General Description: Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is a hard-shelled fruit about the size of an egg, filled with a rich, tart pulp. The passion fruit is native to southern Brazil and was given its name by Portuguese colonists for whom the flower’s elaborate shape symbolized Jesus on the cross. The purple passion fruit is subtropical and is widely grown in California. The yellow passion fruit is tropical and grows in Hawaii and Fiji.
The small, nearly round fruit looks like a wrinkled dented egg. Its tough shell is smooth and waxy and ranges from dark purple to light yellow. Inside, its cavity is filled with yellowish, jellylike pulp surrounding an abundance of small, black, edible seeds. The shell becomes brittle and wrinkled when ripe.
Passion fruit’s distinctive pungent flavor is slightly musky and sweet-tart to extremely tart with a luscious aromatic scent. Yellow passion fruit is generally larger than purple, but the pulp of the purple is less acidic, richer in aroma and flavor, and juicier. Numerous hybrids have been made between the purple and yellow passion fruit.
Season: Passion fruit is available year-round from Florida, February to July from New Zealand, and July to March from California.
Purchase: Select fruit that is heavy for its size, large, and plump. When ripe, it is fragrant with a shriveled, wrinkled shell that is rich in color. Any mold on the shell does not affect quality and can be wiped off.
Avoid: Overly hard passion fruit is underripe.
Storage: If the skin is smooth, ripen at room temperature, turning occasionally. Passion fruit is ripe when it is dented. Store ripe fruit in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Preparation:
Serving Suggestions: Cut off the top, pour cream and sugar into the cavity, mix with the pulp, and eat with a spoon. Add the juice to custard bases. Add strained fruit purée to blended drinks. Add to fruit salad.
Flavor Affinities: Cream, guava, ice cream, mango, meringue, mousse, papaya, pineapple, star fruit, sugar, yogurt
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