Passiflora cincinnata fruit

What it is

This is Passiflora cincinnata, known in Brazil as maracujá-da-caatinga or maracujá-do-mato. The named variety BRS Sertão Forte has round fruit weighing 109–212 g (about 4–7.5 oz), with light green skin when ripe. Its pale yellow to whitish pulp is very sour and suits juice.

The seeds are harder than those of ordinary passionfruit. For jelly, the cooked fruit goes through a sieve; a few seeds can go back in at the end.

Where it comes from

It grows wild across semiarid Brazil, especially in the Caatinga of the Northeast. Its native range also reaches Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela.

BRS Sertão Forte, released in Brazil in 2016, comes from selections of wild plants chosen for larger fruit and higher yields. The variety keeps the species’ tolerance of drought.

How it's eaten where it grows

In rural Uauá, Bahia, COOPERCUC turns the fruit into geleia, a jelly. In Neide Rigo’s version, cooked and strained fruit goes back on the heat with an equal volume of sugar until thick. The finished jelly goes with cheese, biscuits or bread.

A Brazilian copinho, or little dessert cup, layers jelly beneath a cream of passionfruit juice, fresh cream, coconut milk and sugar. A scattering of seeds finishes the top. The same fruit also goes into juice, sweets and ice cream.

How it's grown

The climbing plant grows on trellises, overhead supports or the fences between fields. BRS Sertão Forte tolerates dry conditions and also responds well to irrigation. In plantings that depend on rainfall, young plants go into the ground just after the short rainy season begins, with mulch around them to hold moisture in the soil.

When and where you'll find it

In Brazil’s Northeast, the largest supply usually comes from February to April. Fresh fruit travels through local markets and roadside stalls. It also travels as jelly: COOPERCUC’s is made from the fruit’s organic juice and sugar, with maracujá da Caatinga on the label.