I have Passion ... Updated

Fruit ....

I had to come to the Country House for a funeral for a family member that had been sick for quite some time. I drove up for the viewing last night & decided to get a head start on the grass cutting this morning before the funeral in the afternoon.

As I was cutting the lower east side by the branch, I first noticed the passion flowers scattered throughout the heavy brush.

 As I was cutting as close as I dared, something boinked me up against my head. It was this:

About the size of a large lemon.

I then noticed a whole bunch of them scattered around as well. Most are the size of oblong walnuts but many are the size of a large lemon. All are green.

After the funeral, I went down to get pics & to pick one of the smaller ones. There must be about 30 or 40 of them! I didn't dare go into the brush because I had flip flops on, it was hovering around 98 degrees so no boots this time of day.

Anyway, I picked a small one & brought it back to the house to cut into. Here is what I found. No fruit, just a bunch of seeds. Touched my tongue to one, they have a sweet taste.

Has anyone ever grown passion fruit? Will these eventually ripen & firm up to look like the passion star fruit I have purchased at the grocery store? I haven't had time to Google it yet but will definitely put it on my list.

And, I'll be picking Scuppernongs sometime this weekend as well. This pic was taken 2 weeks ago. Almost all are ripe now. I guess the birds left some for me after all.

Blurry, wind was blowing that day.

Update: Boy did I have my fruits wrong. I was thinking about star fruit. From the looks of things it appears as though I do indeed have passion fruit pods. They should turn yellow or purple when ripe. I think this the yellow variety which are a bit more acidic than the purple but still sweet

The next question, will I have enough nerve to actually extract the juice to eat, once ripe? Maybe.

Health benefits of passion fruit

• Delicious, passion fruit is rich source of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fiber. 100 g fruit contains about 97 calories.
• The fruit is a very good source of dietary fiber. 100 g fruit pulp contains 10.4 g or 27% of fiber. Good fiber in the diet helps remove cholesterol from the body. Being a good bulk laxative, it also helps protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time to toxic substances in the colon and wiping off cancer-causing toxic substances from the colon.
• Passion fruit is good in vitamin C, providing about 30 mg per 100 g. Vitamin-C (ascorbic acid) is a powerful water soluble anti-oxidant. Consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against flu-like infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• The fruit carry very good levels of vitamin-A (provides about 1274 IU per 100 g), and flavonoid antioxidants such as ß-carotene and cryptoxanthin-ß. Current research studies suggest that these compounds have antioxidant properties, and along with vitamin A are essential for good eye-sight.
• Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin-A, and flavonoids may helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• Fresh granadilla is very rich in potassium. 100 g fruit pulp has about 348 mg of potassium. Potassium is an important component of cells and body fluids, and helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure.
• Furthermore, granadilla is a very good source of minerals. Iron, copper, magnesium and phosphorus are present in adequate amounts in the fruit.

Preparation and serving method

Cut section of passion-granadilla fruit. (Photo by geishaboy500)

Wash fruit in cold water, and pat-dry them using a soft cloth or paper. Cut the fruit lengthwise into two equal halves. Then, scoop out the juicy pulp with a spoon. Discard the tough shell.

Passion fruits have unique tart, and sweet-flavor and sweet taste. Purple passion fruits are generally smaller but more flavorful than yellow-golden passions.

Here are some serving tips:

• Passion fruit can be enjoyed fresh, especially when the fruit is well ripe. Just scoop out its juicy pulp using a spoon. Its tough shell, anyhow, is inedible.

• Their juicy pulp can also be enjoyed as a refreshing intra-day drink.
• Passions add distinct flavor to fruit salads.
• Passions are used in the preparation of sauce, jellies, and syrups.

• It is employed in various recipes like passion fruit mousse, ice-cream, pizza, desserts, cakes, mousse…etc.