7 Fruits That Look Like Soursop
Several fruits share a visual resemblance to soursop, either because of their bumpy, spiny, or scaly skin or because they come from the same botanical family (Annonaceae). While their tastes and textures differ, these fruits can often be mistaken for one another, especially at first glance.
1. Cherimoya (Annona cherimola) – also called Custard Apple
Cherimoya is typically green, heart-shaped fruit with a smooth or slightly lumpy rind. While not as spiny or prickly as soursop, its size, skin texture, and interior resemble a smoother version of soursop. Its flesh is soft, fragrant, and tastes like a blend of banana, pineapple, and bubblegum.
2. Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) – also called Sweetsop
This fruit has distinct scale-like segments and a bumpy green or yellowish rind. Sugar apples and soursop come from the same family—the Annonaceae family—which also includes fruits like cherimoya. But it is smaller than soursop. They have creamy white or yellowish flesh with a sweet, custard-like texture, and the inside is filled with many small, shiny dark seeds. The fruit is highly aromatic, sweet, and eaten fresh or blended into desserts.
3. Atemoya (Annona × atemoya)
A hybrid of cherimoya and sugar apple, atemoya has a heart-shaped or rounded body with bumpy, pale-green skin. Near the stem, the bumps are more pronounced like sugar apple, but toward the base, it smooths out like cherimoya. The flesh is creamy and not segmented, and the flavor is sweet with a slight tang, which many people describe as custardy with citrus hints.
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4. Rollinia (Rollinia mucosa) – also called Biriba or Amazon Custard Apple
Large and conical or round, Rollinia’s yellow skin is soft and covered in fleshy spines, giving it a shaggy or spiky look like soursop. Its flesh is tender, jelly-like, and lemony-sweet—often compared to lemon meringue. It looks very similar to soursop and comes from the same family, the Annonaceae family.
5. Ilama (Annona macroprophyllata) – also called Soncoya or Sincuya
This lesser-known fruit is cone- or heart-shaped with green to purplish skin and deep grooves. Some varieties have pink or red flesh, setting them apart from soursop’s white pulp, but the exterior can still appear quite similar in shape and texture to soursop.
6. Pond Apple (Annona glabra)
The pond apple resembles soursop slightly on the outside, with its green, lumpy skin—though it’s smoother and more rounded. However, it’s really the interior that might cause some confusion. When cut open, pond apple has soft, white pulp with dark seeds, much like soursop. At a quick glance, especially if you don’t know these fruits well, the soft white inside can easily be mistaken for Soursop.
7. Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
Although not related botanically, jackfruit’s massive size and bumpy green skin often make some people confuse it with soursop. However, its interior is entirely different—dry and fibrous rather than juicy—with a distinct tropical, banana-like flavor. Still, it’s hard to miss how much it looks like soursop, especially when you are viewing it from a distance.