JULY-AUGUST. 2026 | @ AGROBiz
Feature 11
Perhaps no aspect of soursop has attracted more attention than its supchain better than a mass-market model.
Tan believes greater investment in processing facilities located close to clusters of small farms could allow growers to extract and flash-freeze pulp soon after harvest, reducing losses while giving the fruit a longer commercial life.
MORE THAN A BACKYARD TREE
Signs suggest soursop can become commercially viable under the right circumstances.
A 2016 Bernama report profiled former soldier Ismail Mahmod, who planted 2,000 soursop trees across four hectares in Larut, Perak.
At the time, Ismail said he had invested RM14,000 in the farm and planned to expand by another 5,000 trees. He was also sending around 150kg of soursop pulp a week to Penang, while exploring the possibility of producing tea from the leaves.
The example is now a decade old, so it should not be taken as a picture of today ' s industry. But it illustrates something important: soursop has long had the potential to move beyond the backyard and into commercial production when growers can connect the crop with a reliable market.
The MyBIS newsletter also notes that soursop trees can begin fruiting
THE QUIET CROP: Soursop remains largely under the radar despite its versatility and market potential.
“ Soursop has historically remained a niche fruit crop in Malaysia.”
within three to five years after planting and can be grown in a range of tropical environments.
The question, then, may not be whether soursop can be grown commercially, but whether enough infrastructure and market organisation exist to make it worthwhile for more farmers.
Tan expects the fruit to remain a speciality crop rather than become a mass-market commodity unless those supply-chain limitations are addressed.
THE HEALTH HALO
A SUCCESSFUL HAUL: Ismail Mahmod pictured at his soursop farm in Larut, Perak, in 2016. The former soldier had planted 2,000 trees and was looking to expand his operation. posed health benefits.
The fruit contains fibre, vitamin C, minerals and plant compounds including flavonoids and other antioxidants. Research has also examined soursop compounds for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity.
But this is where the fruit ' s reputation can outrun the evidence.
Soursop has become closely associated with claims that it can prevent or even cure cancer. Tan described this as one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding the fruit.
Strong evidence that soursop can treat cancer in humans is currently lacking.
The MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, in an article reviewed in February 2026, notes that research into soursop ' s potential anticancer properties remains largely at the laboratory stage.
Studies involving extracts and cancer cells have produced interesting findings, but those results cannot be treated as proof that consuming the fruit will treat cancer in people.
The same caution applies to other medicinal claims.
Soursop leaves have traditionally been used in herbal preparations, while different parts of the plant have featured in folk medicine. But traditional use does not automatically establish clinical effectiveness.
There are also reasons not to assume that consuming more is better.
Soursop contains annonacin, a compound that has demonstrated neurotoxic effects in laboratory research. The MD Anderson article cautions against large, regular quantities and concentrated supplements, noting that more research is needed to fully understand the risks.
For a fruit that has acquired something of a " miracle food " reputation online, that distinction matters.
A QUIET OPPORTUNITY?
Soursop may never rival durian in Malaysia ' s fruit industry- and perhaps it does not need to.
Its future could instead lie in becoming a more organised speciality crop, supported by processing facilities, better post-harvest handling and stronger links between smallholders and buyers.
The fruit already has characteristics that give it commercial appeal: it is distinctive, versatile and can be turned into a range of food products.
What it lacks is the scale and infrastructure surrounding Malaysia ' s better-known fruit industries.
That may be why soursop remains easy to overlook. It is not an unknown fruit. Malaysians have been eating it for generations.
For now, soursop remains a fruit Malaysia knows well, but an industry it barely talks about.- @ AGROBiz