Edible Paradise

The passion fruit vine grows about 15 to 20 feet per year and will bear fruit for about 6 to 8 years. Make sure to plant it next to a very strong support, since the vine will over take a fence or tree. You will usually find the dark purple-black variety of passion fruit at the farmers market.

Passion fruit is the size and shape of a large egg. The leathery skin is usually brittle and wrinkled looking. Inside you’ll find a gelatinous, juicy interior filled with about 250 to 300 small black seeds. Passion fruit is delicious simply eaten out of hand or juiced. Many like to add the pulp to a fruit salad. The fragrant juice is often blended with other juices to make a tropical beverage. The seeds are edible taste somewhat like guava. There are over 200 species of passion fruit in the Amazon.

One passion fruit is approximately 16 calories, loaded with vitamin A and C, and is an excellent source of fiber, if eaten with the seeds.

How to Select:  When passion fruit is ripe, the skins will have a wrinkled, deep purple old look. This does not mean the fruit in side is rotten. Choose fruit that is firm and heavy feeling.

How to Store:  If you buy fruit that is immature, leave at room temperature to ripen. Once fruit ripens, store in refrigerator for up to a week.