Passion Fruit - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 310

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Passion Fruit

Delia B. Rodriguez-Amaya

INTRODUCTION
A native of Brazil, passion fruit got its name from its deli-
cate and beautiful flower, which has features found by the
early Christian missionaries in South America as symbolic
of the Passion of Christ, for example, the crosslike structure
of the stigmas emerging from the center of the flower and
the ring of appendages of the corona that has been likened to
the crown of thorns of Christ. It is called granadilla, parcha,
or parchita Maracuy a in Spanish; maracuj a in Portuguese;
and lilikoi in Hawaiian.
The principal genus of the family Passifloraceae, Passi-
flora has over 400 species, widely distributed in tropical
and subtropical America, Asia, and Africa. About 50 to
60 of these species bear edible fruits, but only a few are
of commercial importance, with many known only in the
local markets in South and Central America and the West
Indies. Commercial production of passion fruit is based on
the purple species Passiflora edulis Sims and the yellow
form Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa Degener.
The yellow passion fruit thrives well in humid tropical
lowlands and is the most cultivated fruit in Brazil, Peru,
Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Fiji. The purple pas-
sion fruit prefers higher altitudes and subtropical climate.
It is produced commercially in Australia, South Africa,
Kenya, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and
India. In the United States, the purple passion fruit is cul-
tivated mainly in Florida and California and the yellow
fruit in Hawaii. Both wild and cultivated passion fruits are
also found in Bolivia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the
Philippines. This fruit can also be produced in frost-free ar-
eas in the temperate zone, but fruiting is more limited than
in the tropical regions.

Brazil is the largest producer and consumer of the yellow
passion fruit, with a production of 684,376 tons in 2008
(IBGE, 2006). Brazilian export of passion fruit products,
however, has not expanded and is not commensurate with
production. Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru are the
principal exporters of the yellow passion fruit juice, while
the major importers are the United Kingdom, Germany,
France, Canada, Switzerland, the United States, and Japan.
Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Burundi export
purple passion fruit for the fresh fruit market of Europe
(Souza et al., 2002). New Zealand exports the fresh fruit
to the United States and Canada. Ecuador is presently the
most important exporter of the juice worldwide and the
major exporter of the concentrate for the European market
(Souza et al., 2002).
Passion fruit has drawn the interest of researchers
for a long time, although such interest has waned in
recent years as greater attention is being directed to
other lesser known tropical fruits. The physiology, chem-
istry, and technology of passion fruit were comprehen-
sively reviewed by Pruthi (1963) and by Casimir et al.
(1981). While covering important information from the
earlier studies, the present chapter focuses on more recent
developments.

FRUIT AND PLANT CHARACTERISTICS
Aside from the color of the skin, the purple and yellow
passion fruits differ in horticultural performance and fruit
properties (Casimir et al., 1981; ITAL, 1994; Silva, 1996;
Rodriguez-Amaya, 2003; Muniz, 2008). The purple species
is more resistant to cold injury, while the yellow form is