page_title: Annona
section_title: Toxicology
hierarchical_section_title: Annona / Toxicology
caption_attribution_description: chemical structure of annonacin
context_page_description: Annona is a genus of flowering plants in the pawpaw/sugar apple family, Annonaceae. It is the second largest genus in the family after Guatteria, containing approximately 166 species of mostly Neotropical and Afrotropical trees and shrubs.
  The generic name derives from anón, a Hispaniolan Taíno word for the fruit. Paleoethnobotanical studies have dated Annona exploitation and cultivation in the Yautepec River region of Medicoto approximately 1000 BC. It has several common names, including Guanabana, and Soursop.
  Currently, seven Annona species and one hybrid are grown for domestic or commercial use, mostly for the edible and nutritious fruits; several others also produce edible fruits.
  Many of the species are used in traditional medicines for the treatment of a variety of diseases, though their efficacy as a medicine has yet to be validated scientifically. Several annonacaeous species have been found to contain acetogenins, a class of natural compounds with a wide variety of biological activities.
context_section_description: The compound annonacin and dozens of other acetogenins contained in the seeds and fruit of some members of Annonaceae such as Annona muricata (soursop) is a neurotoxin and it seems to be the cause of a Parkinson-like neurodegenerative disease. The only group of people known to be affected live on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and the problem presumably occurs with the consumption of plants containing annonacin. The disorder is a so-called tauopathy associated with a pathologic accumulation of tau protein in the brain. Experimental results demonstrated for the first time that the plant neurotoxin annonacin is responsible for this accumulation.
caption: Annonacin is a neurotoxin found in Annona muricata seeds.
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