GRAVIOLA _ SOURSOP

[Guest guest]

The fruit is used in various local foods in Asia and South America.

 

An ice sherbert made from the fruit is found in quite a few asian food markets

in major metropolitan areas.

 

Frank

 

 

 

http://greenwoodhealth.net/np/graviola.htm

 

GRAVIOLA - SOURSOP

 

According to the latest published information Graviola has been researched in

laboratory tests since the 1970s, where it's been shown to:

 

* Effectively target and kill malignant cells in 12 different types of cancer,

including Colon, Breast, Prostrate, Lung and Pancreatic Cancer.

 

* Be 10,000 times stronger in killing colon cancer cells than Adriamycin (a

commonly used chemotherapeutic drug).

 

* Selectively hunt down and kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells,

unlike chemotherapy.

 

In an 1976 plant screening program by the National Cancer Institute, the leaves

and stem of Graviola showed active cytotoxicity against cancer cells and

researchers have been following up on this research ever since. Much of the

research on Graviola focuses on a novel set of phytochemicals called annonaceous

acetogenins. The potent antitumor, pesticidal and/or insect antifeedant

properties of these annonaceous acetogenins have been reported and patented.

Graviola produces these natural compounds in leaf, bark and twig tissues, and

they have be documented to possess both highly anti-tumor and pesticidal

properties.

 

Graviola is a small, upright evergreen tree growing 5 to 6 meters in height with

large dark green and glossy leaves. It is indigenous to most of the warmest

tropical areas in South and North America including the Amazon. It produces a

large heart-shaped edible fruit that is 6-9 " , yellow green in color, with white

flesh. The fruit is sold in local markets in the tropics where it is called

Guanabana or Brazilian Cherimoya and is excellent for making drinks and sherbets

and, though slightly sour-acid, can be eaten out-of-hand.

 

All parts of the Graviola tree are used in natural medicine in the tropics

including the bark, leaves, roots, fruit and fruit-seeds. Different properties

and uses are attributed to the different parts of the tree. Generally the fruit

and fruit juice is taken for worms and parasites, to cool fevers, to increase

mother's milk after childbirth (lactagogue), and as an astringent for diarrhea

and dysentery. The crushed seeds are used as a vermifuge and anthelmintic

against internal and external parasites and worms. The bark, leaves and roots

are considered sedative, antispasmodic, hypotensive and nervine and a tea is

made for various disorders for those purposes.

 

Graviola has a long rich history of use in herbal medicine as well as a long

recorded indigenous use. In the Peruvian Andes, a leaf tea is used for catarrh

and the crushed seed is used to kill parasites In the Peruvian Amazon the bark

roots and leaves are used for diabetes and as a sedative and antispasmodic.

Indigenous tribes in Guyana use a leaf and/or bark tea of Graviola as a sedative

and heart tonic. In the Brazilian Amazon, a leaf tea is used for liver problems

and the oil of the leaves and unripe fruit is mixed with olive oil and used

externally for neuralgia, rheumatism and arthritis pain. In Jamaica, Haiti and

the West Indies, the fruit and/or fruit juice is used for fevers, parasites, as

a lactagogue, and diarrhea; and the bark or leaves are used as an antispasmodic,

sedative, and nervine for heart conditions, coughs, grippe, difficult

childbirth, asthma, asthenia, hypertension and parasites.

 

Many bioactive compounds and phytochemicals have been found in Graviola as

scientists have been studying its properties since the 1940's. Its many uses in

natural medicine has been validated by this scientific research. The earliest

studies were between 1941 and 1962. Several studies by different researchers

demonstrated that the bark as well as the leaves had hypotensive, antispasmodic,

vasodilator, smooth muscle relaxant and cardiodepressant activities in animals.

Researchers re-verified Graviola leaf's hypotensive properties in rats again in

1991. Several studies over the years have demonstrated that leaf, bark, root,

stem and seed extracts of Graviola are antibacterial in vitro against numerous

pathogens and that the bark has antifungal properties. Graviola seeds

demonstrated active antiparasitic properties in a 1991 study, and a leaf extract

showed to be active against malaria in two other studies in 1990 and 1993. The

leaves, root, and seeds of Graviola demonstrated insecticidal properties with

the seed demonstrating strong insecticidal activity in a early 1940 study. In a

new 1997 clinical study, novel alkaloids were found in Graviola fruit with

anti-depressive effects in animals.

