Custard apple or Cherimoya is a green, heart shaped, nutrient dense fruit belongs to Annonaceae family. It has a sweet and creamy flesh and packed with several important nutrients that offer numerous health benefits.

Nutritional profile

• It contains desirable amount of carbohydrates and dietary fibres
• It contains protein as well
• It contains very negligible amount of fat
• It is loaded with numerous micronutrients like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B complex, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron
• It also contains several polyphenolic compounds that exhibit many nutraceutical activities

Biological activity

Antioxidant activity

• It contains various imperative substances like kaurenoic acid, carotenoids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds and Vitamin C, which exert strong antioxidant activity
• It helps to prevent oxidative stress, which helps to lower the risk of developing chronic diseases

Anti-inflammatory activity

• Its catechin, epicatechin, kaurenoic acid components are responsible for exerting anti-inflammatory activity
• It helps to reduce the concentration of inflammatory biomarkers in body, which ultimately help to prevent inflammation
• It helps to prevent swelling as well as pain

Anti-carcinogenic activity

• It contains flavonoids such as epicatechin, catechin and epigallocatechin, which exhibit anti-carcinogenic activities and help to hinder the growth of cancerous cells in body

• It is very effective to decrease the prevalence of prostate, breast and colon cancer

Health benefits

Role on immunity

• It helps to promote the immunological responses of the body as it contains numerous immune boosting nutrients
• It has seen that its micronutrient components and antioxidant activities are responsible for promoting the functionality of immune cells and also help to protect immune cells from oxidative damages, which ultimately help to sustain their activity. Proper functioning of immune cells help to protect the body from becoming ill
• Whereas, its Vitamin C component is accountable for promoting WBC production that helps to fight against infection as a result lowers the risk of developing infectious diseases

Role on nervous system

• It contains several imperative nutrients that help to boost the functionality of central and peripheral nervous system
• Its B vitamin components play vital role in improving brain’s activity
• It is also related with improving the wellbeing of nerve cells by protecting them from damages or injuries, which ultimately reduces the prevalence of neurological disorders

Role on digestive health

• Its fibre component makes it an imperative therapeutic substance for digestive health
• It helps to promote digestion of foods as well as absorption of nutrients
• Its fibre component helps to prevent constipation by increasing stool bulkiness, softness and bowel movement. Whereas, it is also associated with enhancing peristalsis that promotes colonic health and decreases the prevalence of diverticular diseases
• On the other hand, its fibre content helps to feed intestinal beneficial microbes. It has seen that soluble fibre present in custard apple undergoes fermentation by gut microbes and produce short chain fatty acids like acetate, propionate and butyrate, which help to improve gut health
• It is also associated with protecting the digestive tract from oxidative and inflammatory damages, which lowers the risk of developing various gastrointestinal disorders like ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhoea, dysentry and crohn’s disease

Role on mental health

• Consumption of custard apple is extremely useful for improving the mental status
• Its Vitamin B6 component plays significant role in stimulating the synthesis of neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin that help to regulate mood
• It is also associated with regulating the level of GABA or gamma-aminobutyric acid in body that also helps to control emotions
• It helps to provide calmness to the body as well, which ultimately helps to prevent stress, anxiety and depression

Role on hepatic health

• It helps to improve the health and functionality of liver cells
• It is associated with protecting hepatic cells from oxidative damages, which help in sustaining their normal activity as a result it lowers the risk of developing hepatic disorders
• Its fibre content is also accountable for decreasing the prevalence of hepatic cell necrosis by inhibiting fatty infiltration of hepatic cells
• It is also related with decreasing the level of SGPT, SGOT, ALKP and serum bilirubin

Role on eye health

• It contains desirable amount of Vitamin A, which helps to promote eye health
• It contains another important component named lutein that also boosts eye health
• It helps to protect the eye from free radical induced oxidative damages hence decreases the susceptibility of developing eye disorders
• It helps to improve vision as well
• It is very much beneficial for lessening the risk of developing macular degeneration and cataract

Role on skeletal system

• It contains desirable amount of calcium and phosphorus, which are essentially required by the body for healthy bone formation thus it is believed that consumption of custard apple is very much helpful for improving skeletal health
• Its calcium and phosphorus components help to improve bone mineral density as well, which subsequently enhances the strength and mass of bones and lowers the risk of bone fractures or bone disorders
• It contains Vitamin K, which also plays imperative role in promoting skeletal health as it helps in bone metabolism and helps to prevent the loss of bone density
• Its consumption is also associated with improving the symptoms of osteoporosis
• It is better to include custard apple in diet for maintain a healthy skeletal system

Role on skin

• It contains numerous essential nutrients that help to provide proper nourishment to the skin thus helps to keep the skin healthy and supple
• Its B vitamin components like Vitamin B2, B3 and B6 play important role in improving skin health and help to make the skin soft as well
• Its Vitamin C component is responsible for improving skin elasticity
• It is also associated with protecting the skin from the detrimental effects of UV radiation
• Individual who want to obtain a glowing skin should include custard apple in their diet

Therapeutic uses

It has been extensively used for various therapeutic purposes, like –

• Its potassium and magnesium components play significant role in decreasing hypertension as they help to dilate blood vessels as a result lowers the elevated blood pressure. As it helps to decrease hypertension thus its consumption is thought to be very effective for reducing the risk of developing heart disease as well as stroke

• Its magnesium content helps to maintain normal heart beat as well
• Fibre present in custard apple plays imperative role in decreasing the concentration of cholesterol in body thus protects the body from the harmful consequences of hypercholesterolemia
• Its lipid lowering activity is also accountable for decreasing the prevalence of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease by preventing fat deposition within arteries
• It helps to prevent general weakness or fatigue. It helps to prevent muscle weakness as well
• It helps in rapid wound healing
• It is very much useful for improving the symptoms of arthritis as helps to prevent joint swelling
• It helps to detoxify the body as well. Fibre present in custard apple is responsible for binding with harmful substances and eliminates them from body
• Being a good source of iron it helps to reduce the prevalence of anemia as well

Risk factors

Though it offers numerous health benefits but it’s over consumption may affect the health adversely as it contains a toxin named annonacin that can affect the nervous system.

Adil, M., 2019. Qualitative features and therapeutic value of custard apple fruit. International Journal of Food and Allied Sciences, 4(1), pp.12-17.

Jamkhande, P.G., Ajgunde, B.R. and Jadge, D.R., 2017. Annona cherimola Mill.(Custard apple): A review on its plant profile, nutritional values, traditional claims and ethnomedicinal properties. Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine, 17(3), pp.189-201.

Kokate, S., 2014, December. Amazing healing powers of Custard Apple. In PPRC Conference (Vol. 15).

Ma, C., Chen, Y., Chen, J., Li, X. and Chen, Y., 2017. A review on Annona squamosa L.: phytochemicals and biological activities. The American journal of Chinese medicine, 45(05), pp.933-964.

Okhale, S.E., Akpan, E., Fatokun, O.T., Esievo, K.B. and Kunle, O.F., 2016. Annona senegalensis Persoon (Annonaceae): A review of its ethnomedicinal uses, biological activities and phytocompounds. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 5(2), p.211.

Singh, Y., Bhatnagar, P. and Thakur, N., 2019. A review on insight of immense nutraceutical and medicinal potential of custard apple (Annona squamosa Linn.). International Journal of Chemical Studies, 7(2), pp.1237-1245.