Custard apple, micronutrient components, phytonutrient components, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, anti-carcinogenic activity, neuroprotective activity, immuno boosting activity, cardio protective activity and hypolipidemic activity
Description : Custard apple or Cherimoya is a green, heart shaped, nutrient dense fruit belongs to Annonaceae
Article Details :
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 Read more