In its native land, soursop is best known for its large fruit, and it is enjoyed fresh or blended into smoothies. Recently, its leaves have attracted scientific interest because of their traditional uses and rich content of naturally occurring plant compounds. While previous research has often focused on individual compounds found in soursop, less is known about how the bioactive profiles of the leaves and fruit pulp compare and which plant part may hold the greatest potential for future food and nutraceutical applications.1
The Study
The study was conducted by scientists from the University of Guadalajara and the National Technological Institute of Mexico. They analyzed and compared the bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity of soursop leaves and fruit pulp. Their findings were published in the Chemistry journal.
The soursop fruits and mature leaves were collected near Tecomán, Colima, Mexico. Researchers prepared extracts from dried leaf and pulp samples and used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to identify and measure individual phenolic compounds. They also evaluated antioxidant capacity using two laboratory methods, DPPH and FRAP.
The Results
The researchers identified 15 phenolic compounds in the soursop leaves and 14 in the fruit pulp. Shikimic acid was the most abundant compound in both, reaching approximately 86 mg per gram of dried leaf and 17.5 mg per gram of dried pulp.
The leaves also contained substantially more total soluble phenols than the pulp and showed stronger activity in the DPPH antioxidant assay, with 70.93% inhibition compared with 15.10% for the pulp. The two plant parts also showed different antioxidant behavior across the laboratory tests, suggesting that their distinct combinations of phenolic compounds may influence how they perform under different testing conditions.
What Does this Mean?
The findings show that both soursop leaves and fruit pulp contain phenolic compounds, with the leaves showing particularly strong antioxidant potential.
Since this was a laboratory study of plant extracts, human trials are needed to further explore their health effects. Nevertheless, the findings add to the growing scientific understanding of soursop's bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity, supporting further research into the use of soursop leaves and fruit pulp as ingredients in functional foods and dietary supplements.
Other herbs with similar antioxidant properties include green tea, hibiscus, moringa, and nettle.
