About the size of an avocado, the yellowish fruit is determined to be fully ripe when the skin becomes wrinkled.
If you haven’t tried the juice of the Passion Fruit, also known as Maracuya by the Amazonian indigenous peoples, then you have missed out on better health as well as having a refreshing beverage.
There are over 200 varieties of this flowering fruit, but the one I have come to know best is a yellowish skinned variety with an orange colored juice. Some people say it does’t have much taste, others say it is bitter. I have discovered that if the process of extricating the juice from the seeds is done too harshly, then the seeds will break open and make the juice bitter.
The seeds and the juice have to be separated in order to enjoy the juice.
Using a blender can create broken seeds if blended too long, but a quick (less than 15 seconds) rotation of the blades will separate the seeds and juice and then you can put all of it into a colander and push the juice through.
According to many sources, there are tremendous benefits to drinking the juice (or making a jam or jelly of the fruit) including: heart tonic, reduction in anxiety or depression, an anti-inflammatory, and because of the high amounts of potassium, it is great to drink after having a stomach distress or diarrhea to bring your electrolytes back into balance. The indigenous peoples use the leaves for the heart tonic and drink the juice to enjoy increased libido or have a more tranquil day or night.
After the seeds are removed, you can see how Mother Nature has designed the packaging to protect the juice!
I have heard that other parts of the fruit are used as well, but I haven’t discovered the recipes for how to utilize the fleshy part or the skin. Perhaps there is a reader who knows about this?
The orange colored juice needs a bit of sweetening for my taste buds, so I use Stevia liquid or powder which mixes well with the juice. This is not a liquid which keeps well – you want to make it and drink it right away to get all the benefits, or another way to preserve some of those qualities is to turn the juice into frozen cubes, which can be added to another beverage or can be melted down for a fresh juice later on.
While I cannot attest to any of the beneficial properties directly, I can say that I enjoy this Colombian fruit and if there is any proof to be had, maybe it’s that I haven’t been ill with a cold since I came here seven months ago. It’s the ‘other’ orange juice.
Recent Comments