English Name: Passion fruit / Granadilla fruit.
Botanical Name: Passiflora edulis
Dutch Name: Passiebloem
Spanish Name: Maracuja
Italian Name: Fruttodella passione.
DESCRIPTION: A small tropical fruit with a thick yellow or purple skin, juicy and filled with many seeds. The purple skinned specie has black seeds, the yellow skinned specie has brown seeds. The yellow specie are generally larger than the purple specie.
ORIGIN: Passion fruit edible commercial species originated on the edges to South America rainforests in the Amazon region of Brazil and possibly in Paraguay and northern Argentina. The passion fruit was cultivated in Inca novo known as Peru in about AD 1000. It has been carried to all parts of the world. In many places it is grown only as a hot-house plant It’s unusual flowers inspired the Spaniards to name it passion plant.
Passion fruit was given it’s name by the Catholic missionaries in South America. The corona threads of the passion flower were seen as a symbol of the crown of thorns, the five stamens for wounds, the five petals and five sepals as the ten apostles (Excluding Judas and Peter) and the three stigmas for the nails on the cross.
However, the fruits has been associated with the other “passion” that is “sexual attraction” and so has now become a sort of traditional dish or present for Valentine’s Day.
NATURAL BENEFITS: Passion fruit contains “multivitamin” that enhances good health contains minerals, antioxidants, flavonoids and dietary fiber.
USES: Used to make fruit juice, majorly added to cocktails and soft drinks.
Recipes of passion fruit include:
* Passion fruit with rum
* Passion fruit sangaria
* Passion fruit Green tea
My Cookery Zone 