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Question
#98359. NoseTwitcher14
asks:
What can be done with the fruits of a passion flower?
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BRY2K 
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For one thing you can eat them! The fruits are usually eaten raw and are popular in fresh fruit salads.
Within is a cavity more or less filled with an aromatic mass of double walled, membranous sacs containing orange-colored, pulpy juice and as many as 250 small, hard, dark brown or black, pitted seeds. The unique flavor is appealing, musky, guava-like and sweet/tart to tart. The yellow form has generally larger fruit than the purple, but the pulp of the purple is less acid, richer in aroma and flavor, and has a higher proportion of juice (35-38%).
When found wild they're often eaten out of hand and called "maypops", "water lemons", "golden bell apples", or "granadillas".
By the way, I learned that when the Spanish explored South America they discovered that passion fruit was used in native folk medicine as a sedative. When the Spanish brought the passion fruit to Europe the leaves were used as a sleep-inducing medicine. The name 'Passion' was given by Catholic missionaries in South America. The corona threads of the passion flower were seen as a symbol of the crown of thorns, the five stamens for wounds, the five petals and five sepals as the ten apostles (excluding Judas and Peter) and the three stigmas for the nails on the cross.
 http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/passionfruit.html
http://www.kew.org/ksheets/passion.html
http://erinskitchen.blogspot.com/2006/07/going-local-passion-flower-fruit.html
Aug 07 08, 4:50 AM
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zbeckabee 
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The passion fruit or maracujá vine of commerce, Passiflora edulis, is cultivated extensively in the Caribbean and south Florida and South Africa for its fruit, which is used as a source of juice.
The fresh or dried leaves are used to make an infusion, a tea that is used to treat insomnia, hysteria, and epilepsy, and is also valued for its painkilling properties. It has been found to contain beta-carboline harmala alkaloids which are MAOIs with anti-depressant properties. The flower has only traces of these chemicals, but the leaves and the roots of some species contain more and have been used to enhance the effects of mind-altering drugs. Once dried, the leaves can also be smoked.
Passion flower also may be effective for anxiety disorder, but further studies are needed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower#Cultivation
Aug 07 08, 5:04 AM
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