Passiflora mixta

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Fruit - eaten raw or made into a juice, alcoholic beverage, marmalade, ice cream etc. The pulp surrounding the seeds is eaten. The green to greenish-yellow fruit has a pleasant, aromatic flavour. The ovoid fruit is about 45 - 60mm long and 20 - 25mm wide.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in tropical America. It grows between 500-2,000 m above sea level.

Africa, Andes, Australia, Bolivia, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, New Zealand, Peru, SE Asia, South America, Venezuela,

How to Identify

A climbing plant. The plant often crosses with Banana passionfruit Passiflora mollissima. The fruit are green or greenish-yellow. They are oval and 4-6 cm long by 2-3 cm wide.

How to Grow

Plants require a temperature no lower than around 16°c when they are flowering in order to ensure fruit set. Requires a humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil and a position in dappled shade where it can grow up towards the sun. Prefers a circumneutral soil, disliking very acid or very alkaline conditions. Passiflora species tend to flower and fruit more freely when grown in soils of only moderate fertility. Passiflora mixta is often grown as an ornamental. It has escaped from cultivation in some countries in east Africa, and also in New Guinea, where it has become established in the wild. Plants are very tolerant of pruning and can be cut back to ground level if required to rejuvenate the plant. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe along with the pulp which will help break down the seed coat and speed up germination. Stored seed should be soaked for 24 hours in warm water and germination time can be reduced if the seed is then mixed with the juice of a fresh passion fruit (of any species). Even so, it can take 12 months for stored seed to germinate. Place the seed tray in a shady position, maintaining a temperature around 19 - 24°c. Prick the seedlings out into individual containers as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant out when large enough. Cuttings of young shoots, taken at the nodes. The cuttings root best in a neutral to slightly acid compost, but 100% sharp sand also produces good results. Cuttings of fully mature wood taken at a node. They can take 3 months, but there is usually a high percentage. Layering. Very easy. Air layering.

Medicinal Uses

The leaves and roots of some, if not all, members of this genus contain a substance called 'passiflorina' which has similaritiesr to morphine and is an effective tranquilizer. We have no specific information for this species but many species are used in herbal infusions to calm the nerves and help bring about a restful sleep. The leaves of many species are also considered to be anthelmintic, antihysteric and diaphoretic. They are used in Brazil to combat intermittent fevers, cutaneous inflammations, and erysipelas.

Passiflora mixta, from the family Passifloraceae is also known as curuba (in Colombia), curuba de indio, curuba de monte, curubita, parcha (in Venezuela), and taxo (in Ecuador). Originally, it derived from the monophyletic Passiflora subgenus Tacsonia. Passiflora mixta is endemic to the Americas. A perennial vine, the Passiflora mixta is pink to orange-red in color.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

There are about 400 Passiflora species.

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