Unlike the other Annona species, the pulp of the fruit when ripe is yellow through orange instead of whitish. The fruit is edible for humans and its taste is reminiscent of ripe Honeydew melon. It can be made into jam, and it is a popular ingredient of fresh fruit drinks in Maldives. In the past, the seeds were crushed and cooked in coconut oil and applied to hair to get rid of lice
The flesh is sweet-scented and agreeable in flavor, but it has never attained general popular use unlike soursop and other related fruits. Experiments in South Florida have been conducted to use it as a superior rootstock for sugar-apple or soursop. While the grafts initially appear to be effective, a high percentage of them typically fail over time. Soursop on pond-apple rootstock has a dwarfing effect.
Recent research suggests that its alcoholic seed extract contains anticancer
