Passion Fruit

Passion fruit grows around the world, produces egg-sized fruit filled with wonderfully tart, intense, generic fruit aroma and taste with a bright orange pulp. The pulp is often added to other fruit products to enhance their fruity flavor.

Production

Flowering occurs from May to November but may occasionally continue year-round if conditions are right. Flowers bloom for 12 to 24 hours before dying and dropping off.

Flowers will self-pollinate, but all kinds of polinators are attracted to the blooms, especially bumble bees. The blooms that are polinated develop a green fruits which will quickly grow to nearly mature size. Then over three months, the fruit turns purple when ripe and drops off the vine. Fruits usually ripen from flowering in 93 days. The vines love full sun except in climates where the temperature often go above 100F, then vines should be given shade.

Passion fruit starting to turn

The vines usually maintain good productivity for 4-6 years. You have to prune the vine. Fruit grows on the new growth. Trim it back year to year or the vine can easily take over a backyard.

The fruit is ready when it falls from the vine. The fruit will continue to develop sugars weeks after harvest and are tastiest when it begins to wrinkle. They might start to look like big purple raisins.

Source: tradewindsfruit.com/passionfruit.htm

Passion Fruit Chiffon Pie Make a graham-cracker crust for 8” pan and bake. Chill. Filling: 1 envelope unflavored gelatin 1/4 Cup Cold water 3 egg yolks, well beaten (I used a whisk) Juice of 1 lemon 1 Cup pureed passion fruit (about 11 fruits--I didn’t puree, just stirred it up) 3 egg whites 6 Tablespoons sugar Whipped cream or substitute Sprinkle gelatin into 1/4 Cup cold water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Beat egg yolks with 1/3 Cup water and the lemon juice. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Stir in gelatin and passion fruit. Chill mixture until it begins to thicken. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in sugar, until stiff and glossy. Fold egg whites into fruit mixture. Pour mixture into crumb crust and chill until firm. Top with sweetened whipped cream. Makes 6-8 servings. It is a light, slightly tart chiffon pie. The seeds are not a problem. A Cuisinart would take care of that, but I was too lazy. Whipped cream, we used Cool Whip, was a good addition. I think a baked, buttery graham crust would make a wonderful combination. I cheated, see above. -- P. Ernst

Passion Fruit Popper Cut the top off a well formed fruit to create a small cup with the opening big enough to get a spoon in. Scoop the pulp from the insides with the spoon to loosen from the sides. Add an ounce of gin or vodka and mix and enjoy.

Lilikoi (passion fruit) Curd I N G R E D I E N T S 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup unsweetened passion fruit concentrate 4 ounces butter 6 eggs Juice from 1/2 a lemon I N S T R U C T I O N S Mix the sugar, butter, lemon and lilikoi and bring to a boil. Whip the yolks with a part of the hot liquid then pour yolk mixture back to liquid. Return to simmer, keep whipping until edges start to bubble. (Do not bring to a full boil.) Strain and chill. -- Will Owen

Cooks.com Passion Fruit Recipes

Epicurious.com Passion Fruit Recipes

Passion Fruit Facts

Nutrient	Units	Value per 100 grams of edible portion	Sample Count	Std. Error
Proximates
Water	g	72.93	4	1.355
Energy	kcal	97	0
Energy	kj	406	0
Protein	g	2.20	0
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.70	0
Carbohydrate, by difference	g	23.38	0
Fiber, total dietary	g	10.4	0
Ash	g	0.80	0
Minerals
Calcium, Ca	mg	12	3	4.726
Iron, Fe	mg	1.60	0
Magnesium, Mg	mg	29	0
Phosphorus, P	mg	68	3	4.163
Potassium, K	mg	348	0
Sodium, Na	mg	28	0
Zinc, Zn	mg	0.10	0
Copper, Cu	mg	0.086	0
Selenium, Se	mcg	0.6	0
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid	mg	30.0	0
Thiamin	mg	0.000	0
Riboflavin	mg	0.130	0
Niacin	mg	1.500	0
Vitamin B-6	mg	0.100	0
Folate, total	mcg	14	0
Folic acid	mcg	0	0
Folate, food	mcg	14	0
Folate, DFE	mcg_DFE	14	0
Vitamin B-12	mcg	0.00	0
Vitamin A, IU	IU	700	0
Vitamin A, RE	mcg_RE	70	0
Vitamin E	mg_ATE	1.120	0
Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated	g	0.059	0
4:0	g	0.000	0
6:0	g	0.000	0
8:0	g	0.000	0
10:0	g	0.000	0
12:0	g	0.000	0
14:0	g	0.000	0
16:0	g	0.045	0
18:0	g	0.014	0
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated	g	0.086	0
16:1 undifferentiated	g	0.000	0
18:1 undifferentiated	g	0.086	0
20:1	g	0.000	0
22:1 undifferentiated	g	0.000	0
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated	g	0.411	0
18:2 undifferentiated	g	0.410	0
18:3 undifferentiated	g	0.001	0
18:4	g	0.000	0
20:4 undifferentiated	g	0.000	0
20:5 n-3	g	0.000	0
22:5 n-3	g	0.000	0
22:6 n-3	g	0.000	0
Cholesterol	mg	0	0

USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 14 (July 2001)