Granadilla

[jcaldeira]

I picked up a few Granadilla rooted cuttings at a Department of Agriculture research station a few days ago.   How does the taste and appeal of granadilla compare to passionfruit?  I've not tasted the fruit, but a little research on the web indicates it is related to passionfruit.
 
Further, I understand there are several types of granadilla, including a 'giant granadilla'.  Does anyone know what kind of granadilla I have? (photo below)



Thanks,
John
PS:  Also at the Ag station, I picked up seedlings/cuttings of Nutmeg, Neem, Tavola nut, Strawberry, Black Pepper and Kava.

[Mike T]

John granadillas have been very popular here for over 100 years but are becoming less common now.There was a time when I was a kid that every second yard had a vine.The old timers use them in many ways including stewing the flesh mixing it with apples for pies or puring the sweet pulp over it.P. quadrangularis seems to have a few un-named varieties that vary in overall fruit size and sweetness of the pulp.
Overall the pulp is rather like bland honeydew melon with a faint passionfruit flavor.The central pulp and juice is much paler and less acid than edulis but nice in good types.As the fruits develop put a sheer ladies stocking over the fruit to keep pests away.The flowers are impressive.

[Felipe]

I guess we are talking about P. ligularis...

This fruit compared to other passifloras is sweet and has no acidity, while it has a orange/mandarin taste, hence the name naranjilla (naranja = orange; naranjilla = little orange). Naranjillas are ver popular in many places in Latin america. IMO it is one of the tastiest passifloras out of hand. You made a good acquisition

[Mike T]

Sorry Felipe sometimes I slip and write in australian instead of american.Granadilla is purely Passiflora quadrangularis here, the big type with edible flesh.All other passiflora including native ones have the word passionfruit in their name.

P.ligularis has always been a novelty species here because the commercial flavicarpas and edulis are so muych sweeter and aromatic than everything else including ligularis.Perhaps all the other passionfruit have declined here due to the popularity of flavicarpa varieties like panama red and gold or edulis like pink cheeks or misty gem.I suppose even little children eat and enjoy them out of hand and the flavor is rich.

[Felipe]

Someone in this forum, I don't remember who, suggested using latin names to avoid confussions, which I think wouldn't be a bad idea. It's funny that you guys call quadrangularis granadilla, since the suffix -illa in Spanish means small. I've seen pretty big ones out there... 

I agree quadrangularis can be a little insipid, but i find ligularis very tasty  BTW, I've heard that ligularis is supposed to be pretty temperated..

Other passifloras that I have tasted have been very aromatic, but acidic, not sweet...

[jcaldeira]

Do you think I have Passiflora quadrangularis?   Fiji tends to use Australian terminology.   

[tabbydan]

I'm confused.
From the ones I've tried...

P edulis & P edulis v flavicarpa: very strongly flavored, nice flavor, orange pulp, but rather sour

P ligularis: different flavor than edulis, not as strong a flavor but nice, clearish pulp, sweet

I've never had an edulis or edulis v flavicarpa that was sweet.  Not in Costa Rica, not in Puerto Rico, not in Indonesia, not in Thailand or Sri Lanka.  Someone could have developed one that is sweet but, I've never eaten that variety.

I would LOVE to try the other passifloras but I've sadly only bumped into edulis and ligularis as those two seem to be grown everywhere.

[Mike T]

Those in the picture are P.quadrangularis and P.alata has similar foliage but smaller.Tabby this has been confusing for me also.In Australia and NZ and some nearby areas passionfruit are extremely popular and mainstream having been cultivated since the 1800's.Sour ones are considered inferior and unmarketable.The are dozens of varieties and most australians get a surprize when trying passionfruit overseas.The rest of the world seems to prefer the sour flavicarpas and edulis.Those in SE Asia,Africa and the hawaiin yellow flavicarpa taste terrible to me but locals love them.
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/fruit%20pages/passionfruit.htm
Here are some from NSW.We tend to use overseas names for locally bred types such as panama,colombian,african etc.Look at pi I have posted in recent passionfruit threads.

[tabbydan]

PS:  Also at the Ag station, I picked up seedlings/cuttings of Nutmeg, Neem, Tavola nut, Strawberry, Black Pepper and Kava.

Kava?  Are you "comfortably numb" now?

[tabbydan]

Tabby this has been confusing for me also.In Australia and NZ and some nearby areas passionfruit are extremely popular and mainstream having been cultivated since the 1800's.Sour ones are considered inferior and unmarketable.The are dozens of varieties and most australians get a surprize when trying passionfruit overseas.The rest of the world seems to prefer the sour flavicarpas and edulis.

Well it might not be that they prefer the sourness but just that they don't feel the need to improve it.  The sour ones are often put in things and sugar added...  I can actually eat the sour P edulis out of hand, but I do recognize that it isn't a typical thing to eat by itself.  I'll have to try the AU/NZ varieties someday, it will be a real surprise (to me) trying a sweet P edulis.

[jcaldeira]

PS:  Also at the Ag station, I picked up seedlings/cuttings of Nutmeg, Neem, Tavola nut, Strawberry, Black Pepper and Kava.

Kava?  Are you "comfortably numb" now?

Ha!  No, but I drink a lot of kava when delivering business and beekeeping training in the villages, occasionally with neighbors, but not much at home.  I like it; It's a great feel when going to bed if you have the strong stuff.

[HMHausman]

It is a bit bizarre, as Felipe points out, Giant Granadilla is somewhat of an oxymoron.  The ones I have had have not been very flavorful at all.  My neighbors, who are from Trinidad originally, call it Barbadine.  They use it to make a drink.  Overall, for me, this is an impressive plant/bloom/fruit with not all that much to get excited about in the flavor department.

[jcaldeira]

Thank you, all, for the assessments.  I'll grow a few and see what I have.  I have no desire to keep a fruit species alive for diveristy.   It needs to give me something.