Passion fruit is such a charming name. But the fact shows that this fruit deserves its name because of the diversity of passion fruit health benefits. Originating from South America, specifically Brazil and Argentina, passion fruit has made its own way to become a global phenomenon within a short period of time.
It now appears in many cuisines. People use it for breakfast or for adding flavor and taste to their desserts. Over 500 different types of passion fruits exist and they all look different in appearance. The colors are various too. Among them dark purple and yellow are the most common.
Perhaps the most popular way people enjoy passion fruit is juicing. And it is common to see it serve as an additional part in other juices to have a better flavor and taste.
One of the main reasons why passion fruit has many positive impacts on people’s health is its highly nutritional value.
Let’s dig deeper into passion fruit nutrition facts so as to understand passion fruit health benefits in a scientific and logical way.
Nutrition Facts
Over 70 percent of passion fruit’s content is water and it provides a quite high number of calories with 97 kcal per 100 grams of serving.
Passion fruit is also particularly rich in fiber. But vitamins and minerals are really what we need to care when it comes to passion fruit nutrition facts.
In 100 grams, we will get over 1200 IU of vitamin A, which is equal to approximately 43 percent of an ordinary person’s daily requirement. Passion fruit supplies a lot of vitamin C, K and niacin. In terms of minerals, potassium in passion fruit accounts for the highest amount and satisfies 18 percent of human need per day.
Calcium, phosphorus, iron or magnesium are other outstanding nutrients that may contribute to some important health benefits of passion fruit. In passion fruit, scientists also found the presence of phytonutrients, such as lycopene or Cryptoxanthin.
Passion Fruit Health Benefits and Uses
Below are top 8 passion fruit health benefits that are backed by studies.
1. Blood Pressure
The richness of potassium in passion fruit is responsible for passion fruit health benefits on our blood pressure. To be exact, it reduces the risk of high blood pressure which might be a life-threatening factor for many people (1, 2).
Potassium has significant effects on the balance of electrolytes in our body and even our muscles’ function.
This mineral also protects arteries from blockages by limiting calcium from running into our blood stream (3, 4).
Moreover, passion fruit does NOT contain much sodium which is believed to raise blood pressure (5). In many cases, sodium is the indirect cause of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and heart attacks.
2. Immune System
The immune system protects the body from foreign invasions, such as bacteria or virus. Therefore, unless you want to get down with flu or diseases, it is necessary to keep this shield strong.
This is also one of the best passion fruit health benefits which provides a number of beneficial nutrients.
Vitamin C might be the best-known nutrient to promote the immunity (6, 7, 8). Because vitamin C is water-soluble, our body can lose a great amount of it.
In this case, passion fruit is an ideal choice because of its abundance of this vitamin. But we cannot skip vitamin A and phytonutrients in passion fruit (9).
Beta-carotene or xanthin is super effective to strengthen the body’s protection against flu or cold (10, 11).
3. Eye Health
Recently, many people have blamed technology for causing a dramatic increase in the number of people with eye problems. In fact, our vision declines as time passes by. And if you do not know how to protect your eyes, they will deteriorate more quickly.
One of the best ways to stop the worse condition of the eyes is to include healthy foods in daily meals. These foods contain many antioxidants, such as vitamin A or flavonoids (12).
When examining passion fruit nutrition facts, can you realize that it is full of these above-mentioned nutrients?
Undeniably, one of the greatest passion fruit health benefits is to improve eye health. Vitamins and flavonoids prohibit free radicals from destroying our eyes (13, 14).
They also have protective effects on mucous membranes.
4. Digestion
Soluble fiber is an important part of passion fruit nutrition, because of not only its amount, but also its role in many passion fruit health benefits. Soluble fiber promotes digestion by absorbing water and softening our stools (15).
Therefore, the bowel movements become smoother.
The water content of passion fruit is another advantage for the digestive system.
5. Colon Cancer
As a result of health benefits of passion fruit on our digestion, it is also beneficial for lowering the risk of colon cancer (16, 17).
Antioxidants from passion fruit are supportive for cleaning our colon by making stools softer and easier to pass. They are also good for preventing inflammation in our anal areas.
6. Mood
In passion fruit and even its flower, scientists have discovered alkaloids and phytonutrients with mild sedative qualities (18).
Thus, passion fruit can relax our nervous system and make it easier for sleeping. In other words, one of the top passion fruit health benefits is to enhance mood.
You can be relieved to use it to deal with depression or anxiety naturally and efficiently.
7. Anemia Prevention
Iron plays an essential role in the release of red blood cells in our body as it is the main content of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin promotes the transportation of blood to different body parts.
If you are told about low blood levels, the possible problem is hemoglobin deficiency known as Anemia (19). This problem does not cause immediate death, but in the long term, it has devastating consequences.
With its great amount of iron, it is undoubted that one of the health benefits of passion fruit is to prevent and even handle anemia. The amount of iron in passion fruit can go up to one-fifth of our daily need.
In addition, vitamin C from passion fruit can promote the iron absorption as well (20).
8. Asthma
According to a study, passion fruit is claimed to have positive influence on the asthma treatment. This advantage perhaps results from its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiallergic qualities.
Although it is still too early to conclude health benefits of passion fruit on asthma patients, there is a big hope for its popularity in the future.
Flavonoids that are present in passion fruit (especially purple one) are helpful to control asthma symptoms (21).
Side Effects
The overwhelming health benefits of passion fruit will become greater when you consume a lot every day. There is no great danger behind the consumption of passion fruit.
Nevertheless, there are a few notes you had better remember to avoid the worst scenario.
Passion fruit contains high level of sugar. Therefore, those suffering from diabetes should not use passion fruit excessively or else their blood sugar level will rise dangerously.
