Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Colombia having the highest production. It is also called
“banana passion fruit” because it resembles small bananas
in shape and color. The yellow and elongated fruit has a thin
and soft pericarp, which makes transportation of the ripe
fruits over long distances problematic. The fruits are picked
green, seldom allowed to ripen and fall from the vine. The
aril (pulp) is orange and the flavor is more astringent and
less acidic than P. edulis. The sieved pulp is mixed with
milk and sugar and served as a drink. It is also used in
marmalades and desserts, and for flavoring ice cream.
P. maliformis L. is known as 'Sweet Cup' in the West In-
dies, 'Chulupa' in Colombia, and 'Granadilla de Hueso' in
Ecuador. It is a lesser known species but has good potential
because of its excellent aroma and flavor.
P. alata Curtis, popularly known as 'Maracuja-Doce' or
'Fragrant Granadilla,' is increasingly produced and com-
mercialized in Brazil (Vasconcellos et al., 2001; Donadio,
2007; Muniz, 2008). It is also found in Peru, Argentina,
and Paraguay. The sweet, succulent, and fragrant fruit is
oblong or pear shaped, bigger than the yellow passion fruit,
with 8-12 cm in length and a diameter of 5-9 cm, weighing
100-500 g. The ripe fruit, which is consumed out of hand,
has yellow skin, 2-cm-thick rind, and transparent orange aril
surrounding grayish cream seeds. This fruit is harvested by
picking from the plant rather than let it drop on the ground.
In the Brazilian savanna (west central Brazil), three un-
cultivated species are drawing attention: P. cincinnata Mast,
P. setacea DC, and P. serrato-digitata L. (Braga et al.,
2010). These fruits are also found in northern and north-
eastern Brazil and in the northern and northeastern parts of
southeastern Brazil. The P. setacea is especially interesting
because it is resistant to drought, pests, and diseases, bears
fruit between the harvest seasons of the commercial passion
fruit, and has good productivity and acceptability. The fruits
of P. cincinnata and P. serrato-digitata have good posthar-
vest resistance, remaining in good condition for more than
20 days after harvest, under ambient conditions.
California-grown passion fruit cultivars, with their vine
and fruit characteristics, as reported by CRFG (1996), are
listed in Box 17.1 .
Box 17.1. Purple and yellow passion fruit
cultivars grown in California, United States.
I. PURPLE TYPE
Black Knight: Developed in Massachusetts, it has
a fragrant, dark purple-black fruit with an excellent
flavor, and the size and shape of a large egg. It has vig-
orous, compact vine, self-fertile, very fruitful, with
attractive glossy foliage.
Edgehill: Similar to 'Black Knight' but more vig-
orous, with larger fruit. It is one of the best outdoor
cultivars for Southern California.
Frederick: A 'Kahuna' × 'Brazilian Golden'
cross, extremely vigorous, self-fruitful vine, and very
productive. It has large, nearly oval fruit, greenish-
purple with reddish cast and has a slightly tart flavor.
Besides fresh consumption, it is an excellent choice
for juicing.
Kahuna: It has a vigorous, productive self-fertile
vine with a relatively long producing season, and
has large, attractive foliage. The fruit is very large,
medium purple in color with medium acid flavor, and
good for juicing.
Paul Ecke: It has a compact, very productive vine.
It produces a medium-sized purple fruit of very good
quality, which is suitable for eating out of hand and
juicing.
Purple Giant: Produces very large fruit of dark
purple color when mature.
Red Rover: A 'Kahuna' × 'Brazilian Golden'
cross, with a very vigorous vine, which is compact
and self-fertile. It has a medium to large, roundish
fruit with an attractive clear red color rind. Good for
eating out of hand or juicing and has a sweet, notably
rich flavor with tart overtones.
II. YELLOW TYPE
Brazilian Golden: It has extremely vigorous vine
that requires cross-pollination, has extra large, fra-
grant flowers (white with a dark center), with mid-
summer blooming season. It produces one large crop
beginning in late August or early September. Fruit
is large and golden yellow in color, with slight tart
flavor.
Golden Giant: It is a large yellow-fruited cultivar
that originated in Australia.
HARVESTING
The passion fruit plant starts to produce a year after plant-
ing, but its productive life is short, varying from 3 to
5 years, although longer periods have been reported (ITAL,
1994). The highest yield is obtained in the second or third
year, decreasing thereafter.
On average, 60 to 70 days are required from pollination
to maturation of the fruit. Thus two or more harvesting
seasons per year are possible, depending on the climatic
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