PASSION FRUIT IN KURAKAR GARDENS

 PASSION FRUIT IN
 KURAKAR GARDENS

Passion fruit is a small egg-shaped tropical fruit, which is also known by the name of Purple Granadillas. Passion fruit contains several seeds and has wrinkled purple brown rind on maturing. The seeds and the pulp inside, both are edible, making it easier to consume the fruit. Moreover, the pulp of the fruit has a distinct aroma and has a slightly sweet taste. In tropical countries, passion fruit is primarily used for juicing. The fruit is about 1 – 3 inches wide, with a smooth and waxy coating outside. Apart from its pleasant taste and appearance, the fruit is known for its various health benefits

Passion fruit also benefits those who eat it by providing the body with high doses of Vitamin A and C. Vitamin A helps the body to remove free radicals that cause skin and tissue damage, and it helps to improve our vision. Meanwhile Vitamin C helps to repair tissue, helps prevent heart disease and cancer and helps our bones.Passion fruit that is native to Paraguay, Brazil and northern Argentina. Its common names include passion fruit (UK and US), and passion fruit (Australia and New Zealand), purple granadilla and maracuja. It is cultivated commercially in warmer, frost -free areas for its fruit and is widely grown in India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and other countries. The passion fruit is round to oval, either yellow or dark purple at maturity, with a soft to firm, juicy interior filled with numerous seeds the fruit is both eaten and juiced; passion fruit juice is often added to other fruit juices to enhance the aroma.

The two types of passion fruit have clearly differing exterior appearances. The bright yellow variety of passion fruit, which is also known as the Golden Passion Fruit, can grow up to the size of agrape fruit  , has a smooth, glossy, light and airy rind, and has been used as a  rootstock for the Purple Passion Fruit in Australia. The dark purple passion fruit is smaller than a  lemon, though it is less acidic than the yellow passion fruit, and has a richer aroma and flavour. It tastes like lemons, guava and  pine apple combined. In Colombia, the purple passion fruit is referred to as "gulupa", to distinguish it from the yellow maracuyá.

Passion fruit juice is an excellent digestive stimulant and helps in the treatment of other gastric ailments.Passion fruit seeds contain high amount of fiber that the body needs to cleanse the colon, improve digestion, and help prevent heart attacks and strokes.Passion fruit is high in vitamin A which helps the body to remove free radicals that cause skin and tissue damage, and it also helps to improve our vision.It is also rich in Vitamin C which helps to repair tissue, helps prevent heart disease and cancer and helps our bones.There is also a compound in passion fruit that is believed to block histamine, reduce allergy and inflammation; passion fruit therefore has the health benefit of reducing the symptoms of asthma.The antioxidants found in passion fruit have been found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

Like most plants, passionfruit needs a well drained soil, water, nutrients and some care.Firstly you will need something to grow the passionfruit on, as they are a climber a trellis or mesh fence is a great starting point. It needs to be strong, as over the next couple of years your passionfruit is going to hang off it. You don’t want to have it collapse in a heap.You will need to condition the soil you want to grow the passionfruit, dig the hole three to four times as big as the pot the plant came in. Make it a big wide dish shaped hole. Try not to mix the sub soil with the top soil too much. Maybe make a pile for the top soil, and a pile for the sub soil, put the subsoil back in first followed by the top soil.

Passionfruit are gross feeders, which means you will need to feed them a lot of nutrients over their life time. Set aside the dirt that came from the hole and mix it with well rotted cow, sheep or horse manure as well as some blood and bone. My grandmother always put some offal (liver, heart etc) in the hole and covered it over before planting, over time this would break down into a great nutritious food for the passionfruit. Indirectly water the area with a sprinkler so the water can permeate slowly, not breaking down the soils composition. This may take two hours to get all the way through, a wetting agent such as Wetasol can be used to speed up the process.

Dig a hole in the prepared soil, gently remove the vine from the pot and tease the roots. A healthy plant should have white outer roots, this indicates new healthy growth. Old brown roots are still ok, but the plant is not in it’s optimal state. It’s good to check the roots of plants at the nursary to see that they are healthy before you buy them.Place the passionfruit vine into the hole and cover with soil. Ensure you do not cover the trunk above it’s original ground level.Gently water the plant to remove any air bubbles around the roots. Mulch generously if you live in a warm climate, this will help keep the ground around the plant cool and prevent moisture loss.

Remove the fruit’s seeds and wash the yellow pulp from around the seed (I like to put the seeds in my mouth and eat the pulp then spit the seeds in a bowl). Plant seeds right away in seed-raising mix. You can plant more than 1 seed per pot, just put them a few centimeters apart, separate them when they grow larger. Cover lightly with mix (~1cm), water them well and put in a warm spot to germinate. Once the plants are ~5cm tall, separate them into individual pots. To help the plants grow upright, include a stick or small growing frame in the pot to ensure they don’t droop over the outside. In 12 months your seedlings should be flowering.

Varieties include Nellie Kelly , Red Ambrosia, Panama Red, Panama Gold, and Sunnypash. The golden varieties are better suited to more tropical climates and growers may have problems with fruit ripening in cooler districts of the southwest. Passionfruit have relatively short life of between 5-6 years as they are so vigorous and heavy fruiting.Above is a photo of my new passionfruit vine. It is a Panama Red, and the fruit will grow to be around 5cm in diameter. I have mulched the soil with rotted horse manure, and I will cover that with shredded newspaper. The fence is to keep my dog from digging it up. I have installed temporary shade cloth (70%) to the galvinized iron fence and the other side of the mesh to provide some protection from the hot sun. I will remove this when the plant becomes established.

                                                                                 Prof. John Kurakar