 

 

In an 1976 plant screening program by the National Cancer Institute, the leaves

and stem of Graviola showed active cytotoxicity against cancer cells and

researchers have been following up on this research ever since. Much of the

research on Graviola focuses on a novel set of phytochemicals called annonaceous

acetogenins. The potent antitumor, pesticidal and/or insect antifeedant

properties of these annonaceous acetogenins have been reported and patented.

Graviola produces these natural compounds in leaf, bark and twig tissues, and

they have be documented to possess both highly anti-tumor and pesticidal

properties. Mode of action studies in three separate laboratories have recently

determined that acetogenins are superb inhibitors of Complex I in mitochondrial

electron transport systems from several organisms including tumors. Research on

various Annona species of plants has yielded many extremely potent acetogenins.

Many of them have cytotoxicity with ED50 values as low as 10-9 ug/ml. Active

compounds from Graviola and other Annona plants have been submitted to the NIH

anti-AIDS screen by Purdue University and their work is continuing with a number

of other active plant species in the Annona plant family. Thus far, Purdue

and/or it's staff have filed at least 9 U.S. and/or international patents on

their work around the antitumorous and insecticidal properties and uses of these

acetogenins. Three separate research groups have isolated novel compounds in the

seeds and leaves of Graviola which have demonstrated significant anti-tumorous,

anticancerous and selective toxicity against various types of cancer cells,

publishing 8 clinical studies on their findings. One study demonstrated that an

acetogenin in Graviola was selectively cytotoxic to colon adenocarcinoma cells

in which it was 10,000 times the potency of adriamycin (a chemotherapy drug).

Cancer research is ongoing on Graviola, and four new studies have been published

in 1998 which further narrow down the specific phytochemicals which are

demonstrating the strongest anticancerous and antiviral properties.

 

Annonaceous acetogenins are only found in the Annonaceae family. In general,

various annonaceous acetogenins have been documented with antitumor,

antiparasitic, pesticidal, antiprotozoal, antifeedant, anthelmintic, and

antimicrobial activities. There has been much interest in the chemicals which

have demonstrated potent antitumor properties and several research groups are

trying to synthesize these chemicals for new chemotherapeutic drugs. In a review

of these natural chemicals in The Journal of Natural Products in 1999 they

noted: " The Annonaceous acetogenins are promising new antitumor and pesticidal

agents that are found only in the plant family Annonaceae. Chemically, they are

derivatives of long-chain fatty acids. Biologically, they exhibit their potent

bioactivities through depletion of ATP levels via inhibiting complex I of

mitochondria and inhibiting the NADH oxidase of plasma membranes of tumor cells.

Thus, they thwart ATP-driven resistance mechanisms. "

 

Another review in the Skaggs Scientific Report 1997-1998 states, " Annonaceous

acetogenins, particularly those with adjacent bis-tetrahydrofuran (THF) rings,

have remarkable cytotoxic, antitumor, antimalarial, immunosuppressive,

pesticidal, and antifeedant activities. Many of these fatty acid derivatives

have similar carbon skeletons; their striking diversity originates mainly from

the relative and absolute configuration of their various stereogenic oxygen

functions. "

 

Purdue University has conducted a great deal of research on annonaceaous

acetogenins, much of which has been funded by The National Cancer Institute

and/or the National Institute of Health. In one of their reviews titled Recent

Advances in Annonaceous Acetogenins, they state: " Annonaceous acetogenins are

waxy substances consisting of C32 or C34 long chain fatty acids which have been

combined with a 2-propanol unit at C-2 to form a lactone. They are only found in

several genera of the plant family, Annonaceae. Their diverse bioactivities as

antitumor, immunosuppressive, pesticidal, antiprotozoal, antifeedant,

anthelmintic, and antimicrobial agents, have attracted more and more interest

worldwide. Recently, we reported that the Annonaceous acetogenins can

selectively inhibit the growth of cancerous cells and also inhibit the growth of

adriamycin resistant tumor cells. As more acetogenins have been isolated and

additional cytotoxicity assays have been conducted, we have noticed that,

although most of acetogenins have high potencies among several solid human tumor

cell lines, some of the derivatives within the different structural types and

some positional isomers showed remarkable selectivity's among certain cell

lines, e.g., against prostate cancer (PC-3). We now understand the primary modes

of action for the acetogenins. They are potent inhibitors of NADH: ubiquinone

oxidoreductase, which is in an essential enzyme in complex I leading to

oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. A recent report showed that they act

directly at the ubiquinone-catalytic site(s) within complex I and in microbial

glucose dehydrogenase. They also inhibit the ubiquinone-linked NADH oxidase that

is peculiar to the plasma membranes of cancerous cells. "

