. doi:10.1016/j.
jep.2012.05.019.
18. Jump up^ Li XH, Hui YH; et al.
(1990). "Bullatacin, bullatacinone,
and squamone, a new bioactive
acetogenin, from the bark
of Annona squamosa". Journal of
Natural Products. 53 (1): 81–
86. PMID 2348205. doi:10.1021/np5
0067a010.
19. Jump up^ Gajalakshmi S, Divya R;
et al. (2011). "Pharmacological
activities of Annona squamosa: A
review". International Journal of
Pharmaceutical Sciences Review
and Research. 10 (2): 24–29.

External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to:

Annona
squamosa(category)

Data related to Annona squamosa at

Wikispecies

 "Annona squamosa L.". Integrated

Taxonomic Information System.
Retrieved 17 March 2008.
 David Lee. "Photographs of
trees Annona squamosa". The Miami
Tree Puzzle. Florida International
University. Archived from the original
on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-
17.
 Annona squamosa L. Medicinal Plant
Images Database (School of Chinese
Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist
University) (in traditional Chinese) (in
English)