Passion Fruit - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 317

Harvesting

Transport to packing house

Receiving at the packing

Sorting and grading

Industrial processing

Retail packaging

Pasteurized
juice

Frozen
pulp

Frozen
concentrate

Ship to market

Consumers

Figure 17.2. Commercialization scheme of passion fruit in Brazil (source: Adapted from Salom ao et al., 2001).

Medicinal effects
PassionfruithasbeenwidelyusedinfolkmedicineinSouth
America to treat anxiety, insomnia, asthma, bronchitis, and
urinary tract infections (Silva, 1996).
In their comprehensive review, Dhawan et al. (2004)
described the morphology, microscopy, traditional and
folklore uses, phytoconstituents, pharmacological reports,
clinical applications, and toxicological reports of the
prominent species of Passiflora. Flavonoids, glycosides,
phenolic compounds, and volatile compounds were
reported as the major phytoconstituents. A few Passiflora
species had been used for curing various ailments, the
most important being P. incarnata L.

altering the flavor; second, the high starch content causes
accumulation of gelatinous deposits on the heating surfaces
of the heat exchanger, lowering its efficiency and causing
deterioration of the juice flavor.
In Brazil, aside from the fresh fruit, passion fruit is
processed and marketed as pasteurized juice, frozen juice
(12 ◦ Brix), and frozen concentrate (50 ◦ Brix) (Fig. 17.2)
(Salomao et al., 2001). Frozen juice and frozen concen-
trate serve as the base for other products, such as drinks,
yogurt, ice cream, confectioneries (cakes, meringues, and
chocolate fillings), gelatin, marmalades, and fruit cocktails.
For export, the major product is frozen concentrate in drums
of 250 g.
In small cottage industries, production of passion fruit
juice is done manually by simply slicing the fruit and scoop-
ing out the pulp, separating out the seeds either through
sieving or expression through a cloth (Chan, 1993).
Industrial processing of pasteurized juice and frozen
concentrate in Brazil is shown in Fig. 17.3 (De Souza
and Sandi, 2001; Folegatti and Matsuura, 2002). The
raw material should meet certain requirements, such as
adequate degree of maturity, wholesomeness, and good
extraction yield.
Washing is done to remove solid particles adhered to the
fruit peel and to minimize the microflora. The water used
usually has 5-20 ppm of free chlorine.
Sorting, done manually as the fruits are transported
through a conveyor, is aimed at eliminating fruits with prob-
lems of microbial contamination and other defects (due to

PROCESSING AND PROCESSED PRODUCTS
The purple passion fruit is usually consumed fresh, eaten
out of hand, or scooped with a spoon from the cut-open fruit.
The yellow passion fruit is generally consumed as juice
even when it is purchased as fruit for home consumption.
Because of its intense flavor and high acidity, passion
fruit juice is often referred to as a natural concentrate and is
often diluted, sweetened, or blended with other fruit juices.
The whole or sieved pulp is also used as flavoring for yogurt,
ice cream, sherbet, meringue, or cake topping.
Passion fruit is preserved by freezing or thermal process-
ing. Two characteristics of this fruit favor freezing (Chan,
1993): first, the flavor is extremely sensitive to heat, thus
it is difficult to heat-process the juice without markedly