Passion fruit

[Homicidalheathen]

http://www.medindia.net/news/Passion-Fruit...ure-37287-1.htm

In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial run in the United States, fewer than 20 per cent of people receiving an extract made from purple passion fruit skins still had wheeze as a clinical symptom of asthma, compared to about 80 per cent of those in the placebo group.

A parallel study showed that passion fruit treatment also significantly decreased blood pressure in those taking part in the trial.

The trials were directed by Professor Ronald Watson from the University of Arizona and Southwest Scientific Editing and Consulting. The bioactive properties of passion fruit have been established by New Zealand scientists working at Industrial Research Ltd (IRL), says an IRL press release.

The findings, published in Nutrition Research, have caused a stir in the international medical and scientific communities.

“In the United States there are a lot of dietary supplements and natural products that are sold without much, or any, evidence of efficacy,” says Ronald Watson.

“We now have two scientific publications indicating passion fruit has a beneficial effect on two very common but very different human diseases – hypertension and asthma – and that’s very exciting.”

Passion fruit are known to be rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of potassium and iron. The seeds are high in fibre. The seeds are high in fibre.

And:

Passion fruit extract a promising alternative

A chance meeting over lunch nearly ten years ago has resulted in the collaborative development of a passion fruit extract which could improve the quality of life for asthmatics and high blood pressure sufferers worldwide.

An extract from the skins

of the purple passion fruit

has been found to have

beneficial effects on asthma

and hypertension.

In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial the flavonoid-rich extract from the skins of the purple passion fruit has been found to significantly reduce the severity of wheezing and coughing among asthma patients. In a parallel study, the passion fruit treatment also significantly decreased blood pressure in the trial subjects.

The trials were directed by Ronald Watson from the University of Arizona and Southwest Scientific Editing and Consulting, after FRST-funded research by IRL natural products chemist, Yeap Foo had established the bioactive properties of passion fruit several years earlier.

The findings, published this year in Nutrition Research, have caused a stir in the international medical and scientific communities.

“In the US there are a lot of dietary supplements and natural products that are sold without much, or any, evidence of efficacy,” Ronald Watson says.

“The advantage of something like passion fruit is that we now have two scientific publications indicating passion fruit has a beneficial effect on two very common but different human diseases, hypertension and asthma – and that’s exciting.”

The collaboration began when the two scientists happened to be seated next to each other at lunch during an international conference in France in 1999.

“It was serendipitous that an international collaboration like this can eventuate from a lunch and a chance meeting,” Ronald Watson says.

“The partnership where Yeap made the material and we tested it has resulted in significant interest within the nutraceutical industry, and has now gone far beyond the pipe dream it once was.”

Yeap Foo says that although the research has taken several years to progress to this stage, he always felt there was great potential in the passion fruit extract.

“We knew that the extract had a beneficial effect, but it consisted of many different compounds and no study had been done to identify which particular component was actually responsible for the bioactivity.

“It could have been a result of a particular compound or maybe several key compounds working synergistically – we just didn’t know. However, we were able to identify a host of compounds including a novel compound, an unusual small molecule in the extract, which Professor Watson then was able to progress further along the path towards commercialisation.”

Asthma is a very common disease, affecting almost 5% of the population of the United States, with incidence increasing rapidly. Although asthma is primarily a disease of the airways, virtually all aspects of pulmonary function are compromised during an acute attack so it can be very debilitating for sufferers.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is responsible for 40,000 deaths in the United States every year, and affects about one in four adults, or almost 50 million people in the US alone.

The passion fruit extract, which has also shown promising indications in the reduction of the severity of osteoarthritis, is now under license to an established US nutraceutical company.

Ronald Watson says that a lot of Americans are not keen on pharmaceutical drugs because they often have unpleasant side effects.

“Many natural products like fruit and vegetables are known to have anti-hypertensive properties and have been shown to work just as well as pharmaceuticals – and that is very appealing to many people.”

And:

The Benefits of Maracuya (aka Passion Fruit)

Passion fruit is widely employed by herbalists and natural health practitioners around the world today for its sedative, nervine, anti-spasmodic and analgesic effects.

