Table of content A-Z
Synonym: granadilla
botanical name: Passiflora spp.
The passion fruit, with more than 400 varieties, originally came from the tropics of Central and South America. Not all varieties bear fruit, but all have beautiful blossoms.
Availability
Passion fruits are sold in Germany year round, imported mainly from African growing areas such as South Africa, Zimbabwe or Kenya.
Appearance, taste, characteristics
Primarily four kinds of passion fruit are of economic importance. They have a typical, more or less distinctly exotic sweet-sour aroma.
Sweet passion fruit, Passiflora ligularis
* spherical
* 7-10 cm in diameter
* orange skin with white dots
* grey-white pulp
* sweeter than the other varieties
Yellow passion fruit, Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa
* round to oval
* 8 cm in diameter
* yellow skin with white dots
* sour, intensive flavour; not very good for eating fresh
Giant granadilla, Passiflora quadrangularis
* rarely exported fruit
* 20-30 cm long
* light-green or yellow skin
* yellow/pale-red pulp
* doesn't come up to the flavour of other varieties
Purple granadilla, Passiflora edulis f. edulis
* round
* 5-6 cm in diameter
* purple-brown skin
* orange-yellow pulp
* balanced aroma; good for eating fresh
Ingredients
100 g contain:
|
Passion fruit, fresh |
Energy (kcal) |
80 |
Water (g) |
78 |
Protein (g) |
2 |
Fat (g) |
<1 |
Carbohydrates (g) |
13 |
Fibre (g) |
2 |
Vitamin C (mg) |
24 |
Vitamin A (RE) (µg) |
40 |
Folic acid (µg) |
20 |
Potassium (mg) |
340 |
Sodium (mg) |
28 |
Calcium (mg) |
17 |
Iron (mg) |
1.3 |
Quality criteria, optimal storage conditions
Passion fruits cannot ripen further after they have been picked. Buy no green, but only purple or dark-violet fruits.
They are most ripe - and thus have the best flavour - when the leathery skin becomes slightly wrinkled. This is the case particularly with purple granadillas and yellow passion fruits. A wrinkled skin by no means indicates poor quality.
Not quite ripe passion fruits can be stored in the refrigerator. However, be sure that they are dry, as humidity will damage them.
Ripe fruits should be eaten as quickly as possible. They can be kept for just about a week in the refrigerator.
Form of consumption, use, processing, practical tips for preparation
If you want to eat the fruits fresh, cut them in half and spoon out the tart pulp. The seeds are also edible, but if you do not want to eat them, put the pulp through a sieve.
Due to their intense fragrance, passion fruits are excellent for flavouring numerous dishes. They should be used only in small amounts, however, as their flavour will mask those of other ingredients.
The fruits taste good in fruit salads, puddings, sorbets, ice cream, yoghurt, cocktails and punch.
As passion fruits are not easily transported, they are often processed further where they are grown. Their juice is especially popular, its exotic, fruity aroma mixing well with other drinks. Also well-liked are jellies or preserves made of passion fruit.
Miscellaneous
The passion fruit plants were given their name in the 17th century by the Jesuits, who recognized in the plant symbols of Christ's passion and therefore called them "passionflowers" (passio flora). They saw lances in the three-pointed leaves, whips or scourges in the vines, nails in the pistils, a sponge in the stigma, a crown of thorns in the filaments of the receptacle, and in the central gynandrium, or column of the flower, a stake.
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