Guanabana – An interview with Lisa Kilian

We met with Lisa Kilian, head of beverage development at tropextrakt, to speak about the specific characteristics of Guanabana. Lisa and her team experiment with the finest exotic fruit raw materials every day to find the perfect formulation for a variety of applications such as beverages, ice-cream or jam. Guanabana as an ingredient is still a kind of insider tip with rising popularity in the “food community”. We wanted to learn more.

tropextrakt: Hi Lisa, we would like to learn more about Guanabana! What can you tell us about it?

Lisa: There are different things, we could speak about! First of all the taste – it’s very unique and reminds of pineapple, strawberry and banana. The special texture is also relevant if you look at Guanabana as a potential food ingredient – it gives a sweet-sour, creamy mouth feeling. That goes perfectly with other fruits and dairy products. In Germany, for example, we observe rising popularity for smoothies and soft drinks.

tropextrakt: What about the preparation in the countries of origin?

Lisa: In Brazil, the ivory white “Pulpa” is consumed pure, with milk or fermented to alcohol. People in Indonesia use the puree to cook pudding (called “Dodol sirsak”) and used it for delicious sweets. Beside the puree, the leafs are traditionally used with a view to different health effects and are widely consumed as tea in Caribbean islands. They have a relaxing effect. I think these ideas could be inspiring also for new innovative applications!

tropextrakt: That sounds promising! Do you have a personal favorite combination of Guanabana with our tastes or aromas?

Lisa: There are many wonderful options, but I would vote for my favorite Juice with Orange (77 %), Guanabana (8 %), Banana (8 %) and Pink Guava (7 %). It also goes well with Coconut Milk.

tropextrakt: We should try that one day. Many thanks for your time, Lisa!