Can you eat passion fruit seeds

In this brief guide, I will answer the question: “Can you eat passion fruit seeds” and I will give you a detailed review of the many nutritional and health benefits of passion fruit seeds.

Can you eat passion fruit seeds?

The answer is yes, passion fruit seeds are edible and beneficial to your health. Most people can safely consume the seeds whole, chew them, or eat them after they’ve been mashed in a blender. 

Passion fruit seeds are delicious when blended into a smoothie with other fruits like pineapple, mango or raspberries; They are naturally a bit tart. 

When eaten with the fruit pulp, passion fruit seeds add a delightful crunch, and they give a wealth of nutritional and physiological benefits, ranging from antioxidant protection to the maintenance of a healthy cardiovascular and intestinal system.

What Does Passion Fruit Look Like? 

Purple passion fruit, which are little round/oval in shape, or yellow passion fruit, which are slightly larger, are the most common. The fruit looks like a big dark plum, the diameter ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 in.; weighs, on an average, about an ounce. If they are green, they are not ripe. The fruit has a waxy rind that wrinkles as it ripens.  The cavity inside the fruit is generally filled with the yellowish, aromatic juicy pulp.The pulp within is made up of a mixture of orange-colored juice and small, crunchy seeds (1).

What are the benefits of passion fruit seeds?

The advantages of passion fruit seeds are numerous. Its seeds, like the fruit, are also good for your health. The edible seeds of this exotic fruit give a wealth of health benefits, ranging from antioxidant protection to heart health management.

1. They reduce blood pressure: Passion fruit seeds contain polyphenol, which has the capacity to relax the muscles of the blood vessel walls, lowering blood pressure. Consumption of the seeds aids in the loosening of blood vessels, resulting in improved blood flow. This helps to decrease blood pressure and prevent strokes and heart attacks. As a result, the seeds aid in the maintenance of cardiovascular health. Caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid, and rosmarinic acid have been detected in seeds (2).
2. They enhance bone strength: Passion fruit seeds contain magnesium, which can help you maintain good bone health and avoid age-related disorders like osteoporosis.
3. Manage your digestive health: the seeds of red passion fruit are excellent for enhancing and maintaining intestinal health. Colon cancer is also prevented by eating the seeds.
4. Improve carbohydrate metabolism: the magnesium in passion fruit seeds can aid with metabolic activities, and the vitamins in the exotic fruit seeds can help with carbohydrate metabolism. They aid in the conversion of carbohydrates into energy, avoiding the accumulation of extra fat. The polyphenols of passion fruit seeds, especially piceatannol, is reported as an activator of sirtuin, which is one of the factors that regulate energy metabolism (2).

5. Maintain regular bowel movements: the seeds’ insoluble fiber content can aid with bowel movement regulation. This protects your body against digestive problems including constipation and hemorrhoids. Fiber helps to keep bowel movements regular and prevents the start of digestive problems. The fiber content is 48–66 g/100 g dry seeds (2).
6. Defend against chronic diseases: one of the other health benefits provided by the seeds is that it aids in the prevention of chronic diseases. Passion fruit seeds are high in insoluble fiber, which aids in the prevention of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. It also contains a high amount of linoleic acid (i.e., a polyunsaturated fatty acid), accounting for approximately 70% of seed oil. A moderate intake of linoleic acid is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, most likely as a result of lower blood cholesterol concentrations (2).
7. Treat external wound: Passion fruit seeds are used to make essential oil, which is used to treat exterior wounds. The oil has anti-inflammatory properties that help to treat exterior wounds that cause discomfort and inflammation. It also aids in the restoration of healthy skin around the wound. Passion fruit seed extract exhibits antibacterial activity against Propionibacterium acnes, is a gram-positive commensal bacterium that causes acne on the skin, and improves the symptoms of striae distensae, a common form of skin scarring (2).

In addition, passion fruit seed extract has an anti-aging effect. In vitro experiments have shown that ethanol extract of passion fruit seeds increases collagen production when applied to dermal fibroblasts. The oil seed extract increases collagen production and inhibits collagen and elastin degradation, which may contribute to the maintenance of the structure of the dermis to retain skin moisture and elasticity (2).

What are the uses of passion fruit seeds:

Passion fruit oil is extracted from the fruit’s seeds and is yellow to bright yellow in hue. It is now utilized as a natural nourishing moisturizer in skin care because of the nutrients in the oil, as well as the fatty acids and antioxidants, and is especially good for those with aging, oily, or mature skin.

Photoageing of skin is caused by overexposure to UV radiations, which increases the production of reactive oxygen species, causing lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, and protein alterations. Passion fruit seed oil contains several polyphenols, which act against harms caused by the ultraviolet (UV) and can act as radical scavengers in biological systems, and for this  reason, these may be potentially useful for human skin photo-protection (3).

Passion fruit seed oil has many benefits:

• It gives the skin a lot of moisture and helps to keep the moisture balance 
• It softens the skin.
• It decreases the appearance of minor wrinkles. The skin appears firmer, younger, and more hydrated.
• It has an interesting fruity aroma.
• It protects the skin from inflammation and aids wound healing.
• It protects you from free radicals.

Conclusion

In this essay, I answered the question: “Can you eat passion fruit seeds?” and I gave an overview of the health benefits of the seeds of this exotic fruit as well as their use in food and non-food applications.

Please let me know if you need further details about this subject. 

References

1. Pruthi, J. S. Physiology, chemistry, and technology of passion fruit. Adv food res, 1963, 12, 203-282.
2. Kawakami, Shinpei, et al. Constituent Characteristics and Functional Properties of Passion Fruit Seed Extract. Life, 2021, 12, 38.
3. Yepes, Andres, et al. Purple passion fruit seeds (Passiflora edulis f. edulis Sims) as a promising source of skin anti-aging agents: Enzymatic, antioxidant and multi-level computational studies. Arab J Chem, 2021, 14, 102905.