Passion fruit, a fruit rich in benefits and high value (1)
Reporter: Wahyu Tri Rahmawati | Editor: Tri Adi
Passion fruit is native to Latin America. However, this fruit has been widely cultivated in tropical areas, including in Indonesia. The benefits of passion fruit for human health make it of high commercial value.
Passion fruit has many benefits for health because it contains beta carotene, potassium, fiber and vitamin C. In fact, this fruit is believed to relieve high blood pressure.
With its benefits and freshness, it’s not wrong if passion fruit is a popular fruit. Currently, passion fruit is widely cultivated in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Makassar, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali.
Besides being consumed directly, passion fruit can also be reprocessed for syrup and soft drinks. One company that produces processed passion fruit, ranging from pure passion fruit juice, syrup to frozen passion fruit, is CV Surya Lestari in Makassar.
The owner of CV Surya Lestari, Chairul Anwar Halim, said that the pure passion fruit juice and frozen passion fruit juice products are specifically for the export market. “For the local market we provide more passion fruit syrup,” he said. From the various processed passion fruit products, he can print an average turnover of IDR 50 million per month.
There is also CV Qualitama Tunas Mandiri, which offers processed passion fruit in the form of soft drinks. According to the owner of Qualitama, Zulfi Andri, currently his products are only distributed around West Sumatra, which is close to passion fruit processing and cultivation. He hopes that, in the future, the distribution of his products will be even wider.
Currently, his business can produce around 1,000 cup per three days at a selling price of Rp. 1,000, measuring 250 milliliters. With this selling price, every month Qualitama earns a turnover of around Rp. 10 million.
For the supply of raw materials, these businessmen claim to have collaborated with farmer groups. “Usually we order passion fruit every week,” said Zulfi. He has collaborated with several farmer groups, with a total land area of 80 hectares.
Meanwhile, Chairul took eight farmer groups in Gowa. The total land area is around 100 hectares. The cooperation aims to overcome constraints on the availability of raw materials. Moreover, passion fruit is a seasonal fruit. “Because it is a seasonal fruit, so the price also depends on the season,” said Chairul.
During the harvest season, the price of passion fruit can fall below IDR 3,000 per kilogram. “But when it is empty, the price can go up to Rp 15,000 per kilogram,” said Chairul.
Passion fruit can usually only be harvested once a year. It was during the harvest that the passion fruit supply flood occurred. “The difficulty in raw materials has made many passion fruit producers only open at harvest time,” added Chairul.
Even so, he admits that he can produce processed passion fruit throughout the year. Because, there are farmers who offer to him. “Now the purchase price is around Rp. 6,000-Rp. 7,000 per kilogram,” he said.
(Continued)