Where to Find Real Soursop Leaves and How to Tell They Are Good

By Suhail Rivera, JD, founder of Alkaline Herb Shop

Soursop leaf shows up in a lot of shops now, and the quality varies more than shoppers expect. This article covers what a real dried soursop leaf actually looks like, the difference between whole and crushed leaf, how it should smell, the signs a bag has been sitting on a shelf too long, how to keep leaves once you have them, and roughly what one serving looks like.

What soursop leaf actually is

Soursop is Annona muricata, a tropical evergreen tree that produces the large, spiky green fruit sold in Latin American and Caribbean markets as guanabana or guyabano. The leaf is a separate part of the same tree, dried and used for tea, and it is not the same product as soursop fruit powder, which is sweet and made from the pulp. In Spanish, the leaf is hojas de guanabana. If a listing does not specify leaf, ask, because both get called soursop.

What a good dried leaf looks like

A real dried soursop leaf is elongated and oval, tapering to a point at the tip, usually somewhere between two and six inches long. Fresh off the tree the leaf is a glossy dark green. Dried, it settles into a duller, more olive or grey green, sometimes with a slightly brownish cast along the edges and veins. It should still read as green rather than tan or straw colored. A leaf that has gone mostly brown has been dried too long, stored too warm, or exposed to too much light.

Whole leaf versus crushed

Whole leaves let you see exactly what you are buying before it ever reaches the cup. You can check the shape, the color, and the vein pattern, and none of that is possible once a leaf is cut or crushed into small pieces. Crushed leaf brews faster because it has more surface area exposed to the water, but it is also harder to judge for freshness, since small dark fragments all start to look alike. If you want to be able to inspect what you are getting, whole leaf is the format that lets you do that.

The smell, and how to spot old stock

Good dried soursop leaf has a mild, green, slightly grassy smell, not sharp and not musty. Crush a small piece between your fingers and you should get a bit of that scent released. Old stock tends to smell like very little at all, or faintly like dust. Beyond smell, the other signs of age are visual: leaves that crumble to powder at a light touch rather than just bending, color that has gone from green toward tan or brown, and a papery, almost weightless feel that suggests most of the aromatic oil has already left the leaf.

How to store soursop leaves

Keep dried leaves in a sealed container, away from light and heat, at room temperature. A cabinet works better than a spot near the stove or a sunny windowsill, since both light and warmth speed up the fading described above. Kept dry and sealed, whole dried leaves hold their color and scent for a long time. If you buy in bulk, transferring leaves to a jar with a tight lid does more for shelf life than leaving them in a thin bag with a fold at the top.

How much is a serving, and where to get soursop leaves

A common ratio is two to three whole leaves steeped in eight ounces of boiling water, covered, for about five minutes, then strained. Two leaves make a lighter cup, three a deeper one. We sell Soursop Leaves, 2 oz, whole dried leaves for tea, one ingredient and nothing added. The full method, including how it tastes and how to serve it over ice, is in our guide to making soursop leaf tea.

Who should ask first

• Anyone pregnant or nursing should talk to a doctor before drinking soursop leaf tea.
• Not recommended for anyone under 18 without a doctor's input.
• Anyone with Parkinson's disease or another neurological condition, or with a family history of one, should raise it with a doctor before starting, since soursop belongs to a plant family that has drawn research attention on this point.
• Anyone taking medication or managing a health condition, including blood pressure medication, should ask a doctor or pharmacist first.

Suhail Rivera, JD, is the founder of Alkaline Herb Shop. She has spent years sourcing, handling, and selling the herbs she writes about, working directly with growers and third party testing labs. She holds a Juris Doctor. She is not a medical professional, and her articles are for general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any herb, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition. Read more about her and the store on the About page.