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HEALTH TIP: The soursop fruit, also known as graviola (Portuguese) guanábana (Spanish), or corossol (French) is a large, green fruit with a dull spiked surface, found mainly in tropical regions. It comes from a small evergreen tree with dark green leaves.

Over three decades ago, in 1976, the National Cancer Institute performed a study on the soursop fruit which demonstrated amazing cancer-fighting potential. Results of this research showed that soursop was quite effective at attacking and destroying the malignant cells. As a matter of fact, soursop was found to be “selectively toxic” to colon cancer cells and was also calculated to be 10,000 times more potent than Adriamycin chemotherapy (also known as doxorubicin). Adriamycin is oftentimes called “red devil” due to its deep red color and terrible side effects, which include life-threatening (sometimes fatal) damage to the cardiovascular system. Even though Adriamycin is NOT selectively toxic to cancer cells (i.e. it kills ALL cells – even healthy cells), it has been a first choice of chemo for over 50 years.

Soursop contains a unique set of chemicals called “annonaceous acetogenins” (produced in the bark, leaf, and seeds) display tremendous anti-tumor potential and are selectively toxic against various types of cancer cells and cause no harm to regular healthy cells. These acetogenins have also been documented to be anti-parasitic and anti-microbial. Three separate studies have shown that these acetogenins are superb inhibitors of enzyme processes only found in the membranes of cancerous tumor cells. This is why they are toxic to cancer cells but have no toxicity to healthy cells.

In 2011, researchers found that graviola fruit extract (GFE) suppressed so-called oncogene (or cancer-causing gene) expression in breast cancer. The oncogene known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is commonly over-expressed in breast cancer, and therefore an ideal target for therapy.