The researchers discovered that native fruit flies were attracted to lay eggs in the passion fruit, but most of the eggs did not hatch.
An article in Science and Technology Daily from Thursday reports that Chinese researchers have just learned that passion fruit can directly kill fruit fly eggs, opening up a new way to control the pest.
Fruit flies are a significant pest species that reduce commercial fruit, vegetable, and nut yields. 2012 saw the extensive commercial planting of the native South American passion fruit in south China. The researchers discovered that native fruit flies were attracted to lay eggs in the fruit, but most of the eggs did not hatch.
The study’s principal investigator, Wu Weijian of South China Agricultural University, claims that when a fruit fly burrows into the middle layer of a fruit wall to lay eggs, the plant tissue deteriorates and releases hydrogen cyanide, which kills the majority of the eggs.
In the study of the relationship between plants and herbivorous insects, Wu claimed that this is the first instance of discovering a living plant that can directly kill the eggs of pests.
According to one of the researchers, Liao Yonglin at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, passion fruit can be suggested as a pest trap crop to plant at the border of an orchard or melon field to control fruit flies.
The ecological trap set up by passion fruit for fruit flies may be permanent, according to a study that was published in the journal Pest Management Science, even though ecological traps are typically countered by the learning capacity or evolution of herbivorous insects.
The width of a passion fruit varies from 1.5 to 3 inches, and it can be round or oval. They can be red, yellow, purple, or green. The fruits’ juicy, edible centre is made up of a lot of seeds.
The pulpy, juicy seeds of the fruit are the part that is used (consumed). Additionally, juice can be made from squeezed passion fruit. Pastries and other baked goods also use it.
Passion fruit in its raw state contains 73% water, 23% carbs, 2% protein, and 1% fat (table). Raw passion fruit contains 97 calories per 100 grammes, 36% of the Daily Value (DV) of vitamin C, 11% of the DV of riboflavin, 10% of the DV of niacin, 12% of the DV of iron, and 10% of the DV of phosphorus (table). There are no significant amounts of any other micronutrients.