The physical, chemical and physiological changes during the development of sweet passion fruit, from anthesis to ripening in the plant, were evaluated. Fruits had a slightly oblong shape, a simple sigmoidal pattern of development and climacteric pattern for respiration. Fruit development was divided into three phases: cell division up to 4.70 days after anthesis (daa); cell expansion from 4.70 daa to 28.94 daa and maturation from 28.94 to 91 daa. In the cell division phase, there is little increase in fruit size, high respiratory rates, rapid growth of the pericarp thickness, and pericarp of clear green color. In the cell expansion phase, there is intense development of the fruit's dimensions, accelerated fresh weight gain and pericarp of intense green color . In the maturation phase, there is a tendency to stabilize dimensions, rapid development of pulp, the soluble solids content increase and vitamin C and titratable acidity decrease. The climacteric peak was recorded at 63 daa. On the last day of evaluation, at 91 daa, the pulp (juice + seeds) accounted for 24.46% of total fresh weight of the fruit, the pericarp accounted for 74.10% and isolated seeds for 3.14%.
Passiflora alata Curtis; growth analysis; harvest time
