Passion Fruit or Parchita: Sow at home

Maracuyá (from the tupí mara kuya, meaning "fruit that is served") is a round fruit, yellow when mature and with many seeds, produced by the passion fruit. The fruit is typical of Tropical and Subtropical America; the largest producers are: Peru, Venezuela, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, as well as Brazil, which is the world's largest producer.

Maracuyá

The passion fruit is a climbing plant with continuous vigorous growth. Its fruits, when mature, detach and fall on the ground; The passion fruit harvest period occurs six to nine months after sowing. There are three types of maracuyas: the yellow passion fruit, which corresponds to 95% of the type grown in Brazil, therefore, is the most important commercially; the purple passion fruit, indicated for regions of colder climates; and sweet passion fruit, suitable for consumption as fresh fruit.

The passion fruit is used mainly in the manufacture of juices and sweets, in addition to being consumed in its natural state. The fruit is a great source of vitamin C, fundamental for the proper functioning of the organism. In addition, it also has significant amounts of vitamins B Complex (B2 and B5), Iron, Calcium and Phosphorus. The sedative powers of passion fruit are well known. This calming property is due to the alkaloid substances and bioflavonoids that act on the central nervous system.

I am very privileged to have a large maracuya planting in my home, since approximately 6 months. It all started with a small plant that adorned my garden a little, now its branches have been scattered everywhere in my garden, in fact there is part of this plant on the platform of my home.

Its fruits are very large and sweet. Once a week my partner and I dedicate ourselves to remove a little the dry leaves, we pick up some harvests that are already ready.

In healthy and well-managed fruit trees, the plants are selected considering their vigor, productivity, precocity, resistance to pests and diseases; of these plants, the largest mature fruits are harvested, of good quality and with a good amount of juice. The fruits, the seeds can dry inside or be harvested and placed in a crockery or glass container for fermentation, without adding water, for 2 to 6 days, whose purpose is to separate them from the mucilage that surrounds them. They are then washed and placed on paper to dry in the shade. Another way to remove the mucilage is to use a de-polisher, a piece adaptable to the blender that does not damage the seeds, found in the trade.

The seeds should be used immediately after drying, because over time they lose their ability to germinate. The passion fruit, for being a plant that presents self-incompatibility, that is, when the self-pollination is carried out in the same flower, or in different flowers in the same plant, or in different flowers, but belonging to the same clone, the fruits. Thus, the fruit grower must remove and plant seeds of several fruits harvested in different plants, and not many fruits harvested from the same or a few plants.

Reference: