Soursop Side Effects: Who Should Avoid It and Which Medicines Matter

Eaten occasionally as a fruit, soursop has no documented side effects beyond those of any fruit. The concerns attach to regular, long-term intake of fruit, juice or leaf tea, and to concentrated leaf products: an observational link with an unusual, levodopa-resistant parkinsonism in the French Caribbean; falls in blood pressure and blood sugar in animal studies that could add to the effect of medicines; no safety data in pregnancy or breastfeeding; and kidney and liver findings in animals that point both ways. No agency has set a safe intake for soursop leaf, tea, capsules or extracts.^{1, 6, 8, 14} This page is one spoke of the Wellgard soursop guide.

Evidence at a glance

• Nervous system: observational studies of 87, 160 and 180 patients in the French Caribbean, plus rat and mouse studies; association, not proof.
• Medicines: blood pressure and glucose effects in animals; one unblinded trial of fruit juice in 143 adults; no interaction study in people.
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children: no human safety data at all.

Sources checked on 17 October 2026.

The nervous system: the signal that matters most

In Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, people with an unusual, levodopa-resistant form of parkinsonism had eaten more soursop fruit and drunk more soursop leaf tea than people with Parkinson's disease or no neurological illness, in studies of 87, 160 and 180 patients between 1999 and 2022, and a 2026 comparison found Parkinson's disease itself more severe in exposed patients.^{1, 2, 3, 4} These are observational studies: they show an association, not proof that soursop caused the illness. Laboratory and animal work explains how it could: annonacin, the main acetogenin in soursop, blocks mitochondrial complex I and damaged rat and mouse brains when given for a month intravenously or for a year in soursop juice.⁵ The French food safety agency in 2010 and an EFSA-hosted review in 2020 both declined to set a safe intake.¹⁴ Cancer Research UK's wording, last reviewed 21 October 2022: "It may cause nerve changes and movement disorders."¹⁵ The full record is on annonacin, soursop and parkinsonism.

Does soursop interact with blood pressure or diabetes medicines?

Nobody has tested the combination in people, and the animal data point to an additive effect. In anaesthetised rats, an aqueous leaf extract lowered blood pressure in proportion to the dose by blocking calcium channels, the same mechanism as amlodipine.⁶ In the one randomised trial, 143 Indonesian adults with high-normal blood pressure who drank two 100 g servings of soursop fruit juice a day for three months had lower systolic blood pressure than an untreated control group; there was no placebo and no blinding, and the trial was funded by a university research group.⁷ For blood sugar, a 2022 systematic review found glucose-lowering mechanisms in cells and animals and no controlled human trial.⁸ The NHS lists medicines for high blood pressure and for diabetes among those that "do not mix well with herbal medicines" and says to check with a pharmacist first; a pharmacist never means "stop your medicine", which is the prescriber's decision.¹⁵

Is soursop safe in pregnancy or while breastfeeding?

There are no human safety data, and none of the trials enrolled pregnant or breastfeeding women. The NHS says not to take herbal medicines if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and that is the position for soursop leaf, tea, capsules, extracts and bitters.¹⁵ The fruit eaten occasionally as food is a different matter from a daily concentrated product, but even there, the exposure studies counted fruit, so a midwife or GP is the place to ask about regular use.¹

Is soursop toxic to the liver or kidneys?

The animal findings point both ways and no long-term human data exist. A single 2,000 mg per kg dose of leaf ethanol extract produced no significant toxicity in rats over 14 days, with only mild changes on liver and kidney histology.⁹ The one randomised trial of fruit juice measured kidney function over three months in 143 adults; its published summary reports the blood pressure and uric acid results and does not report any kidney harm.⁷ Cancer Research UK cautions that graviola "may also cause damage to your kidneys and liver if taken frequently".¹⁵ The NHS says not to take herbal medicines if you have kidney or liver problems.¹⁵ Anyone with kidney or liver disease asks their specialist team first.

What if you are having cancer treatment?

Tell the team before taking any soursop product, and never take one in place of treatment. In a survey of 150 cancer patients in Trinidad, soursop was the most used herbal remedy, taken by 80.7%, and the authors warned that herbs may interact with chemotherapy.¹¹ In rats, a leaf extract reduced the uptake of a technetium imaging agent in the kidney, bladder and blood, a theoretical reason to mention it before a scan.¹⁰ What the human research does and does not show about cancer is on what the human cancer research shows.

Children and pets

No study has given soursop leaf, tea or extract to children, and the NHS says herbal medicines are not recommended for children because not enough is known about their safety.¹⁵ For dogs and cats there are no data; that question belongs with a vet.

Who should avoid soursop products altogether?

