HAWAII AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
HONOLULU, HAWAII 
Under the joint supervision of the 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
and the 
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII 
BULLETIN No. 74 
Washington, D. C. 
September 1935 
THE EDIBLE PASSION FRUIT IN HAWAII 
By W. T. Pope, Senior Horticulturist 
CONTENTS 
Introduction 
Botanical relations 
Pollination habits and unfruitfulness 
Composition of fresh passion fruit (Passiflora 
edulis) 
Passion fruit juice 
General cultural requirements 
Selection of sites and soils 
Propagation 
Soil preparation 
Trellises and planting 
Tillage 
Fertilizers.. 
Page i 
1 
General cultural requirements— Continued. 
Pruning 
Insect enemies and plant diseases 
Harvesting and marketing 
Page 
Descriptions of edible passion fruits 11 
Purple passion fruit 11 
Yellow passion fruit . 13 
Sweet granadilla or waterlemon 13 
Giant granadilla 16 
Bell-apple 18 
Sweet calabash 20 
Literature cited — - 22 
INTRODUCTION 
Possibly half a dozen species of edible passion fruit have been in 
cultivation in Hawaii for the last half century. Several of these 
species have been disseminated in certain localities and are now 
growing as a part of the natural vegetation. Only comparatively 
recently has effort been made to grow the fruit commercially in 
Hawaii. Investigation has shown that it is of relatively easy culture 
and is well adapted to Hawaiian conditions. The most useful species 
grow best in the cooler, moist parts of the Tropics, although they are 
not considered exacting in their climatic and soil requirements. 
The relatively small amount of space required by the passion fruit 
plants and their habit of fruiting early adapt them to temporary 
intercropping with such permanent orchard trees as require 6 or 8 
years to come into regular bearing and need their properly allotted 
space. 
The passion fruit may be used in many ways for food and bever- 
age purposes and it may find a market both in Hawaii and on the 
mainland of the United States. 
No insect pests or plant diseases have yet been reported as seriously 
attacking passion fruit plants in Hawaii. 
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