Does the passion fruit (pesiflora in Hebrew) hold the key to beating scourges of flies that plague barbecues and picnics during the summer months? Scientists at Israel's Vulcani Institute think that it might, and have been studying for the past several months the effect of passion fruit skins on flies.

Passion fruit skins are generally used as an ingredient in animal feed, and several studies show that the population of flies in surroundings where animals are stabled are significantly lower when the skins are part of their feed. Studies are so far not complete, but scientists said that their research could lead to the development of natural insecticides to keep flies away.