A plant that is common in the Philippine, guyabano is
drawing interest especially to health conscious individuals and to those with
health issues. It is called soursop or guyabano in English, graviola in
Portuguese and guanabana in Spanish. In the southern part of the Philippines it
is called “abana”, a name that is perhaps a corruption of the Spanish
guanabana. Guyabano is said to have originated from South America, and is now
cultivated in many parts of the world especially in places where there are hot
tropical climate. In the Philippines Guyabano might have found its way in the
Philippines through the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade during the Spanish
colonial era.
The Guyabano plant is a small tree with small elliptical
leaves and an oddly shaped unattractive flower with thick petals. The thin rind
of its fruit is surrounded with soft pricks. Inside the fruit is a juicy white
pulpy flesh and inedible black seeds. The flesh has a sweet and sour taste. The
evergreen fruit is usually harvested when matured and kept in a place to ripen
after several days.
Guyabano used to be planted only in the backyard for its
fruit. The fruit is ranked low in Filipino preference. It is not as popular as some
native fruits such as banana, melon, avocado, mango, durian and other fruits. But
the hype that guyabano fruit and other parts of the plants are cure for some
diseases particularly cancer has created an increase in demand for the fruit in
the market.
Usually, the fruit is eaten as is. It is also used in
smoothies, in the production of fruit juice and in the flavoring of ice cream.
It has significant amount of vitamin C, vitamin B1, and vitamin B2..
The fruit of guyabano plant and its other parts such as the
leaves, stems, barks and roots are used in traditional medicine. Diseases that
are said to be treatable with guyabano include dysentery, skin disorders,
scurvy, and diabetes among others. The good thing is that herbal medicine such
as guyabano can be used without the undesirable side effects experienced by
patients in using conventional pharmaceutical drugs.
Indeed, the hype that guyabano is a cure for several
illnesses including cancer has brought about the manufacturing of products that
are derived from extracts of guyabano. The products come from the USA, Canada,
Brazil, Germany, Peru, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and other countries. They
are labeled only as food supplement, but some people used it as a medicine or as
complementary drug for cancer and other diseases anyway. Graviola or guyabano
capsules ads and sales promotions have proliferated in the internet. Orders can
be placed in big online stores such as eBay, Amazon and Lazada. Comments made in
Amazon by those who used graviola or guyabano capsules claimed that they are effective
in dealing with health issues such as eczema, stomach parasites and even
cancer. However no refutable cancer organization has subscribed to the
effectiveness of graviola products as treatment to the one of the most dreaded diseases.
Cancer Research UK laboratory
test indicates that guyabano extracts can kill some types of breast and liver
cancer cells that are resistant to particular chemotherapy drugs. However, it
won’t officially conclude that graviola extracts are cure for cancer since no
large scale studies and tests have been conducted in humans. The Center therefore
does not support the use of graviola as a treatment of any type of cancer.
