Passionfruits are a tropical and sub-tropical fruit, so although they can be grown in many parts of Australia, the major growing regions are northern NSW, the Sunshine Coast, the Wide Bay area and all the way up the tropical Queensland coast as far as Cooktown.
Western Australia has a small commercial industry up the west coast and in the Kununurra area and there are also a small number of growers in the Northern Territory.
In 2022 the industry as a whole produced around 4,787 tonnes of fresh passionfruit.
Australian passionfruit is almost in season, it will be available from late May/early June.
"“Passionfruit is often synonymous with summer, but in fact, it is available all-year round, with a peak in winter too. In the Tweed Valley, this season has seen much lower rainfall than for the same period last year. This has allowed for more effective fungal disease control for new vines and we should see quality fruit this season," according to passionfruit grower Dennis Chant.
"On the newest vines, planted in October 2022 the quality is excellent and looking much healthier than the previous years due to less rainfall."
In the Tweed region, the purple varieties predominate. The main purple type has traditionally been the "Sweetheart" variety, but it in recent years has been problematic because of the gradual loss of its hybrid vigour.
"Several new purple varieties are being developed by different growers with varying degrees of success. Over the past seven years, there has been a significant investment to breed robust replacement varieties. The larger Panama varieties are also becoming more popular with growers in the more northern growing regions," said Dennis.
Currently, all of Australia's passionfruit goes to the domestic market.
For more information:
Yvette Schlegelmilch
Tel: +61 2 9977 8195
yvette@bitecom.com.au