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Passionate about flavor. Flavors, like fashion, can be trendy, and right now the hottest trending flavor is passionfruit.
The intense and aromatic flavor - a little goes a long way - can now be found in iced teas, baked goods, yogurt and smoothies, to name but a few categories.
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| Passionfruit tops on top of yogurt |
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Not only is it an exotic flavor, but its range of colors also is lighting up produce sections across the country. Ranging from purple to green, these golf ball-size bundles of flavor will make you passionate for produce.
Unlike fashion, great flavors don't go out of style.
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What the numbers mean
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Passionfruit's juicy pulp is a great source of vitamins C and A. Both are valuable antioxidants, helping quell inflammation, a known trigger for many chronic health problems.
But in addition to these well-known vitamins, flavonoids, a potent category of antioxidants, are also widely available in the form of
carotene and cryptoxanthin.
Rounding out the nutritional profile are minerals including copper, phosphorous and iron, making passionfruit a one-stop healthful choice.
And here's another juicy tidbit: having such a high level of vitamin C enhances the absorption of the iron available from the fruit.
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About the seeds
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The insides of a passionfruit
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So, we know the juice
has a lot going for it, but what about those seeds?
Passionfruit seeds, soft yet crunchy, also offer a lot, so please do not discard them!
Passionfruit seeds are loaded with piceatannol and scirpusin B, polyphenolic compounds that have strong antioxidant activity.
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Animal research indicates that the polyphenols found in passionfruit seeds contribute to vasorelaxation, a widening of blood vessels resulting from the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the blood vessel walls. This widening of blood vessels leads to a decrease in vascular pressure, helping promote a healthy cardiovascular system.
Those little seeds of goodness are also rich in insoluble dietary fiber. Insoluble fiber is an effective ingredient for promoting intestinal function for regular bowel movements and prevention of hemorrhoids and constipation.
Scooping both the pulp and seeds is the optimal way to capture all the nutritional goodness passionfruit packs in its brightly colored shell.
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Wrinkled when ripe
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Hiding beneath these awesome colored exteriors is the prize jewel: an explosion of flavor, fragrance and fabulous nutrition.
And here's a tip - a wrinkled exterior, rega
rdless of the color, means its ready to eat. And the more wrinkled it is, the sweeter it is.
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Get passionate
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| Enjoy simply by the spoonful |
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Passionfruit looks a bit unusual on the inside, causing some to wonder: "What do you do with this?"
A yellowish pulpy juice mixed with tiny dark brown seeds is where all the flavor and nutrition reside, along with a tropical, fragrant aroma.
The pulp and seeds offer two very distinct and different uses - squeeze and strain to get straight-up juice, or use the entire pulp as an ingredient in other recipes, such as smoothies, salad dressings or yogurt.
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The scoop on passionfruit
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Passionfruit is easy to open, but this fruit has a hard skin (which you discard), so use a serrated knife to make it easy.
Here are some tips for opening and scooping out passionfruit for your enjoyment.
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| Enjoy like a European and stick a straw in it |
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What are you waiting for?
Try one or some.
Find out why folks on the other side of the pond are passionate about this fruit.
To your health,
Donna Shields
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