At Ripe London, we're passionate about passion fruit (sorry, couldn't resist). These brightly coloured tropical fruits look like dark satsumas, or huge grapes. But, like many exotic fruits, you might have a few questions about passion fruit. How do you cut passion fruit, for example? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about passion fruits!
How to Cut a Passion Fruit
Though you might be expecting something tough, it's actually really easy to cut passion fruit! Similar to getting orange segments, all you need to do is cut open your passion fruit down the middle with a sharp knife. Be sure to use a cutting board, so you don't get juice everywhere!
From that point, you've got to the sweet core of the passion fruit - which has both pulp and seeds inside.
Frequently Asked Questions About Passion Fruit
So, you know how to cut passion fruit - but that's not all, right? There are plenty of questions about these tropical treats to crack open and get into the sweet juicy flesh within.
How to Ripen a Passion Fruit
You've bought a passion fruit, and you can't wait to start eating or juicing it. But, how do you know if it's ripe? And, if it isn't, how do you ripen it sooner?
If your green passion fruit has smooth skin, it isn't ripe. Let your passion fruit sit, away from heat and direct sunlight, until it starts to wrinkle and become a different colour. A ripe passion fruit will contain more water, so it should start to feel heavier as it ripens.
There's no way to speed up the ripeness of a passion fruit. All you need to do for it to ripen into a colourful and wrinkled delight is wait - we'd suggest wrapping it in a paper or plastic bag for some extra protection. Do that and you'll get a perfectly edible passion fruit!
A ripe passion fruit will last up to two weeks at room temperature, or up to a month for longer storage in the fridge (we'd suggest in an airtight container...).
How to Eat Passion Fruit
Once you've made your slice and got to the delicious pulp and juice in the middle of the passion fruit, how do you eat it? It's not like other fruits, like a segmented orange or a grape you can eat in one.
All of the insides of the passion fruit can be eaten. You can scoop it out with a spoon, sieve and squeeze to get the juice out, or freeze it into ice cubes!
How Does Passion Fruit Taste?
Passion fruit has a delicious flavour that can change slightly as it ripens. If you eat freshly ripened passion fruit, it may taste quite tart. However, if you let it ripen a bit longer, you'll get a sweeter experience. The overall flavour is usually described as similar to citrus, but also has similarities to melon, pineapple, or kiwi fruit.
What Types of Passion Fruit Are There?
Passion fruits can look slightly different. Colours vary from purple to yellow, red to green. The colours don't really impact the flavours, but green passion fruits aren't ripe. Purple passion fruit might taste less acidic than yellow passion fruit, whereas yellow passion fruit might have less juice than purple passion fruit.
There's also other types of passion fruit - the sweet granadilla, with an orange skin and translucent insides, and the giant granadilla, which grows to around the size of your head!
Why Is Passion Fruit Called Passion Fruit?
Fair question. It's a weird name, right?
Passion fruits come from South America, particularly Brazil, and are the fruit of the 'passion flower'. During the 1700s, when Christians were trying to convert the indigenous inhabitants, the passion flower was described as the 'flower of the five wounds', making reference to the Passion of Jesus in his final days. So the name just stuck, and even began being used to describe the fruit itself.
Passion fruit was originally called mara kuya ('the fruit that serves itself') because of the tough outer skin.
Is it Okay to Eat a Lot of Passion Fruit?
You'd have to eat a lot of passion fruit very quickly in order to get sick. While some people may have allergies or intolerances, it's okay to eat a fair amount of passion fruit. Around 30g per day is recommended - because passion fruit has moderate sugar content, it's probably not the best idea for you to eat loads and loads of it regularly.
Should You Chew Passion Fruit Seeds?
Passion fruit has totally edible seeds! Not only are they edible, but they also contain fibre to help with digestion.
There aren't any human-made variants, like seedless passion fruit, but the seeds are easy to remove if you choose to filter the pulp. If you aren't a fan of seeds, you can easily make passion fruit juice.
What Are the Health Benefits of Passion Fruit?
Passion fruits are a great source of nutrients, and there are a few more health benefits of this delicious fruit too.
The seeds are totally edible and are great sources of fibre. Passion fruits are also great sources of vitamin C (great for the immune system) and provitamin A. These exotic fruits are also rich in natural compounds like carotenoids and polyphenols. Carotenoids are great as antioxidants, and can be turned into vitamin A by the body (which is good for skin and vision). Polyphenols are thought to offer protection against certain types of cancer, as well as diabetes and heart and brain diseases.
So, eating those seeds and that juicy pulp might be doing you a world of good!
Is Passion Fruit Juice Bad for You?
Like a lot of fruit juices, passion fruit juice from a carton or bottle might be full of sugar. That's not ideal, especially for people with diabetes. Because fruit juice can be unhealthy if you drink loads of it, moderation is always key.
The more natural the juice, the better it'll be for you. If you can slice your own fruits with a sharp knife and a cutting board - removing the seeds and filtering the pulp - you can ensure that your passion fruit juice is both tasty and healthier.
What Does Passion Fruit Do to Your Blood Pressure?
Passion fruit has really high potassium content, which helps regulate electrolyte balance and control muscle function. This means your heart muscles don't have to work so hard and your blood pressure can actually lower!
With its antioxidants, passion fruit is also a great food for clearing out your arteries. Arteries can get clogged up with plaque, but antioxidants can clean these up and help lower blood pressure.
The Best Passion Fruit Smoothie Recipe
Passion fruit is also great as part of a smoothie! We've been getting plenty of questions recently about how to go about creating the best tropical fruit smoothie, so here's what we've got.
This recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- 2 passion fruits (you can scoop the seeds out if you like)
- 1 medium mango
- 100g chilled or frozen berries
- 200ml fruit juice (you can use ice cream instead if you’d prefer a delicious milkshake)
- Optional fruits or flavourings, like chopped bananas or ground ginger
Next, you probably know the drill. Throw it all into the blender and whizz it around until it's all smooth.
Passion fruit also works great in desserts, if paired with mango ice cream!
How About Passion Fruit Cocktails?
Yep, it exists.
A passion fruit cocktail can be anything from a beautiful passion fruit martini to a passion fruit and elderflower spritz.
Passion Fruit and Other Tropical Treats: Ripe London
If you're getting a sudden and strange craving for passion fruit, or any tropical or classic fruits, we can help!
Ripe London delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to homes and workplaces all over the capital. If you're craving a mango smoothie, or simply need to try some passion fruit in a fruit salad, we've got you covered.
Check out our exotic fruits shop page, or order one of our office fruit boxes, to get only the most delicious produce appearing on your doorstep!
