The Cherimoyas Fruit Producing Family Tree

By Dinah Jackson

Expert Author Dinah Jackson

The cherimoyas represent a quite large variety of edible fruit producing tropical trees, most of the fruit similar in shape and flavor. A notable exception is the edible paw paw, which looks rather like a mango and grows as far north as the Ozarks. Cultivars of the cherimoyas have spread throughout the tropics, but their origin is in North and South America. Cherimoyas and generally divided into two fruits, the guyabano (or soursop) and the cherimoya (or custard apple). Both fruits are similar looking; green, bulbous, and knobby. They feel like an avocado when ripe, and both have a similar appearance inside as well- they are filled with white, custardy yet juicy flesh punctuated with large black, bean-like seeds.

Now, I am a great fan of the magnificently complex and deliciously tangy guyabano, but the cherimoya fruits I've sampled have been a mixed basket for me. I have to remember though that I have undoubtedly been dealing with different species of fruit, and that I need to keep trying. For example, I've heard cherimoyas promisingly described as tasting like a combination of banana, pineapple, and strawberry, though the cherimoyas I've had in Southeast Asia were simply honey-sweet and disappointing, especially because I thought they were guyabano when I bought them. I will keep seeking the delicate and subtle cherimoya that I've heard so much promise of.

The guyabano soursop cannot be praised enough. Its flavor rivals mango and even mangosteen. I find it best eaten out of hand on a slow train in the tropics, the sun setting over the rice paddies, or on arrival to a cool hotel room in a steamy tropical city, bought fresh from the market. In all my dealings with fruit hawkers, by the way, guyabano was the only fruit I bought in which someone tried to cheat me, refusing to give my change, claiming the fruit to be ten times the price first agreed upon. I did get my change but not my guyabano- they turned out to be super sweet cherimoya instead. I was cheated after all!

This article was written by Dinah Jackson who is a nutritionist in Japan. To find the rarest Japanese Pokemon cards, check out the store that has every kind of Japanese Pokemon cards that you can imagine. Also an incredible selection of Japanese Pokemon plush toys, pokedolls, figures, binders, deck boxes, sleeves, and just about anything you can imagine. Delivered right to your front door from Japan.