GRAVIOLA

Traditional use of graviola is recorded globally in traditional medicine systems, including Barbados, Borneo (Kalimantan, Indonesia), Brazil, Cook Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Guatemala, Guam, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Madagascar, Malaysia , Peru, Suriname, Togo, the West Indies, and the Amazon. Graviola is widely used in traditional Indian medicine for the 'treatment of kidney problems, fever, nervousness, ulcers and wounds' and has antispasmodic, antidysenteric and antiparasitic activity. As for the plant parts, the 'leaves are used as a suppurative, febrifuge; its bark as a tonic; roots as an antispasmodic, parasiticide; flowers as; green fruit as an antiscurvy; and seeds as an insecticide."In the Ayurvedic medicine of India, the plant is used as a bitter, tonic, abortifacient, febrifuge, scorpion sting, high blood pressure, and as a respiratory stimulant.In Trinidad and Tobago, Graviola leaves are used to treat hypertension.In the Peruvian Amazon, the leaves and root bark are used as an antispasmodic, sedative , and for diabetes. In the Guianas, a tea is prepared from either the leaf or bark as a cardiotonic or sedative. Many of these traditional uses have been scientifically validated. ically since the 1940s. Graviola bark and extracts have been shown by scientists to be hypotensive, antispasmodic, anticonvulsant, vasodilator, a smooth muscle relaxant, and to possess cardiodepressant activity in animals.