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What Does Sour Sop Taste Like (Is it given away by its name?)

What Does Sour Sop Taste Like

The name “Soursop” doesn’t bring to mind juicy fruits and succulent drinks. However, that’s exactly what soursop is. Soursop is a tropical fruit that is enjoyed by thousands of people around the world.

Soursop has a flavor that’s sweet, nutty, and slightly sour. It has notes of pineapple and a fruity aroma that fills your nose and settles on the tongue, enhancing the overall taste.

What Is Soursop?

Before we jump into the flavors of soursop, let’s take a minute to talk about this unique plant. Soursop, known as guanábana in Latin America, is a tropical fruit native to the Caribbean areas. 

What Does Sour Sop Taste Like

Soursop is also sometimes referred to as a custard apple or a graviola. No matter which name you find it under, you’ll be looking for a very unique fruit.

The fruit has a hard and prickly exterior with a soft, creamy, white interior. The fruit’s pulp coats large black seeds that people remove before enjoying this fruit. 

Some people get confused between soursop and cherimoya thanks to their similar appearances. However, soursop is much more tart than cherimoya and is much larger than its smaller cousin, too. 

What Does Soursop Taste Like?

Soursop has a unique flavor profile that’s partly given away by the name. The fruit has a tangy and slightly sour flavor that gets sweeter the longer it stays on your tongue. 

The fruit has delicate tropical notes, reminiscent of pineapple and mango, which help balance out some of the tartness of the fruit. The result is a unique balance of flavors.

A few other fruits people have mentioned taste similar include banana, mango, and coconut. You might find these notes in your soursop snack!

What Are the Health Benefits of Soursop?

Like most fruits, soursop comes with plenty of health benefits. For one, it’s high in vitamin C content which means it can help boost your immune system and keep infection and disease at bay. 

Additionally, soursop contains antioxidants. Antioxidants are important for fighting free radicals in your body and keeping things functioning correctly. 

Soursop has a high fiber content, too, which can help with good digestion. Since 83% of the adult recommended daily fiber intake can be found in soursop, this is a great fruit to eat to keep things moving through your intestines. 

On top of these amazing benefits, soursop contains tons of key nutrients. These nutrients include: 

  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamins B1, B2, and B3
  • Folate
  • Iron
  • Magnesium
  • Potassium
  • Zinc
  • Copper
  • Calcium
  • Phosphorous

Just by eating a serving or two of soursop, you can fill your body with these key nutrients for staying healthy!

Soursop and Cancer

There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding some people’s claims that soursop can be used to treat cancer. Although it may have healing effects on some people, the connection hasn’t been proven. 

Experts recommend skipping the soursop and sticking to traditional cancer remedies if you’re suffering from the disease. However, who knows, eating a bite or two of the fruit certainly can’t do any harm!

How to Tell if Soursop is Ripe

How to Tell if Soursop is Ripe

If you’ve managed to get your hands on some soursop and aren’t sure if this fruit is ripe or not, there are a few things you can do to check. 

For one, a fully ripe soursop should turn a dark green color. When the fruit is a pale yellow or light green color, this means that the fruit is unripe and should be left on the tree.

Secondly, when you press a soursop fruit it should have a little bit of give. If the fruit is hard, it’s not ready to eat yet. And, if the fruit is mushy, it’s overripe and should be left alone. 

If you bought an unripe soursop, you can leave the fruit to ripen. It typically takes about three to four days for the fruit to ripen when left out on the counter!

How to Eat Soursop

If you’re wanting to chow down on a plate of your own soursop, there are plenty of ways to eat it. Here are a few common ways that people enjoy eating soursop:

Raw

One of the most popular ways to enjoy soursop is to simply eat the fruit raw! To eat the raw fruit you’ll need to cut open the tough exterior of the fruit. 

Carefully peel the white pulp from the hard black seeds. Throw the seeds away, and using a spoon, enjoy eating mouthfuls of the tasty, creamy pulp!

Juice

Are you not into eating the fruit raw? Try blending soursop into a drink! Soursop juice is a well-known delicacy, particularly throughout Brazil and Jamaica. 

To make this juice, chefs peel the skin from the fruit with a knife. Then, they squeeze the pulp through a sieve to remove all the seeds. Finally, chefs whisk the creamy pulp with water and a little bit of sugar. 

Cocktails

Wanting something different? Whip up a tasty soursop cocktail! Simply add the fruit pulp, nutmeg, cinnamon, condensed milk, and a splash of rum to a blender. The result is a delicious and refreshing cocktail for a hot day.  

Sour Sop Cocktail

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you buy soursop in the US?

If you’ve fallen in love with soursop and simply have to try it, you’ll have a hard time finding it in commercial food stores. If you really want to find this fruit, you’re best off checking out international markets or specialty food stores.

Is frozen soursop good?

If you tried fresh soursop and can’t get enough of it, then you’ll be happy to know that you can eat this fruit frozen, too! In fact, frozen soursop pulp is often blended into smoothies, cocktails, or even ice creams.

Are soursop seeds poisonous?

The giant seeds that soursop contains can be a hassle to remove, but you need to do so in order to be safe. The seeds of soursop contain chemicals that can be toxic to humans and should be avoided.

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