• Relieve pain

• Reduce anxiety

• Relieves depression

• Reduces inflammation

• Tranquilizes

• Enhances libido

• Reduces spasms

• Diuretic

• Urinary infections *

Who can benefit from Maracuya

In South America, P. edulis is the species most used as a sedative, diuretic, antispasmodic, for convulsions, alcoholism, headaches, insomnia, colic in infants, diarrhea, hysteria, neuralgia, menopausal symptoms and hypertension. In South America passion fruit juice is also used as a natural remedy to calm hyperactive children, as well as for asthma, whopping cough, bronchitis and other tough coughs. In Peruvian traditional medicine today, passion fruit juice is used for urinary infections and as a mild diuretic.

Origin

The scientific name is Passiflora edulis Sims, is a hardy woody vine that grows up to 10 m long and puts off tendrils, enabling it to climb up and over other plants in the rainforest canopy. It bears striking, large white flowers with pink or purple centers. The flowers gave it the name passionflower (or flower of passion) because Spanish missionaries thought they represented some of the objects associated with the Crucifixion of Christ. The vine produces a delicious fruit which is about the size of a large lemon, wrinkling slightly when ripe. Passionflower, called maracuya in the Amazon, is indigenous to many tropical and semi-tropical areas - from South America to North America. There are over 200 species of passionflower vines.

The flavor is appealing, musky, guava-like, subacid to acid. The purple passion fruit is native from southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. In South America, interest in yellow passion fruit culture intensified in Colombia and Venezuela in the mid-1950's and in Surinam in 1975. In Colombia, there are commercial plantations mainly in the Cauca Valley.

How to Use

The yellow, gelatinous pulp inside the fruit is eaten out of hand, as well as mixed with water and sugar to make drinks, sherbet, jams and jellies, and even salad dressings. Our maracuya jelly can be used to obtain juice by mixing one tablespoon with water. Indigenous tribes throughout the Amazon have long used passionflower leaves for its sedative and pain-relieving properties; the fruit is used as a heart tonic and to calm coughs.

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[jynxxxedangel]

When I was a little girl in the Appalachians, my Gran (who was a root woman) used to go out into the mountain wilds each fall, and gather Maypops fruit. A thick syrup made from them was one of the better-tasting ingredients in her homemade cough remedy. There was also turpentine, wild 'sang, onions, dry mustard, hot peppers, and a few other things in that concoction. It was absolutely AWFUL, and us kids would RUN if we saw her getting that big old brown bottle out! It worked, though! All of those ingredients are good for expectorating.

She would also gather the leaves, for remedies concerning female ailments.

Old mountain medicine folk have known about Passiflora's respiratory benefits for hundreds of years, I'm sure..probably learned from the Cherokee down there.

Another reason Passiflora is believed to be so magical; it is believed to represent the Christ. The 5 petals and 5 sepals are the 10 Apostles (not counting Peter and Judas). The 3 pistils (or styles) are the nails of the Cross; The corona (or filaments) at the top of the flower is the Crown of Thorns. The 5 anthers are the 5 wounds, and the stemmed ovary is the Lord's Goblet. Symbolic magick at it's best..

P.S. She also was a firm believer in mustard plasters, and tying half of a raw onion to ones' neck with a red kerchief to cure a cold or breathing problems!

[Homicidalheathen]

I thought it might help the ravengoddess...

I ate yams and took black cohosh after my hysterectomy...didn't feel any difference....but I don't really need it anyway.

I do know someone with depression who says St Johns wart is working better than prozac...

[jynxxxedangel]

Cohosh is another plant my Gran used to gather. It always grows close to wild ginseng, skunk cabbage, mayflower, and trillium. It's good for hot flashes, fever, and high blood pressure.

[Goth Brooks]

I love passion fruit. But I can't find it anywhere except cali/florida :(

Tang even had a passion fruit flavoured powder drink that tasted exactly like fresh squeezed juice, and they don't sell it here!

If anyone can find me some sort of passion fruit powdered drink I can order online, I'll love you to pieces.