The Passion Fruit plant is an amazing plant. The entire plant can be used and has many different health benefits.
The Passion Fruit Vine Leaves
The leaves themselves can be used either raw or cooked. They are great used in salads, curries, soups, stir-fries, pasta and quiches. Passion Fruit leaves can also be boiled and used as a calming tea. The leaves contain alkaloids which may have a calming and soothing effect.
They contain fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and Niacin.
The Passion Fruit Seeds
Inside each passion fruit are tons of little black seeds. Each little seed has a small sac of fruit around it that also contains some of the juice. The passion fruit seeds are edible and can be either chewed or swallowed whole. They are high in magnesium which may be relaxing to the muscles and the digestive system.
Separating the seeds from the pulp and juice is difficult so the seeds will end up tasting tart and tangy. I like to scoop out the seeds, pulp, and juice and put it over my plain Greek yogurt.
The Juice
As you can tell by the photos, every passion fruit is a bit different as to how juicy it will be. I’ve opened up large 3-4″ pieces of fruit only to find about 1 teaspoon of fruit, seeds, and pulp. On the other hand I have opened up little 1″ passion fruit that are completely filled with juice, seeds, and pulp. We water our vines daily and seem to get more juice out of each piece of fruit than the ones that I can find growing wild.
The fruit and juice inside is filled with fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C has iron and potassium. It is a low calorie and low on the glycemic index at 30.
These are just a few of the ways that passion fruit can help you live a healthier life.