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What Does Passion Fruit Taste Like (Is It as Unique as Its Name?)

What Does Passion Fruit Taste Like

Just the name passion fruit is likely to leave your mouth watering. It brings to mind delicious flavors, romantic evenings, and sexy aromas.

Anyone who chooses to eat passion fruit will enjoy the unique flavor of this fruit. Passion fruit has a subtly sweet and super tart flavor that makes it ideal for baking, juicing, and other recipes.

What Is Passion Fruit?

Passion fruit is a type of fruit that comes from the passion flower. These fruits are tropical plants and are native to Australia, South Asia, and South America. However, they can also be grown in sub-tropical climates such as that of Florida.

Passion fruits have a tough outer rind and seed-filled, juicy centers. The inside looks like a gelatinous goop, but the taste of the plant is fresh and rich.

What Does Passion Fruit Taste Like

What Does Passion Fruit Taste Like?

Passion fruit has crunchy, easy-to-eat seeds that are surrounded by jelly-like flesh. The flesh is very refreshing and has a wide range of flavors. It can be either very sour or quite sweet.

Passion fruit grown commercially tend to be much more sour than those that are grown at home. Homegrown fruits are generally sweeter and have a more mild flavor. 

The Different Types of Passion Fruit

There are several different types of passion fruit out there. Each one, although giving off a tropical aroma, has quite a different flavor and look. Here are some of the common types of passion fruits you’ll come across. 

Purple Passion Fruit

Purple Passion Fruit

Purple passion fruit is one of the most common types of passion fruit out there. These fruits are one of the smaller types of passion fruit and have a round, oval shape. 

Purple passion fruits have a dark red or purple color. These fruits have a floral and tropical aroma, and produce orange fruit with small black seeds.

Yellow Passion Fruit

Yellow passion fruit

Yellow passion fruit is sometimes called golden passion fruit. This fruit tends to be much larger than its purple cousin, and has strong vines. 

Yellow passion fruit has a sweet-tart flavor and a very gelatinous flavor. You can eat this fruit fresh or can incorporate it into desserts, cocktails, and salads.

Banana Passion Fruit

Banana passion fruit

Banana passion fruit is found in South America and is sometimes called Taxo. These fruits are quite large, measuring as much as 12 centimeters long and growing on vines measuring up to 7 meters! 

Banana passion fruits have a leathery texture and a thick skin. The skin is green when unripe and turns orange-yellow once it is ready to eat. 

The pulp of this fruit is juicy and sweet, with hints of banana and a subtle tartness. This fruit is ideal for turning into juice thanks to its sweeter flavor.

Giant Passion Fruit

Giant Passion Fruit

Another common type of passion fruit is the giant passion fruit. This fruit is sometimes called barbadine or giant granadilla. 

Giant passion fruit really IS giant. The fruit can grow to weights of up to 4 kilograms! 

When it’s ripe, this fruit is a light yellow color. The pulp of the fruit is slimy with many seeds and is quite a sweet fruit. 

Sweet Passion Fruit

Sweet Passion Fruit

Last but not least is the sweet passion fruit. It’s actually called that! This type is a newly released fruit, and is said to be the most delicious variety out there

When unripe, sweet passion fruit has a blue hue. However, once it’s ripe, the fruit turns orange and has a white pulp that is sweet. 

How to Tell When Passion Fruit is Ripe

No matter which type of passion fruit you purchase, you’ll want to make sure that you’re eating it when it’s fully ripe. Eating passion fruit early can lead to a bitter and overly sour flavor that’s far from pleasant. 

Passion fruit is ripe once the color has turned dark and the skin is wrinkly. Although this might seem like it’s overripe, that’s actually when the passion fruit will taste best!

If you purchase green passion fruit, they are not ripe yet. You’ll want to leave them out at room temperature for 3-7 days in order for the fruit to ripen up. 

Remember, the heavier the fruit, the more juice and seeds it contains. When shopping for passion fruit, try picking the fruits that are heaviest.

How to Eat Passion Fruit

Are you ready to dig into some passion fruit? This fruit is super easy to eat.

To eat a passion fruit, simply cut the fruit in half. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and the pulp. 

It’s safe to eat both the pulp and the seeds of the fruit. Just steer clear of the tough rind, which isn’t edible!

Cooking With Passion Fruit

Cooking With Passion Fruit

Since passion fruit is quite sour, you might not want to eat it raw. You can easily throw the pulp and seeds into a blender with a bit of sugar to create a more palpable dish!

Once the mixture is blended, use a strainer to remove the seeds. Add the pulp to your favorite recipes and enjoy the tropical and sour flavor it adds!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have more questions about passion fruit? Here are a few answers to some frequent questions about this unique fruit.

Why is passion fruit so expensive?

Passion fruit is expensive because it’s a very finicky plant. Even the most experienced growers can have difficulty cultivating this plant and ensuring the fruit produced is juicy and full of flavor.

Is Granadilla the same as passion fruit?

Granadilla is a subspecies of passion fruit. While it’s not technically considered a passion fruit itself, some people will refer to it as a kind of passion fruit. It has a very sweet flavor, which is quite different from most passion fruit.

What can I use instead of passion fruit puree?

If you’re doing some cooking or baking with passion fruit, it’s not uncommon for the recipe to call for passion fruit puree. If you don’t have access to that, don’t panic! You can substitute peaches, papaya, guava, mango, banana, and pineapple for passion fruit puree.

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