Countless purple flowers have taken over the whole wall. These colourful flowers are bound to catch anyone's eye, and they will turn into a tasty fruit called passion fruit.

Although most people in Bangladesh are not familiar with the flower, many have tasted the fruit. Some know it as a hill fruit, others by the name anarkali. Passion fruit vines have been planted in Zajira, Shariatpur.

Selim Hakidar, son of Berak Ali Howlader of the Chhonkhola area of Zajira municipality, set up a Chinese restaurant called Chander Bari in the area a year ago. To decorate it, he brought 60 passion fruit plants from a tree fair in Dhaka at Tk 260 each.

He did not know then that it was a fruit tree; he bought the plants mainly because he was drawn to the colour of the flowers. After the plants were set against the restaurant wall, purple flowers began to appear within a short time, and they later turned into round fruit. At first the restaurant staff picked the fruit and threw it away, thinking it was wild. When they later learned it was a fruit called passion fruit, they said they would take better care of the plants.

Restaurant employee Sakibul Islam told Jago News: "I did not know this was anarkali fruit. When we pruned the plants, we picked the fruit and threw it away thinking it was wild. The flowers were kept only for their beauty. From now on we will look after the fruit as well as the flowers."

Selim Hakidar's nephew Joy Hakidar said: "My uncle brought these plants to make the restaurant look nicer. I did not know myself that this was a fruit you could eat. I ate a fruit like this on a trip to Cox's Bazar, but I did not realise it was the same one. Now that I know, I will eat the fruit and take more care of the plants."

Mukunda Biswas, manager of Chander Bari restaurant, said: "Our restaurant serves various passion fruit drinks. We bring in the fruit's flavour from Malaysia, but we did not realise the fruit was growing at our own restaurant. Now that we know, we will use this fruit in our drinks."

Mohammad Riazur Rahman, additional deputy director (horticulture) of the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said passion fruit is rich in vitamin C. Although it is a foreign fruit, the country's soil suits it, and it is now grown commercially in the hill areas, Khulna and some parts of the north. The district's soil is also suitable for passion fruit, he said, and the agriculture department will give every kind of help to anyone who wants to grow it commercially.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.