Soursop vs Cherimoya: Nutrition, Taste and Safety Compared

Soursop and cherimoya both belong to the Annona genus, a family of tropical and subtropical fruits with scaly green skin, soft white flesh and large black seeds. In US grocery stores they’re easy to confuse: soursop is often sold frozen as “guanábana” pulp, while fresh cherimoya turns up in winter and spring, sometimes labeled “custard apple”. This guide compares them gram for gram using USDA data, then covers taste, uses, buying tips and safety.

For the full profile of each fruit, see our guides to soursop benefits and cherimoya and the cancer research, or browse our tropical fruits list.

Soursop vs cherimoya nutrition

A “cup” means different things for these fruits: USDA lists a cup of soursop pulp at 225 grams but a cup of cherimoya pieces at 160 grams. To compare them fairly, the table uses 100 grams of raw flesh, about two-thirds of a cup of cherimoya or a scant half cup of soursop pulp.

Per 100 g of raw flesh. Values from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy): Soursop, raw (FDC 167761) and Cherimoya, raw (FDC 173953). The highlighted value is the higher one for each nutrient.

Calories, sugar and fiber

Gram for gram, the two fruits are almost interchangeable on energy. Cherimoya has about 9 more calories per 100 grams, mostly from slightly more fat and carbohydrate, but the difference is small enough to ignore in a normal diet. Sugar is nearly identical at around 13 grams per 100 grams, which puts both fruits in the higher-sugar half of the fruit bowl, similar to mango and banana. If you’re watching sugar, our list of low-sugar fruits has lighter options such as berries and papaya.

Portions are where the real difference shows up. Soursop is usually eaten as pulp or juice, and a full cup of pulp (225 g) has about 149 calories and 30 grams of sugar. A cup of cherimoya pieces (160 g) has about 120 calories and 21 grams of sugar. Soursop juices and smoothies sold in shops often have added sugar on top of that, so check the label.

Both are good sources of fiber. A cup of soursop pulp provides about 7.4 grams, roughly a quarter of the 28-gram daily value, and a cup of cherimoya about 4.8 grams. For more high-fiber picks, see our guide to fruits high in fiber.

Winner: a tie per 100 grams; soursop has more fiber per typical serving.

Vitamins and minerals

Vitamin C: soursop wins clearly, with 20.6 mg per 100 grams compared with 12.6 mg for cherimoya. A cup of soursop pulp provides about 46 mg, half the daily value. Neither comes close to guava or kiwi, but both contribute.

B vitamins: cherimoya is the standout here. It has about four times as much vitamin B6 as soursop (0.26 mg vs 0.06 mg per 100 grams), and a cup of cherimoya provides about 0.41 mg, roughly a quarter of the 1.7 mg daily value. Cherimoya also has more riboflavin and folate. Vitamin B6 helps the body use protein and make neurotransmitters, and folate is especially important before and during pregnancy.

Minerals: both fruits provide useful potassium, around 280 mg per 100 grams. A cup of soursop pulp has about 626 mg, which is more than a medium banana. Soursop has a little more magnesium and iron, though the amounts are modest. Neither is a meaningful source of vitamin A or vitamin K. Our guide to foods high in potassium shows how they compare with other produce.

Winner: soursop for vitamin C; cherimoya for vitamin B6 and folate.

Taste, texture and uses

• Soursop is large, often 1 to 3 kilograms, with soft, curved spines on dark green skin. The flesh is juicy and fibrous, with a sweet-sour flavor that people compare to pineapple, strawberry and a hint of citrus. It’s rarely eaten in slices; instead it’s blended into juice, smoothies, ice cream and the Latin American drink known as champola or batido de guanábana.
• Cherimoya is smaller, usually the size of a large grapefruit, with smooth, overlapping scale-like skin. The flesh is creamy and custard-like, sweeter and less acidic, with a flavor often described as a blend of banana, pineapple, pear and vanilla. It’s best eaten chilled with a spoon, straight from the skin, or folded into fruit salads and desserts.
• Seeds: both fruits have large, hard black seeds scattered through the flesh. Remove them before blending or serving, and don’t chew or swallow them (see the safety section below).

If you enjoy cherimoya, its relatives sugar apple and atemoya have a similar creamy texture. For more unusual fruits to try, see our exotic fruits guide.

Buying, ripening and storing

Where to find them: fresh cherimoya is grown in California and imported from Chile and Peru, and is usually in season in the US from late fall through spring. Fresh soursop is harder to find outside Florida, Puerto Rico and Hawaii, so most shoppers buy frozen pulp in Latin American and Caribbean grocery stores, sold as guanábana or graviola. Frozen pulp is a practical choice, but check for added sugar.

Ripeness: both fruits are picked firm and ripen at room temperature. A ripe cherimoya yields to gentle pressure like a ripe avocado, and its skin may darken slightly; brown patches on the skin are usually fine. A ripe soursop feels soft all over and the spines become softer and spread apart. Our guide to how to ripen fruit explains how to speed things up with a paper bag.

Storing: don’t refrigerate unripe fruit, because cold stops ripening and can blacken the skin. Once ripe, refrigerate whole fruit for 1 to 3 days. Scooped flesh, with seeds removed, can be frozen for several months for smoothies.

Annonacin and safety

Soursop and cherimoya both contain annonacin and related compounds called annonaceous acetogenins. In lab and animal studies, annonacin damages nerve cells by blocking the energy-producing parts of the cell. Researchers began looking at it after doctors on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe found unusually high rates of an atypical form of parkinsonism, which was associated with people who regularly drank soursop tea and ate large amounts of the fruit over many years.

This doesn’t prove that eating the fruit causes the condition, and no safe or harmful dose has been established for people. But the concern is serious enough that most experts recommend caution with concentrated forms. The seeds contain the highest levels, and leaf teas and graviola supplements can also be concentrated. These products are sometimes marketed for cancer, but there’s no good evidence from human trials that soursop or cherimoya treats cancer in people.

Which should you choose?

Pick soursop if you:

• Like tangy, tropical flavors and want a fruit for juice or smoothies.
• Want more vitamin C and fiber per serving.
• Are happy using frozen pulp, which is easier to find in many US cities.

Pick cherimoya if you:

• Want a sweet, creamy fruit to eat fresh with a spoon.
• Want more vitamin B6 and folate.
• Can buy fresh fruit in season, roughly November through May.

Nutritionally, neither is clearly better, so let taste decide. Whichever you choose, enjoy it as an occasional treat in a varied diet that includes plenty of other fruits.

Soursop vs cherimoya FAQ