Nature Care

   Hi Friends,today I will share with you some of my experience related to Passion Fruit and also its health benefits.Passion fruit is native to Brazil,Argentina and Paraguay.In India,it is cultivated in some areas of Nilgiri hill region,Karnataka,Himachal Pradesh and north eastern states of Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram.In our state i.e.Assam it is rare and I was not familiar with it.Although,I grew up in a family involved in horticulture,having a big farm with all different seasonal and perennial fruits,I could hardly remember consuming it in my childhood.It was in the year 1999,I had a chance to work on a project on organic farming of Passon fruit in our neighbouring state of Manipur.It was then, as if I rediscovered passion fruit and came to know its nutritional importance.

The Passion fruit is nearly round to oval in shape either purple or yellow at maturity,depending on its variety.The plant is a perenial vine,shallow rooted and woody climbing by means of tendrils.Passion fruits have a unique tart pleasant flavour and sweet taste.Just scoop out its juicy pulp using a spoon.Its tough peel,anyhow is inedible.The fruit is preferably consumed as a juice rather than a table fruit.It is used in the preparation of sauce, jellies,syrups,mousse,ice cream, desserts, cakes etc.

Passion fruit or Passiflora is known as 'Krishna fal' in Hindi and 'Bellata' in Assamese.In hills of north eastern India, the passion fruit leaves are used as vegetables and tender leaves for medicinal purpose.

Let's see the health benefits of Passion fruit. This fruit has been widely known to reduce high blood pressure,for its high potassium content.Other significant reasons to include this fruit in our diet are-
*it provide vitamin A, important for skin,eyes,and the immune system.
*it is rich in Vitamin C, an important antioxidant and other minerals like magnesium, calcium,phosphorus along with Vitamin B6 and niacin.
*it has low glycemic index(IG) and as such it does not increases blood sugar after eating it, making it a good option for people with diabetes.
* increases insulin sensitivity  that can help reduce the risk of many diseases including diabetes.
*when  eaten with the seed it provide a lot of fibre, which help to remove excess cholesterol from inside the blood vessel,  as such reducing the risk of heart disease.

So friends,I would suggest to just include this fruit in your diet, if not locally available, you can surely get it in the form of juice and ofcourse  consume an organic one.