These passiflora form edible fruits
The table below shows the names of the most important edible Passiflora species, although the list is of course not complete. Of the more than 500 different members of this very extensive family of plants, around 50 to 60 produce edible fruits. Some species are little known to us and under the local conditions only rarely develop ripe fruits, but are cultivated specifically as fruit suppliers in their home countries. Others, such as passion fruit, can also be found in our supermarkets.
also read
- Passionflower fruits are sometimes edible
- Passion flower: some species are poisonous
- Passion Flower - Toxic to Cats?
| Passiflora species | Popular name | origin | blossom | fruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P. edulis forma edulis | Passion fruit | Tropics | white-purple | dark brown-red, wrinkled skin |
| P. edulis forma flavicarpa | Passion fruit | Tropics | white-purple | greenish to yellow, larger than passion fruit |
| P. ligularis | Grenadilla or Granadilla | Peru | white-purple | deep yellow |
| P. quadrangularis | Barbadine, King Grenadille | West Indies | Petals dark red, corona white-purple | very large fruits |
| P. alata | – | Peru and Brazil | Red | yellow to light orange |
| P. incarnata | Flesh-colored passion flower | North America | white, purple, or pale pink | greenish to yellow, about the size of a hen's egg |
Better not to eat these passion fruits
The fruits of most passiflora are not poisonous, only inedible or not very tasty. However, a few species are actually unsuitable for consumption, and in many cases unripe fruits are even poisonous. Absolutely inedible (on the contrary, because they are even poisonous) are all passiflora of the genus Decaloba and their hybrids (hybrids).
Use fruits for seed production
However, fruit formation is not that easy. You need to know exactly which species your Passiflora belongs to and how it is pollinated - fruits with seeds only develop if the flower is pollinated at the right time. In nature, some passion flowers are fertilized by bats, others by hummingbirds or bees or bees. Butterflies. In addition, some species can be cross-pollinated, some only by their own species and a few of their own are self-pollinating. As a rule, for fruit formation at home you have to reach for the brush and the Hand pollination make. The seeds of ripe fruits are great for propagation.
Tips & Tricks
In the case of Passiflora, you can quickly become a breeder yourself and create your own varieties, as many species can be crossed with one another.