Ang Moh Liulian or Sour Sop or Durian Belanda

Of the 60 or more species of the genus Annona, family Annonaceae, the soursop, A. muricata L., is the most tropical, the largest-fruited, and the only one lending itself well to preserving and processing.



The English call it  SOURSOP, Annona muricata, in Malaysia it is known as Durian Belanda. The Chinese call it Ang Moh Lulian, Red Hair Durian. But the durian is really green, without a single red hair, and it is not a durian.


We now enjoy the leaves of the sour sop as a good tea for cooling down.

Its flesh makes an exotic smoothie and is found to flavour ice cream.


A baby sour sop



The soursop tree is low-branching and bushy but slender because of its upturned limbs, and reaches a height of 25 or 30 ft (7.5-9 m). Young branchlets are rusty-hairy.



The malodorous leaves, normally evergreen, are alternate, smooth, glossy, dark green on the upper surface, lighter beneath; oblong, elliptic or narrowobovate, pointed at both ends, 2 1/2 to 8 in (6.25-20 cm) long and 1 to 2 1/2 in (2.5-6.25 cm) wide. The flowers, which are borne singly, may emerge anywhere on the trunk, branches or twigs. They are short stalked, 1 1/2 to 2 in (4 5 cm) long, plump, and triangular-conical, the 3 fleshy, slightly spreading, outer petals yellow-green, the 3 close-set inner petals pale-yellow.



The fruit is more or less oval or heart-shaped, some times irregular, lopsided or curved, due to improper carper development or insect injury. The size ranges from 4 to 12 in (10-30 cm) long and up to 6 in (15 cm) in width, and the weight may be up to 10 or 15 lbs (4.5-6.8 kg).