Passion fruits

Post-harvest management

Post harvest Management :Passion Fruits

The fruit is of easy preparation. One needs only cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seedy pulp with a spoon. For home use, many people do not trouble to remove the seeds but eat the pulp with cream and sugar or use it in fruit salads or in beverages. Some people usually squeeze it through two thicknesses of cheesecloth or pressed through a strainer to remove the seeds. Mechanical extractors are, of course, used industrially. The resulting rich juice, which has been called a natural concentrate, can be sweetened and diluted with water or other juices (especially orange or pineapple), to make cold drinks.

Passion fruit juice can be boiled down to a syrup which is used in making sauce, gelatin desserts, candy, ice cream, cake icing, cake filling or in cocktails. The seeded pulp is made into jelly or is combined with pineapple or tomato in making jam. The flavor of passion fruit juice is impaired by heat preservation unless it is done by agitated or “spin” pasteurization in the can. The frozen juice can be kept without deterioration for 1 year at (-17.78º C) and is a very appealing product.

The marketing of passion fruit is predominantly the fruits. It would, however, be of greater economic benefit to market a processed product like juice. For fresh fruit markets, especially the export market, fruit is picked after full colour development when the whole fruit is purple or canary yellow, but before shriveling and drying set in.