 

In 1997, Purdue University published information with promising news that

several of the annona acetogenins " not only are effective in killing tumors that

have proven resistant to anti-cancer agents, but also seem to have a special

affinity for such resistant cells. " In several interviews after this information

was publicized, Purdue pharmacologist Dr. Jerry McLaughlin, the lead researcher

in most of Purdue's studies on the Annona chemicals, says cancer cells that

survive chemotherapy may develop resistance to the agent originally used against

them as well as to other, even unrelated, drugs. " The term multi-drug resistance

(MDR) has been applied to this phenomenon, " McLaughlin says. He explains that

such resistance develops in a small percentage of cancer cells when they develop

a " P-glycoprotein mediated pump " capable of pushing anti-cancer agents out of

the cell before they can kill it. Normal cells seldom develop such a pump.

 

" If having this pump was such a good deal, all cells would have it. But all

cells don't, " McLaughlin says in a statement from Purdue. " In a given population

of cancer cells in a person, maybe only 2% of the cancer cells possess this

pump. But it's those 2% of cancer cells that eventually grow and expand to

create drug-resistant tumors. " McLaughlin and his colleagues say some studies

have tried to bypass these pumps by keeping them busy with massive doses of

other drugs, like the blood pressure agent verapamil. In this way, it was hoped

that some of the anti-cancer drugs would enter the cell and destroy it. But this

only caused potentially fatal side effects such as loss of blood pressure.

 

In the June issue of Cancer Letters, the Purdue researchers reported that the

annona acetogenin, bullatacin, preferentially killed multi-drug resistant cancer

cells because it blocked production of adenosine triphosphate, ATP -- the chief

energy-carrying compound in the body. " A multi-drug resistant cell requires a

tremendous amount of energy to run the pump and extrude things out of the cell, "

McLaughlin says. " By inhibiting ATP production, we're essentially pulling the

plug on its energy source. " But what about the effect on ATP in normal cells?

" Normal cells and standard cancer cells may be able to minimize the effect of

this compound because they don't require vast amounts of energy needed by the

pump-running cells, " the Purdue researcher says. " The resistant cell is using

its extra energy for this pump as well as to grow, so it is really taxed for

energy. When we mess with the energy supply, it kills the cell. "

 

In the June issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, McLaughlin and his

colleagues described a study of 14 Annona compounds that seem to be potent ATP

blockers. " This study tells us how to maximize this activity, so we have a

pretty good idea what compounds we'd like to try in animals with multi-drug

resistant tumors, " he says.

 

 

SELECTED REFERENCES

 

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Annonaceous Acetogenins against Pesticide-Resistance, " disclosed to Purdue

Research Foundation, October 15, 1997, P-97059.00. US.

 

While the latest research on Graviola has focused on its cancer-fighting effect

it is interesting to note that medicine men in South America have used it for

centuries to treat an astonishing number of ailments.

 

Country

ETHNOBOTANY: WORLDWIDE USES

BahamasChill, Fever, Flu, Nervousness, Palpitation, Rash, Sedative, Skin

DiseaseBrazilAnalgesic, Fever, Neuralgia, Parasites,

RheumatismCuracaoChildbirth, Gall-Bladder, Nervousness, Parturition Sedative,

Tea, TranquilizerElsewhereAnalgesic, Arthritis, Asthma, Astringent,

Antiphlogistic, Dysentery, Febrifuge, Insecticide,Cyanogenetic, Kidney,

Lactagogue, Malaria, Pectoral, Pediculicide, Piscicide, Scurvy,

StomachHaitiAsthenia, Cataplasm, Cicatrizant, Cough, Diarrhea, Emetic, Grippe,

Pediculicide, Pellagra, Soporific, Sore, Spasm, StomachicJamaicaAntispasmodic,

Diuretic, Fevers, Lactagogue, VermifugeMalayaBoil, Cough, Dermatosis,

RheumatismMexicoAstringent, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Fever, Liqueur, Pectoral,

Ringworm, ScurvyPanamaAnthelmintic, Diarrhea, Dyspepsia, Internulcer, Kidney,

Piscicide, Ulcer(stomach), VermifugeTrinidad Depurative , Fainting, Flu,

Hypertension, Glactagogue, High Blood Pressure, Insomnia, Palpitation,

RingwormsVenezuelaBilious, DiarrheaWest IndiesChildbirth, Diarrhea,

Hypertension, Lactagogue, Worms

 

This information was reprinted with permission from the Raintree Tropical Plant

Database http://www.rain-tree.com/plants.htm

 

 

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