The passion fruit gets its name from the impressive flowers of the passion flower, which are said to contain symbols of the passion of Christ with their appearance. Of the fruits, only the seeds from inside the shell with the pulp adhering to them are eaten.
How do I recognize a ripe passion fruit?
You can recognize a ripe passion fruit by its peel and its weight. A smooth skin indicates ripe fruit, while a wrinkled skin indicates a sweeter taste. Avoid fruits with shriveled skin and light weight, as they may be overgrown and fermented.
Identify a ripe passion fruit by its peel and weight
There is often a false rumor that a passion fruit is only really ripe and suitable for consumption if it has a heavily wrinkled peel. The purple-colored fruits with their spherical shape usually taste good, even with a smooth skin. However, it is true that fruits with wrinkled skin usually have a more sweet and less sour taste. This process of shrinking of the fruit peel can be easily observed at home at normal room temperature. However, you should not buy the fruit from the supermarket with a completely shriveled surface, as this could be a sign that it has been stored for too long. In addition to the dents on the peel, a very low weight is also a sign that a ripe passion fruit could already be very old. In such a case, the taste is no longer optimal and the fruit pulp can have a fermented smell and taste.
The uses of a ripe passion fruit
A ripe passion fruit can be processed into various foods in the kitchen, for example as:
- Smoothie
- Fruit content for ice cream sundaes
- Fresh fruit
- Garnish for cakes and tarts
When processing it into a smoothie, you should make sure that the seeds are first finely chopped with the blender. In general, passion fruits are often halved and the pulp with the edible seeds is then spooned straight out of the peel. A popular cake recipe from Australia calls for the pulp of passion fruit as a garnish on the so-called Pavlova. This is a cake made from meringue mixture that is colorfully topped with exotic fruits.
The difference between passion fruit and passion fruit
Juice bottles containing passion fruit juice are often incorrectly depicted as halved passion fruit. In principle, passion fruits are botanically classified as passion flowers, but strictly speaking they are a separate type of fruit. This is often referred to as yellow passion fruit or grenadilla. With passion fruit, even when the fruit is fully ripe, it can feel very hard. This is due to the harder pulp compared to the purple colored passion fruit.
Grow your own passion fruit
In principle, you can also grow passion fruit in this country. However, since it is a plant that comes from South America and other tropical countries, successful cultivation in this country is only possible on the windowsill, as a pot plant or in the greenhouse.
Tips & Tricks
If you want to use the seeds from a purchased passion fruit for growing in a pot, you should first carefully remove the pulp. Otherwise the seeds can easily become moldy.