Passion fruit   

Passion fruit's description

Passiflora edulis is a vigorous, herbaceous, long-lived (perennial) climber, widely cultivated for its edible fruit. Stems up to 15 m long, striate, with axillary simple tendrils up to 10 cm long. Leaves alternate, up to 13 × 15 cm, more or less deeply 3-lobed, slightly leathery, glossy green or yellow-green above, paler and duller green below, with 2 glands at the apex of the petiole; margin finely toothed; linear stipules present, c. 1 cm long. Flowers solitary, up to 7 cm in diameter. Petals white, corona with filaments up to 2.5 cm long in 4-5 rows, white, purple at base. Fruit ovoid to spherical, 4-5 cm in diameter, yellow, greenish-yellow or purplish.

Passion fruit's facts

Did you know?

• Passiflora edulis is widely cultivated for its edible fruit.

Passion fruit's Behavior & Ecology

Well-Drained Soils, Fertile Loamy Soils, Disease.

Passion fruit's Reproduction

The flower of the yellow-fruited form of the passion fruit plant is self-sterile, while that of the purple-fruited form is self-compatible. Pollination of flowers is most effective when done by the carpenter bee. There are three types of yellow passion fruit flowers, classified by curvature of style. To help assure the presence of carpenter bees, place decaying logs near the vines, which provide shelter for the bees.

Passion fruit's Relationship with Humans

This plant exhibits various pharmacological properties and possesses a complex phytochemistry. Most of the pharmacological investigations of P. edulis have been addressed to its central nervous system (CNS) activities, such as anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, and sedative actions. In several preclinical experiments, P. edulis extracts have exhibited potential effects for the treatment of inflammation, pain, and insomnia as well as for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, hypertension, and cancer (Spencer and Seigler, 1983). Several mechanisms, including the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines, enzyme (myeloperoxidase) and mediators (bradykinin, histamine, substance P, nitric oxide) release and/or action, appear to account for P. edulis’s actions. The leaves and stems of P. edulis have shown antinociceptive, antitumor, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities (Patel, 2009). This plant-based, traditional medicine system still acquires an important place in the health care system. The pulp of the fruit acts as a stimulant and tonic. The putative clinical efficacy of P. edulis has been evaluated for the treatment of a variety of diseases, but the current most common use in clinical practice is in the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders. P. edulis has been used as an ethnic remedy for the cure of numerous infectious disorders of bacterial, fungal, viral, mycobacterium, and protozoal origin. Although a variety of other preparations are available, dried extracts are the most important product derived from P. edulis. Many practitioners actually use P. edulis extracts alone or in combination with other herbal medicines to treat depression and insomnia in a wide range of patients (Newall et al., 1996; Zhou et al., 2008). This chapter aims to evaluate and comment on the scientific evidence regarding the therapeutic use and basis for future research on P. edulis, and its real potential for the development of the market for herbal medicinal products; to summarize the chemical constituents of therapeutic preparations; to analyze the pharmacological aspects of the plant by examining both preclinical and clinical research, and to assess the toxicity and safety profile.