Risk of Passion Fruit During Pregnancy You Should Be Aware of

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) is native to Southern Brazil through Northern Argentina and Paraguay. It is a vine species of passion flower and considered as a type of berry. There are a lot of names to call this fruit. There are passion fruit in English, fruit de la passion in French, maracujá in Portuguese and parcha in Spanish. The plant itself is commercially cultivated for the fruit.

It is usually cultivated in the tropical and subtropical areas. They are originally a tropical fruit, but some varieties can survive even in the subtropical areas. For that characteristic, the passion fruits grown all over the world. Spreading widely from South America, North America, Australia, Europe and Asia.

The passion fruit has an appearance of tough outer rind and round to oval. It has a soft to firm juicy interior that filled with huge number of seeds. There are several types of passion fruit. They vary in size and color. Most common one are the yellow and purple varieties. Passion fruit can be eaten by itself or juiced. Usually the juice is used to enhance the aroma of other beverages. The most common type of passion fruit are:

• Passiflora flavicarpa: Commonly found in larger size than the purple one, has a round to oval shape and yellow colored.
• Passiflora edulis: Small in size, has a round shape and purple colored.

Passion fruit has a lot of nutrients inside and along with that, they are also some risks that should be look for. The risks are rarely found, and the fruit itself is considered safe to be consumed. So the following information will simply be an additional information for your knowledge.

Before we reach to the risk of passion fruit during pregnancy, we should talk about the nutritional values of passion fruit and later on the recommendation intake and tips. You can also read Dangers of Durian Fruit If You Eat Too Much – Health Awareness.

Nutritional Value of Passion Fruit

About 18 grams of one purple passion fruit contains the following nutrients:

• Calories: 17
• Fiber: 2 gr
• Iron: 2% of RDI
• Potassium: 2% of RDI
• Vitamin A: 8% of RDI
• Vitamin C: 9% of RDI

As we can see, in such a small single fruit there are a lot of nutrients. Most of them are especially fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C. And also, one of the most interesting fact is it has only 17 calories! Other than the one mentioned above, passion fruit also rich in beneficial plant compounds. It includes carotenoids and polyphenols. You can also read other information on Foods to Avoid for Blood Type A.

Risk of Passion Fruit During Pregnancy

Here are the risk of passion fruit during pregnancy

1. Allergic Reaction

Allergies on passion fruit can be found only in small number of people. The one who got it are mostly suffered from latex allergy symptoms. This allergic reactions occurs when there is a similarity in the structure of plant proteins with latex proteins.

Passion fruit contains chemical which is similar to that found in latex. One of them is class 1 chitinase. It is a chemical compound that has a very similar structure to hevein. Hevein itself is one of the allergen that is found in latex. For that reason, passion fruit can trigger an allergic reaction to some people who consume it.

The signs and symptoms of those with latex-fruit allergy is the same as the other food allergy. It includes hives, throat swelling, and difficulty in breathing. You can also read about How to Treat Allergic Pink Eye At Home.

2. Potentially Poisonous 

It is never a good idea to take too much consumption of passion fruit. First of all, passion fruit has a high content of fiber. When you drastically increase your fiber intake, it is possible to cause a short term distress in the gastrointestinal tract. But, the distress should go away as your body adjust over time with the change on the intake of fiber.

The second reason is because the fruit, especially the purple one, contain certain chemicals. The chemicals are called cyanogenic glycosides. These chemicals found in not-ripe-yet passion fruit and can combine with enzymes to form another substance. The substance is poison cyanide. Which is one reason why you should not take too much of passion fruit in a single time.

3. Stomach Upset

Passion fruit has a common side effect of causing nausea and fatigue. It happens because the general reason of passion fruit is to lower blood pressure and to treat anxiety. Therefore, when you consume too much it will give you a slight feeling of vomiting.

Also, under normal circumstances it is not recommended to eat a large amount of this fruit and to eat the rind of the fruit. It is because it can cause stomach upset and also cyanide poisoning. The passion fruits should be consumed with caution for safety concerns. 

Recommendation and Tips

Make sure the passion fruit is ripe by checking the skin. A ripe passion fruit should have a wrinkled skin. Cut into half with a knife and scoop out the pulp with a spoon. You should store the ripe passion fruits in a dark and cool place. It can last for 2-3 days. It is also important to put it in a dry fruit basket or refrigerated up to one week.

Passion fruit can be used as an ingredients for a lot of recipes. Some of the use of the fruit are:

• for baking pies and flavored cakes,
• for the process of twisting cocktails and mocktails,
• to be eaten raw as a fruit and in fruit salads,
• to be squashed and made into flavored yoghurt,
• for fruit salsa.

That is all for Risk of Passion Fruit During Pregnancy. Although passion fruit has been known to be safe and has only a little of side effects, it is best to control the amount of consumption. Just like other fruits, it is considered safe to eat in a suitable amount.

If you notice any unusual symptoms in your body after consuming passion fruits, it is best to consult with your doctors. If you want to know more about the risk on certain activities, you can read the following articles of Risks of Eating Raw Eggs for Body Health and  Risks of Eating Noodle With Rice.