The Flower and Fruit of Passion – Passion Flower or Passionfruit

01/20/08 02:09:58

The names of flower and fruit of Passionflower or Passion fruit sound 'passionate', however they have nothing in common with a passionate love, but are connected to torments and Passion of Jesus on the cross, and Passion flower is therefore also called the flowers of Jesus. The first Spanish missionaries, who came to South America in 16h century and saw that exotic flower in tropical forests, named it so because it reminded them of Jesus Christ’s thorn wreath. In 1610 Spanish missionary Jacomo Boscio presented Floss Passionis to the world as the ‘most miraculous example of Croce Trionfante found in woods.

The contemporary of epoch of symbolism, Jacomo Bosciom, a monk who wrote about the Torments of Christ, got drawings of the Passion flower flowers from Mexico and in this strange flower he found several symbols of Christ’s crucifixion: radial filaments in a form of wreath represent the Crown of Thorns, the ten petals and sepals symbolize ten faithful disciples (without Peter and Judas), three upper stigmata are the three nails, while five lower anthers symbolize five wounds of Jesus.

Passionflower originates from Middle and South America, where Europeans first saw it. Later on some variants of the Passifloraceae family widespread and were found in all humid and tropical climates of all continents apart from Europe and Antarctic.

The most popular variants are Passiflora edulis f. purpurea with purple fruits, and Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa  with yellow fruits.

There are around 500 variants of Passion flower. Some have fragrant flowers that smell nice and sweet, with mild fruity nuance and the nuance of heliotrope. Some of them have no smell, while some smell really bad. Pollination depends on the tastes of pollinators among which are bees, wasps, butterflies, bags, and hummingbirds. Many variants have edible fruits.

Passion fruit, or maracuya, or granadilla (both the flower and fruit have the same name, or better to say more than one names) is a round or oval shaped fruit of yellow or purple color. Its taste and smell we know mostly from the tropical juices and fruit yogurts. Passionfruit possesses very intense, exotic, ‘tropical’ scent and taste. Fragrant component Oxane (registered trademark of Firmenich) are produced from yellow Passionfruit and are used in production of Passionfruit and grapefruit aromas, as well as in citrusy and fruity fragrant compositions.

Most of Passionfruit variants are grown for their edible fruits. American Indians used Passionflower leaves as tranquilizer, and flower and leaf extract of this plant is used today as a sedative which does not cause addiction.

(Sources :Common Fragrance and Flavor Materials by H. Surburg, J. Panten, The American species of Passifloraceae, Bo Jensen Hature scents guide, wikipedia)

Author: jeca (jeca)
Fragrantica Member