Recipe
Passion fruit syrup
- Herb:
- Passion fruit Passiflora edulis
- Method:
- Syrup
- Plant part:
- Fruit
About 25 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Halve the fruits and spoon the pulp with seeds into a pan.
- Add 200 g of sugar and 100 ml of water, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
- Strain through a sieve and press the seeds (or leave some in for looks); pour into a clean bottle.
- Serve diluted 1 : 5 with water or sparkling water, in a caipirinha or over desserts.
Extraction
- Herb:
- pulp from 6 fruits (about 250 ml) to 200 g of sugar
- Solvent:
- brief boiling with sugar and a little water
- Shelf life:
- 3–4 weeks in the fridge
- Target compounds:
- acids, aroma (esters) and carotenoids of the pulp; seeds are strained out
Notes
A kitchen recipe with no particular risks. The calming effects attributed to 'passionflower' concern the aerial parts of another species, Passiflora incarnata (EMA monograph) — passion fruit is fruit, not a sedative.
Why it works
Sugar and a short boil preserve the acidic pulp and fix the volatile esters that carry the typical aroma. Botanically passion fruit shares its genus with the medicinal passionflower, but the clinical data on sedative action relate to P. incarnata; for the fruit of P. edulis the catalogue holds no such source.
Literature
- EMA HMPC — Passiflorae herba (Passiflora incarnata L.), European Union herbal monograph — Caution: the monograph concerns a different species (P. incarnata, aerial parts), not passion fruit. Included only because they are frequently confused.
Related
Passion fruit — Herb card
Syrup — Processing method detail