Depending on where you live, you may not know a great deal about passion fruit. If you have not had the pleasure of experiencing it, I am sorry to hear that. If you have had passion fruit, then you already know what I am talking about.
If you know about passion fruit, then stop reading and go out to find yourself some. If you are like passion what, do not worry, this article is going to help you. Continue reading this article to find out everything you need to know, including how to store passion fruit.
What is Passion fruit?
Passion fruit is one of the tropical fruit that is found mostly in North America, South American, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Passion fruit has a hard rind that is very colorful. The inside of passion fruit is juicy and full of seeds. You will find that passion fruit varies in color and since, but the yellow and purple passion fruit are the most common varieties.
The passiflora edulis is purple, small, and round but sometimes can be oval. The passiflora flavicarpa is yellow passion fruit and larger than the purple fruit variety but is still oval or round. Passion fruit is high in fiber, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C. Thus, it is full of nutrients and healthy calories.
How to Pick a Passion Fruit
One of the great things about passion fruit is that it is a summer and winter fruit. It can be found during both seasons. There are some features you want to look for when it comes to passion fruit.
You want your passion fruit to be plump and feel heavy for its size. Passion fruit has incredibly thick skin, so you do not need to be concerned about any small marks or scratched you see on the outside of it. These marks will not impact the passion fruit pulp on the inside.
You can tell how ripe the passion fruit is by how colorful the ring is. The more fully colored it is, the riper it will be. You may find various colors, like purple passion fruit, yellow passion fruit, or red passion fruit.
Do not be deceived by its wrinkles. More wrinkles are not a good sign of age. It means that the passion fruit has lost moisture. You want to stay away from a passion fruit with a lot of wrinkles or excessively hard. You do not want a passion fruit that seems light for its size.
How to Store Passion Fruit
You want to make sure you wash the passion fruit first before you do anything else with it. You can store a whole and untouched passion fruit at room temperature for about two weeks. You can keep a whole passion fruit in a plastic bag or other sealed container for about one month.
Storing the whole fruit prevents the passion fruit from dehydrating. If your passion fruit is ripe, you should not store it for longer than two days in the fridge. If it is smooth-skinned passion fruit, it is not ripe.
You can keep your unripe passion fruit in the freezer when it is whole. If you try to eat the passion fruit when it is not ripe, it may taste bitter. It would be best if you allowed it to thaw in the refrigerator before you use it. Keep in mind, if you decide to freeze the whole passion fruit and then thaw it, it may become soggy.
If you are considering freezing passion fruit, you can cut the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp. You can put the pulp in an ice cube tray and allow them to freeze. Once they freeze, you can pop them out of the ice cube trays and put them in a freezer-safe container or bag. You can store the containers in the freezer for three months. You can freeze the seeds of passion fruit, too.
If the passion fruit is not ripe, you can ripen it at room temperature. Leave it uncovered and out of direct sunlight until the fruit becomes dark and dimpled. Then, it is ripe. If you cut the passion fruit, you must store any portion that you do not eat in the fridge.
How to Prepare Passion Fruit
The pulp and the seeds of passion fruit are edible. The seeds are nutritious and have a nice crunch. When a recipe calls for the pulp of passion fruit, you can scoop out the pulp with the seeds after you cut it in half.
If you do not want to use the passion fruit seed, you can scoop the pulp through a sieve, or a mesh strainer, over a bowl. It would be best if you used a sieve that is not aluminum. You can press the pulp and juice through.
Using a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, press the pulp through a fine strainer. If you want more juice from the passion fruit, you can gently heat it and add a small amount of sugar or simple syrup before you push it through the strainer. You want to be careful with how much heat you use, or it will impact the taste of the passion fruit.
You should know that it will take over 100 passion fruit to create one liter of juice. The typical way you serve this fruit is as fresh passion fruit. You can cook it if you want to use it as a pastry filling.
Ways to Serve Passion Fruit
There are other ways you can serve passion fruit to enjoy the full taste of the fruit. You can add slices of it to the fruit salad. You can add a spoonful of it to meat. You can spread it on French bread or crackers along with cream cheese.
Try cutting off the top of the fruit, add cream and sugar to the fruit. After that, mix all the ingredients together and enjoy it with a spoon. Try putting the pulp over the sherbet, ice cream, or yogurt. You can create a strained passion fruit puree and add it to blended drinks for great flavor. Add the passion fruit juice to your favorite cocktail to create a tasty beverage.
FAQs
How Do You Know if Your Passion Fruit is Bad?
If the skin of the passion fruit is brown, it means that the fruit is overripe. It also means that it is way past the time to eat it.
What is the Right Way to Eat Passion Fruit Seeds?
It is possible to break the rind of passion fruit with your thumbs and separate it into two pieces. Once you do that, you can suck the seeds and pulp out of the fruit. You can also scoop out the pulp and seeds with a spoon. You can swallow the seeds whole or chew them to get a more sour taste.