Passion fruit in Florida: a model for the introduction of new crops to previously cooler climates

Florida has experienced significant changes to its hardiness zones over the past three decades, indicating an increase in the annual extreme minimum temperatures.
This change now allows some cold-sensitive crops to be grown in northern regions where they have not been previously grown.
A fundamental challenge to introducing new crops to regions with no prior production is the lack of familiarity among local growers.
A lack of grower awareness, sustainable production practices, and marketing information each create significant barriers to establishing new crops in new hardiness zones.
Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) is one such crop now grown significantly north of its historical growing region in South Florida.
A key barrier to grower adoption of passion fruit has been answering the question of whether a profitable market exists or potentially exists.
To gauge consumer interest in passion fruit, sensory evaluations were conducted in North-Central Florida in 2024. Participants (n=121) evaluated their awareness of the crop, sensory preferences based upon cultivar, and interest in purchasing passion fruit.
Additionally, grant-supported research has been conducted for sustainable production practices, integrated pest management, and maximizing fruit production.
The combination of research-based marketing and production recommendations now supports new growers in Florida.
The introduction of passion fruit into new, now-warmer regions could serve as a model for introducing new and underutilized crops.

IV International Symposium on Underutilized Plant Species

M. Bailey

sensory evaluation, plant hardiness zone map, new crops, economics, marketing, grower adoption

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2026.1460.20