ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Annonaceous fruits or annonas is a small group of edible fruits belonging to the genus Annona of the family Annonaceae. Annona squamosaL. (custard apple, sitaphal, sharifa, sugar apple, sweetsop) is the most important and widely distributed among the annonaceous fruits. The other edible annonas of minor importance are Annona reticulata L. (bullock's heart, Ramp hal), Annona cherimola Mill (cherimoya, cherimoyar, Lakshmanphal),Annona muricata L. (soursop, mundla), and Annona atemoya Hort. (atemoya, Hanumanphal) a hybrid between A. cherimola and A. squamosa. The name "custard apple" is also applied to A. reticulata in the West Indies and atemoya in Queensland and New South Wales of Australia. Soursop (A. muricata) has the largest fruit among the Annonaceae. The fruit is spiny like a jackfruit, 15-20 em long, and may weigh from 1.5 to 3 kg. The other annonas, which are little known outside tropical America but which may be of value in breeding or as rootstocks are pond apple (Annona glaiJra L. or Annona palustris L.), ilama (Annona diversifolia Saff.), soncoya (Annona purpurea Moe & Sesse.), and mountain soursop (Annona montana Macfad).
