Passion Fruit - Also known as Passiflora, foreign pomegranate, etc., it belongs to the genus Passiflora of the family Passifloraceae, mainly including two major categories: purple fruit and yellow fruit. The plant's lifespan is approximately 20 years, with an economic lifespan generally lasting 8 to 10 years. The fruit is primarily used for processing juice drinks, earning the reputation of "King of Juices." It can also be added to other beverages to enhance their quality.
Passion Fruit – Category: Herbaceous flower. Alternate names: Foreign pomegranate, Purple West Indian Cherry, Passion Fruit. Family name: Passifloraceae. Ecological habits: Prefers environments with ample sunlight, warm climate, fertile soil, and good drainage. It does not tolerate cold or waterlogging.
Morphological characteristics of passion fruit: The fruit is mainly used for processing juice drinks, earning the title of "King of Juices," and can be added to other beverages to improve their quality. The roots of passion fruit are fleshy, its stem has climbing properties, mostly green in color, with a hollow pith, smooth internodes, and tendrils. The leaves are palmately three-lobed, with serrated edges, smooth, deep green, prominent veins, and evergreen. The flowers are large and beautiful. The fruit is a berry, with a tough, smooth rind. The pulp is filled with yellow juice, resembling raw egg yolk. The juice content is about 40%, with a processing yield rate of 28% to 33%.
Passion fruit prefers warm and humid environments, thriving in regions with an annual average temperature above 18°C and annual rainfall between 1000 to 2000 millimeters, where it easily achieves abundant yields. In cultivation, passion fruit requires trellising to achieve high production; generally, the yield per acre is around one ton, with fruiting occurring from August to December.
Egg Yolk Fruit belongs to the Sapotaceae family and genus Pouteria, named for its flesh that closely resembles the yolk of a boiled egg. It is cultivated in tropical areas such as Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Fujian in China.
Egg Yolk Fruit contains abundant nutrients like phosphorus, iron, calcium, vitamin C, and various essential amino acids for the human body, with a water content of 67% to 73% and edibility rate of 71.3% to 78.6%. Egg Yolk Fruit plants grow up to 3 to 6 meters tall, forming small trees. All parts of the tree secrete white latex. Mature branches are yellowish-brown, with simple alternate leaves, papery in texture, narrowly elliptical, smooth and glossy on both sides. Flowers are small, with 1 to 4 flowers clustered in the leaf axils. Unripe fruits are green, turning orange-yellow or orange-red when mature. The fruit skin is smooth, the outer skin extremely thin, difficult to separate from the pulp. The middle layer is fleshy, thick, soft, yellow in color, with low water content, sweet, similar to cooked egg yolk. Seeds are usually 1 to 2, nearly round or oval. The fruit matures in December and needs 4 to 7 days of post-harvest ripening before consumption. The fruit is mainly eaten fresh but can also be used to make juice, wine, jam, etc.
Passion fruit is an evergreen herbaceous vine that can reach several meters in length. Its stem is either round or sometimes quadrangular when young. Leaves are thin and papery, measuring 6-13 cm long and 8-14 cm wide, with three deep palmate lobes. Inflorescences are reduced to a single flower, fragrant, with lanceolate petals that are white with a hint of purple, roughly equal in length to the sepals. The filiform structures of the corona are arranged in three rounds, approximately equal in length to the petals, with a light green base, white-purple middle, and white top. The fruit is ovoid, green when young, and turns purple when ripe. The fruit skin is hard, containing numerous seeds. It thrives in sunny, warm climates with fertile soil and good drainage. It does not tolerate cold or waterlogging.
Effects of Passion Fruit: Calming the mind, promoting blood circulation to relieve pain, astringent intestines to stop diarrhea. Treats symptoms such as insomnia due to insufficient heart blood, palpitations, etc. Used for menstrual irregularities caused by blocked blood vessels in women, such as dysmenorrhea, abdominal distension, etc. Also treats chronic diarrhea, dysentery, abdominal pain, etc., due to weak spleen and stomach. Taste and Meridian: Bitter, sour, neutral. Enters the Heart and Large Intestine meridians. Dosage: Internal use: Decoction 3-10 grams.
Hainan Passion Fruit Pictures - Passion fruit also has medicinal value. Natural passion fruit juice has effects such as quenching thirst, invigorating the spirit, aiding digestion, relieving cough, treating kidney deficiency, and nourishing the body. The roots, stems, and leaves of passion fruit can all be used medicinally, with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, blood-activating, strengthening, yin-nourishing, kidney-supplementing, lipid-lowering, and blood pressure-lowering effects.
The nutritional components of passion fruit are very rich, containing proteins, fats, vitamins, zinc, iron, phosphorus, calcium, selenium, potassium, and many other trace elements, as well as 17 kinds of amino acids, which are 1 to 15 times more than those of other fruits. It has nourishing, beautifying, fatigue-relieving, heat-clearing, digestive, and anti-aging effects.
Hainan Passion Fruit Eating Method - The fruit matures in December and needs 4 to 7 days of post-harvest ripening before consumption. The fruit is mainly eaten fresh but can also be used to make juice, wine, jam, etc. People in Hainan like to cut the top of the fruit with a knife, then add some sugar and eat it mixed. It is sour and sweet, making it a refreshing snack for children.