Soursop Varieties -Is there much difference between them?

[Mike T]

In Australia the standard soursops are labelled as Cuban Fibreless or don't have labels. Cuban Fibreless is an old Cuban variety and perhaps should be called Cuban Fiber as it is fibrous with cotton wool like flesh, perhaps a little too much sourness and plenty of seeds. The other un-named Australian selections are fairly similar.

I currently have a fruiting Arusha (thanks Soren) and a fruiting Lisa from Recife (thanks Mangaba). My Whitman's Fiberless originally from Coconuts tree and Morado (the giant type) are yet to fruit. Last week I also  saw the golden soursop which some people are fussing about and ate some Whitman Fiberless seedling fruit that came via Whitman to Kamerunga research station and a heavier producing seedling of this tree was grafted.

So how would I rate the ones I have eaten?
Cuban Fiberless is poor being too fibrous and not sweet enough.It is hard to consume large amounts.
Lisa/Recife is good being sweeter and less fibrous than Cuban fibreless and it also has a richer ore pleasant taste nd they are productive,
Arusha is very good much like Lisa but a little better with a slight pineapple taste present.

Whitman seedling via Kamerunga is very good and the lack of fiber makes it appealing. The taste is very good but maybe Arusha shades it in that department.
Whitman (Coconut) reported to be very good on this forum and when my seedling fruits I will be able to give an account.
Golden Soursop is striking in appearance and reported to be of very good quality but I cant as yet give a personal account.
 

At 14 feet up the flying foxes gave their seal of approval to this Arusha soursop.


The Whitman via Kamerung doesn't look fancy on the outside.


That handsome paw is behind a young golden soursop which is canary yellow in 'life'.

[Stevo]

I can confirm that Arusha is the best soursop I've tasted so far

[Mugenia]

Off topic, I miss Townsville, Cairns, Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Queensland itself- beautfiful cities and country.

[johnb51]

What the world needs is a great fiberless soursop. An awesome fruit.

[Vernmented]

Excellent report!

I have a few Coconut seedlings going here as well and some grafted trees of Whitman and Cuban that I got from JF. I am slightly out of zone here but I have premium sheltered spot with a rootstock growing right now to graft all these different varieties onto. I have never tasted a top tier soursop and I am confident I can push some along here.

I guess I will have to add Arusha to the wishlist.

I have some small seedlings from a seedling Amber jackfruit tree here as well. So much great stuff in Australia!

[Raulglezruiz]

My Whitman fiberless from coconut has a single fruit developing for first time, I think would be ready in 3/4 weeks so I can give report..

[kh0110]

This is for Jack's (aka coconut) Whitman Fiberless Sourson. Jack has always made a distinction between his winter and summer crops. And maybe I know why.

A while back, Jack sent me a couple of fruits from his winter crop and they were ... normal soursop fuits. Taste wise and flesh wise, meaning more sour than sweet and fiber flesh. However, those winter crop fruits made me realize that the variety is just a non stabilized hybrid. The winter fruits had normal seeds, rather large, flat, and brown when dry. Before the winter fruits, Jack sent me some seeds from the same tree from his summer crop and they were smaller, black, and more like Sugar Apple seeds. At first, I thought they were mislabelled but after sprouting, they turned out to be soursop seedlings.

My guess is that if your seedlings are from the Sugar Apple like seeds, you might have the "real" Whitman Fiberless from coconut that everybody talked about here. If they are from the normal looking seeds, maybe not.
 

[Soren]

Thanks for the report Mike; I'm happy that Arusha came out in top; it is a great fruit. I find it to be a very heavy producer as well, and should be partiel self-pollinating since I still get plenty of fruits after removing one of my two trees (with no other soursops nearby); currently about 50 some big. Only downside is low resistance to aphids, which might not be a problem where you are.

[Bluesandy_16]

Hi read your post about the Arusha soursop. Was wondering do you live in Australia.