CAN SOURSOUP (ANNONA MIRICATA L) LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS?

Abstract

The nurtritional and non-nutritional components of soursop have been proven to have many health benefits, especially to heal cancer. However, the benefits  of soursoup have not been studied extensively in those with hypertension. The purpose of this study is to find out whether the consumption of soursop smoothie, made from 400 gram of soursop fruit mixed in 200 mL of water, can lower Grade one Hypertension.

The quasi experiment was conducted towards 30 women with Grade one Hypertension selected by purposive sampling method. These subjects were divided into two groups: 15 subjects in experiment group, who were given the soursop smoothie for 5 days, and 15 subjects who became control subjects.

Before  consumption  of the soursop  smoothie, the mean  blood pressure of the  experiment group was

143.9/94.4  mmHg, while the mean blood pressure  of the control group was 146.5/96.1 mmHg.  After the consumption of the soursop smoothie for five days, the mean blood pressure of the experiment group dropped to 133.7/82.8  mmHg, while the mean blood pressure of the control group was 142.3/91.2. These results suggest that the routine consumption of soursop smoothie may significantly reduce the blood pressures of those with hypertension grade one.