Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore
* Work carried out by Shree J.S. Pruthi and form a part of his Ph D. Thesis to be submitted to the Panjab University, Solan.
Results of a series of investigations conducted during the last 3 years on the nutritive value, processing and utilization of purple passion fruits (Passiflora edulis Sims.) have been reported. The detailed analysis of the juice (comprising about 35% of the whole fruit) revealed it to be fairly rich source of carotene (0.8 mg/100 g.) and ascorbic acid (35.0 mg/100 g). While studying the effect of regional variability seasonal variation, plant to plant variation, etc., considerable variation was noticed with respect to the physico-chemical composition of the fruit. Employing paper chromotogra-phic techniques, 2 organic acids (citric and malic) 3 sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and one polysacchaside have been identified in the juice. Among the carotenoids, phytoflu-ene, a and β carotene have been identified. About halfa from dozen products have been prepared the juice, the most promising of which are squash, cordial, pop, treacle etc. Further, the juice makes good blends with other less acid juices like mango, apple, pineapple etc.
The peel, which hitherto constituted a big waste, has been found to be a fair source of pectin (10–12% oh dry wt basis) Jam, jelly, candy, preserve and sweets have been prepared. Animal feeding trials conducted reveal that it could replace South Indian rice diet upto 20% level.
Seeds, comprising about 10–20% of the whole fruit, have been found to contain 20–25% of semi-drying oil (iodine value=142.0.
By conducting rat feeding trials, its digestibility coefficient was found to be of the order of 98%. The oil has been refined and hydrogenated.
