Common Names: Passion Fruit, Granadilla, Purple Granadilla, Yellow Passion Fruit
Plant passion fruit vines in full sun except in very hot areas where partial shade is preferable. The vine can be rather rampant, so it is important to plant it next to a chain link fence or install a strong trellis before planting.
Regular watering will keep a vine flowering and fruiting almost continuously. Water requirement is high when fruits are approaching maturity. If the soil is dry, fruits may shrivel and fall prematurely.
Pruning is necessary to keep the vines within bounds, to make harvest easier and to keep the plants productive by maintaining vigorous growth. In very hot climates allow a thick canopy of foliage to grow around the fruit to prevent sunburn.
Harvest: The fruit will quickly turn from green to deep purple (or yellow) when ripe and then fall to the ground within a few days. They can either be picked when they change color or gathered from the ground each day. To store passion fruit, wash and dry them gently and place them in bags. They should last 2 to 3 weeks at 50° F. The fruit is sweetest when slightly shriveled. Both the fruit and the juice freeze well. The flavor of passion fruit blends well with citrus and many other fruit flavors, and is quickly appreciated by many people as they become familiar with it.
Medicinal properties: The juice but mainly the leaves of passion fruit contain the alkaloids, including Harman, which has blood pressure lowering, sedative and antispasmodic action. The passion fruit leaves are used in many countries as medicines.
The flower of passion fruit has a mild sedative and can help to induce sleep. Passion flower has been used in the treatment of nervous and easily excited children, bronchial asthma, insomnia, nervous gastrointestinal disorders and menopausal problems. Passion flower is sometimes used as a mild hallucinogen.
Anti-cancer effect
Researchers at the University of Florida have found that yellow passion fruit extracts can kill cancer cells in vitro. The phytochemicals which are responsible for this anti-cancer effect are carotenoids and polyphenols.