Anyone with Parkinson's disease or another neurological condition, anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone taking medicines for blood pressure or diabetes, and anyone having cancer treatment should talk to their GP, pharmacist or specialist team before taking soursop leaf, tea, capsules, extracts or bitters. Add anyone with kidney or liver disease, and children. For everyone else, the question is not whether one cup is harmful but whether years of daily intake are, and no study can yet answer that: is soursop tea safe to drink every day sets out what gets into the cup.^{13, 14}

What we don't know

• Whether any medicine interaction occurs in people: no trial has measured one.
• Long-term liver and kidney safety: no human study beyond three months.⁷
• Any threshold intake: no agency has set one, for fruit or leaf.¹⁴

Frequently asked questions

What are the risks of taking soursop?

The nervous-system association above; possible additive effects with blood pressure and diabetes medicines; no safety data in pregnancy, breastfeeding or childhood; animal liver and kidney findings in both directions.^{1, 6, 8, 9}

How much soursop is safe per day?

No safe amount has been established for any leaf product, and none for regular fruit either. For scale, one analysis found about 15 mg of annonacin in an average fruit, 36 mg in a can of nectar and 0.14 mg in a cup of leaf tea.^{13, 14}

Is it safe to take soursop capsules every day?

No long-term human study has looked, the EU-FORA review found "substantial uncertainties" about the safe use of such supplements, and supplement extracts were toxic to human neurons in culture.^{12, 14} The graviola label guide explains what a capsule label does and does not tell you.

Can soursop damage kidneys?

Not shown in people. A single large dose produced only mild kidney changes in rats; no long-term human data exist; the NHS advises against herbal medicines with kidney problems.^{9, 15}

Sources

1. Cleret de Langavant L, et al. Annonaceae consumption and severity in degenerative parkinsonism. Observational, 180 patients; non-commercial funding. Movement Disorders, 2022. PubMed 36210778.
2. Caparros-Lefebvre D, Elbaz A. Case-control study, 87 patients, Guadeloupe. Lancet, 1999. PubMed 10440304.
3. Lannuzel A, et al. Atypical parkinsonism in Guadeloupe. Cross-sectional study, 160 patients; non-commercial funding. Brain, 2007. PubMed 17303592.
4. Ribeyron L, et al. Annonaceae fruit and Caribbean Parkinson's disease severity. Multicentre comparison, 74 and 104 patients. Behavioural Neurology, 2026. PubMed 42192274.
5. Champy P, et al. Annonacin induces nigral and striatal neurodegeneration in rats. 28 days intravenous. Journal of Neurochemistry, 2004. PubMed 14675150; Rottscholl R, et al. Chronic consumption of Annona muricata juice and tau phosphorylation in mice. 12 months oral. Journal of Neurochemistry, 2016. PubMed 27569447.
6. Nwokocha CR, et al. Mechanisms of the hypotensive effect of Annona muricata in normotensive rats. Animal study, intravenous leaf extract. Pharmaceutical Biology, 2012. PubMed 22950673.
7. Alatas H, et al. Soursop supplementation, blood pressure, serum uric acid and kidney function in a prehypertensive population. Randomised trial, 143 adults, untreated control, 3 months; university funding. Journal of Human Hypertension, 2020. PubMed 31462727.
8. Martín del Campo-Rayas P, et al. Annona muricata and hyperglycaemia. Systematic review of cell, animal and computer studies; no human trial found. Journal of Medicinal Food, 2022. PubMed 35076315.
9. Zubaidi SN, et al. Acute toxicological effects of Annona muricata leaf ethanol extract on rats. Single-dose animal study, 14 days; no conflicts declared. Toxics, 2023. PubMed 37624193.
10. Holanda CM, et al. Influence of Annona muricata on biodistribution of radiopharmaceuticals in rats. Animal study, 24 rats; student grant funding. Acta Cirúrgica Brasileira, 2014. PubMed 24626725.
11. Clement YN, et al. Herbal remedies and functional foods used by cancer patients in Trinidad. Cross-sectional survey, 150 patients. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016. PubMed 27769229.
12. Höllerhage M, et al. Neurotoxicity of dietary supplements from Annonaceae species. Cell culture; two authors at the US FDA. International Journal of Toxicology, 2015. PubMed 26405269.
13. Champy P, et al. Quantification of acetogenins in Annona muricata. Chemical analysis of fruit, nectar and leaf preparations. Movement Disorders, 2005. PubMed 16078200.
14. Agency assessments. AFSSA (now ANSES). Avis relatif aux risques liés à la consommation de corossol et de ses préparations, saisine 2008-SA-0171, 28 April 2010 (French). anses.fr. Raclariu-Manolica AC, Bakhiya N, Hirsch-Ernst KI. Risk assessment regarding the use of Annona muricata in food supplements. EU-FORA technical report, approved 7 September 2020; EFSA fellowship funding. EFSA Journal, 2020. doi.org.
15. Cancer Research UK. Graviola (soursop). Last reviewed 21 October 2022. cancerresearchuk.org; NHS. Herbal medicines and complementary therapies. Reviewed 1 May 2026. nhs.uk.

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