Passionfruit
Passionfruit is one of summer’s most delicious and versatile fruits. Passionfruit are in season from February till July. Alternatively, many supermarkets offer canned or bottled varieties of passionfruit.
The purple passionfruit is a native of the rainforest in the Amazon region of Brazil. It first arrived for commercial planting in Kerikeri in 1927 and is now grown widely around New Zealand both commercially and privately.
Common varieties of passionfruit
- The PURPLE skinned variety have a hard, smooth skin that begins to wrinkle as the fruit gets older and a yellowish pulp with black edible seeds. This is the only variety grown commercially in New Zealand at present.
- PANAMA passionfruit have a smooth purple-pink skin with a fragrant sharp-sweet, yellow-orange pulp with black seeds.
- BANANA passionfruit have an elongated shape, with a smooth yellow skin and a delicious tart pulp. They grow on vines in the upper north island, often growing wild in bush areas. This variety has now been declared a noxious plant in many parts of the country.
- The YELLOW passionfruit have hard, dimpled, yellow skin and pale orange pulp speckled with black seeds. This variety is not grown commercially in New Zealand as they don’t tolerate our cold winters.
Nutritional Information
Although passionfruit isn’t a variety of citrus, it is a source of vitamin C - important for maintaining a strong immune system and keeping your skin, teeth and bones healthy. It is also higher in fibre (per 100 grams) than many other fruits, which is helpful for keeping your digestive system active.
Selecting and storing passionfruit
The best passionfruit are heavy for their size with smooth to slightly wrinkled skin. Avoid those with excessively wrinkled, dry looking or blemished skins.
Passionfruit can last in a fruit bowl for up to 10 days or even longer if refrigerated. You can also freeze – simply scoop out the centre into a bowl, add a little sugar and freeze in ice cube trays or small containers.
Passionfruit ideas
Passionfruit is commonly used as a topping for ice cream, cakes, sorbets, pavlova and is great in fruit salads. If you enjoy passionfruit, why not try one of the following simple and delicious ideas:
- Place fresh pineapple chunks, a few sprigs of fresh mint and some sliced apple in the blender. Blend until the mixture is fairly smooth; add crushed ice; pour into a tall glass and mix through some passionfruit pulp.
- Freeze whole passionfruit as a cool summer treat for kids to scoop out and eat.
- For a scrumptious dip, mix passionfruit pulp with yoghurt, light cream cheese or ricotta, and serve with seasonal fruit.
- Mix with pumpkin to make delicious scones http://www.sanitarium.co.nz/default.asp?sectionID=28&rid=128
How to grow your own Passionfruit
You can grow your own passionfruit throughout the north island and with care in the south island. The key to successful growth is to plant vines facing north in well drained soil and protect from wind and frost. The vines however will tolerate a small frost of minus 1-2 degrees Celsius for a short period of time.
Pruning of vines is essential to control growth. In areas with warmer winters prune straight after harvesting and in areas with cool winters prune in early spring.