Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
karyn1_gw

Passion fruit from grocery

karyn1
15 years ago

I picked up a couple different passion fruits from the grocery store. I'm guessing that they are both probably edulis but am not sure. Both types are a bit rounder then an egg. One is a very dark purple, almost black and the other is a deep red. They had a typical passie fruit taste with the dark fruit being a bit more tart. I don't know if that's because of ripeness or what. I started some edulis and e. flavicarpa vines last year but neither has produced fruit so I have nothing to compare the store fruit to. Do you think the fruit I bought are edulis varieties and if so which ones? I realize that this may be difficult without a pic of the fruit and having no idea what the foliage looked like.

TIA,

Karyn

Comments (9)

  • jblaschke
    15 years ago

    The purple is classic edulis--no way of telling which cultivar, sadly--while the red one is most likely a flavicarpa/edulis hybrid cultivar (Panama Red comes to mind, but there are lots of different ones). It's been my experience that seed from grocery fruit are easy to germinate. Edulis varities are pretty much the only ones we see in the U.S., as other species don't ship well.

  • passionflow
    15 years ago

    I am sure jblaschke is right.
    Pics in link below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: P. edulis fruit

  • karyn1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks for the info and link. The fruit looked exactly like the edulis and edulis hybrid pics. The hybrid fruit was much better then the other. I eat passion fruit fairly often and don't know why I've never bothered saving the seeds.
    Karyn

  • ibartoo
    15 years ago

    You have the coolest grocery stores! The stores here don't carry those neat things. I would love to find some like that. I am growing my first panama red, but it hasn't bloomed yet. I can't wait... Enjoy those and definitely plant the seeds. LOL

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    I'm just curious what parts of the country and in which stores people have been finding passionfruit. I've been looking in Northern California--unsuccessfully. Among the places I would think I might have some luck are the big Asian supermarkets, which have a lot of passionfruit products as well as an amazing diversity of produce. Nothing. What have people seen here or elsewhere in the country? Is it in season yet?

    I used to notice them all the time several years ago, when I wasn't actually looking. Now the mainstream stores seem to have to scaled back their small collection of "unusual" fruits.

  • kiwinut
    15 years ago

    Harris Teeter carries them most of the time here in Nashville, but I have not seen them at any other supermarkets. Usually about $3 each.

  • jblaschke
    15 years ago

    H-E-B Central Market (Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas...) carries purple edulis fruit, usually with a price around $2.50. They're imported from New Zealand. Randall's stores also carried them at one time, but I haven't been to a Randall's in years. I seem to recall Whole Foods having them on occasion as well.

    Generally, it's the upscale stores that will have them, because of the cost per fruit.

  • karyn1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I buy tropical fruit at the Korean superarket. I've even found fresh rhambutans and mangosteens amongst other things. The mainstream grocers like Safeway and Giant carry passion fruit, starfruit and some of the other more common tropical fruits but their prices are outrageous and the fruit is usually nasty and unripe.
    Karyn

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    I had a lot of trouble finding passion fruit in the store (I've been trying for several weeks) so I figure some might be interested in my solution.

    I tried the obvious candidates--Whole Foods, Asian supermarket, big grocery stores, specialty markets, etc. I asked at Whole Foods and they said they were out of season.

    So I placed a question on Yahoo answers: "Where can I find fresh passion fruit near San Jose (Cupertino) California?" To my amazement, it worked, and someone knew of a market a few miles away that I had never even heard of (Cosentino's). I was shocked when I saw the price--$35 a pound--but I had my pick of a large number of what appeared to be high quality fruit. I bought one for $5 and it was quite good.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Yahoo Answers