Passion fruit tastes best when it's wrinkly

The passion fruit is a master of deception. When it looks its best, it doesn’t taste good at all. But if you wait patiently for it to ripen, you’ll be rewarded with a unique flavour that makes it a versatile ingredient in the kitchen.

Passion fruit is simply wonderful. It has a distinctive flavour and ripens easily at home. Its tough skin also makes it easy to transport. The perfect gebana fruit!

We imported passion fruit on a trial basis in 2024, and the results were so successful that we decided to include it in our regular product range. It goes without saying that we also found an efficient, well-established supply chain, allowing us to ship the fruit to Europe directly after harvesting.

Where does gebana's passion fruit come from?

We source our passion fruit from 18 family farmers north of Bogota who grow it on plots averaging 1 hectare. They live and work in Guavio, Oriente and in the Tenza Valley in the Cundinamarca region. Their growing areas are 1'800 to 2'400 metres above sea level, where the soil is fertile and there is plenty of water and sunshine.

Passion fruit is an evergreen climbing plant that bears fruit all year round in the gardens of the family farmers. Sometimes the plants bear fruit and flowers at the same time, allowing families to harvest almost continuously.

However, the flavour varies significantly depending on the season. Passion fruit that grow during the rainy season tend to be slightly tarter than the ones that soak up plenty of sunshine during the dry season. The family farmers take this as an opportunity to sell different passion fruit according to their specific qualities.

To do this, they work closely with the export and packaging company Ocati. As Daniela Vesga from Ocati explains, different markets demand different fruits. The fruit we receive grows between the rainy seasons and tastes sweet rather than sour.
Since the 1980s, Ocati has become a pioneer in organic fruit in Colombia. Today, it works with over 500 family farmers and employs around 350 people. Ocati's employees benefit from a joint savings and emergency fund, as well as grants for their children.

Together with family farmers, Ocati promotes the protection and reforestation of the rainforest. The company also advocates for fair wages for farm workers and promotes awareness of child labour among family farmers.

How can you tell when passion fruit is ripe?

If you want the best-tasting passion fruit, don’t judge it by its cover. A plump, glossy passion fruit may look beautiful, but it's not fully ripe yet and will taste very sour.

You need to wait until it looks quite wrinkled – that's when passion fruit develops its full flavour. As the fruit continues to ripen, it releases moisture, causing the skin to shrink and the sugar content inside to become more concentrated. This is what makes it taste better. So, the rule is: only eat passion fruit that is nicely wrinkled!

Not only does passion fruit has a delicious flavour, but it also delivers roughly the same amount of vitamin C as oranges – up to 50 mg per 100 ml – in addition to the B vitamins niacin and riboflavin, and minerals such as potassium, magnesium and phosphate. Moreover, the fruit is said to have anti-inflammatory and blood pressure-lowering properties.

What is the best way to use passion fruit?

Passion fruit is wonderful spooned straight out of the rind. But its unique aroma practically begs to be used in every way you can think of: as a topping for muesli or porridge, in dessert and cake recipes, or as an ingredient in smoothies, salads or fancy drinks. Vanilla Ice Ice Baby is a great one to try.

When is passion fruit available at gebana?

Although passion fruit is theoretically available all year round, we only carry it in June, July, August and September. We find it tastes best during those months. You can usually pre-order passion fruit from the end of February.