Fruits Archives - My Writings

Benefits of Bael or Wood Apple

Wood apple, also known as bel, is a tropical fruit that is native to India. It is a good source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Wood apple has been used in traditional medicine for centuries to treat a variety of health conditions.

Some of the health benefits of wood apple include:

Improves digestion: Wood apple is a good source of fiber, which is essential for digestive health. Fiber helps to keep the digestive system running smoothly and can help to prevent constipation.
Boosts immunity: Wood apple is a good source of vitamin C, which is an important nutrient for the immune system. Vitamin C helps to protect the body from infection and can help to shorten the duration of illness.
Lowers blood pressure: Wood apple is a good source of potassium, which is a mineral that helps to regulate blood pressure. Potassium helps to balance the effects of sodium in the body and can help to lower blood pressure.
Reduces inflammation: Wood apple is a good source of antioxidants, which can help to reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a major factor in many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
Treats respiratory problems: Wood apple has expectorant properties, which means that it helps to loosen mucus in the respiratory tract. This can be helpful for people with conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and coughs.
Treats diarrhea and dysentery: Wood apple has antidiarrheal properties, which means that it can help to stop diarrhea. Diarrhea is a common problem, especially in children, and can be caused by a variety of factors, such as infection, food poisoning, and medication side effects.
Treats piles and ulcers: Wood apple has astringent properties, which means that it can help to tighten tissues. This can be helpful for people with piles and ulcers, which are conditions that can cause pain and bleeding.
Improves skin health: Wood apple is a good source of antioxidants, which can help to protect the skin from damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage cells, leading to premature aging and the development of wrinkles and age spots.
Improves hair health: Wood apple is a good source of vitamins and minerals that are essential for hair health, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron. These nutrients can help to keep hair strong, healthy, and shiny.

Wood apple is a versatile fruit that can be eaten fresh, cooked, or juiced. It can also be used to make a variety of other products, such as chutneys, pickles, and candies. Wood apple is a safe and healthy fruit that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Costliest Mango Varities

The costliest variety of mangoes in the world is the Miyazaki mango, which is grown in Japan. Miyazaki mangoes are known for their sweet and creamy flavor, and their unique heart-shaped appearance. They are also very rare, which contributes to their high price. Miyazaki mangoes can cost up to $2,700 per kilogram, or about $1,200 per pound.

Here are some other expensive mango varieties:

Kohitur mango: This variety is grown in West Bengal, India, and is known for its sweet and juicy flavor. Kohitur mangoes can cost up to $1,500 per kilogram.

Tommy Atkins mango: This variety is grown in the United States, and is known for its large size and sweet flavor. Tommy Atkins mangoes can cost up to $50 per kilogram.

Kent mango: This variety is grown in India and the Philippines, and is known for its sweet and creamy flavor. Kent mangoes can cost up to $40 per kilogram.These are just a few of the many expensive mango varieties that are available. The price of mangoes can vary depending on the variety, the time of year, and the location.

Salads

Salads are a great way to get your daily dose of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. They can also be a healthy and satisfying meal option. Here are some healthy salad ideas for health conscious people:

Green salads: Green Salads are a classic choice for a healthy salad. They are packed with nutrients and can be customized to your liking. Try adding a variety of leafy greens, such as spinach, kale, arugula, and romaine lettuce. You can also add other vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and peppers. For protein, add grilled chicken, fish, or tofu. And for a healthy fat, add avocado or nuts.

Fruit salads: are another great option for a healthy salad. They are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Try adding a variety of fruits, such as berries, melons, and citrus fruits. You can also add nuts or seeds for healthy fat.

Chopped salads are a fun and easy way to get your daily dose of vegetables. They are also a good way to use up leftover vegetables. Simply chop up a variety of vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and peppers.

You can also add protein, such as grilled chicken or fish. And for a healthy fat, add avocado or nuts.

Salads with protein are a great way to make your salad more filling and satisfying. Try adding grilled chicken, fish, tofu, or beans to your salad. You can also add eggs or cheese.

Salads with dressing can add flavor and interest to your salad. However, it is important to choose a healthy dressing. Try making your own dressing at home or using a low-fat or fat-free dressing.

General Guidelines

Use a variety of vegetables. The more colorful your salad, the more nutrients it will contain.
Add a source of protein. Protein helps to keep you feeling full and satisfied.
Use a healthy dressing. Avoid dressings that are high in fat, sugar, or calories.
Make your own dressing at home. This is a great way to control the ingredients and make sure your dressing is healthy.
Use a light hand with the toppings. Toppings such as croutons, cheese, and bacon can add calories and fat to your salad.

Enjoy

Benefits of Watermelon

Watermelon is a delicious and nutritious fruit that is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It is a good source of:

Vitamin C: Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps protect your cells from damage. It is also essential for the formation of collagen, which gives your skin its strength and elasticity.

Vitamin A: Vitamin A is important for vision, growth, and immunity.

Potassium: Potassium is an important mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and heart health.

Lycopene: Lycopene is an antioxidant that has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer.

Citrulline: Citrulline is an amino acid that may help improve exercise performance.

Watermelon is also a good source of hydration. It is made up of about 92% water, which can help you stay hydrated during hot weather or after exercise.Here are some of the health benefits of watermelon:

Hydration: Watermelon is a great way to stay hydrated, especially during hot weather. It is made up of about 92% water, which can help you stay cool and prevent dehydration.

Reduced risk of cancer: Lycopene, an antioxidant found in watermelon, has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Improved heart health: Watermelon is a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure and heart health.

Improved exercise performance: Citrulline, an amino acid found in watermelon, may help improve exercise performance by increasing nitric oxide production.*

Aids in weight loss: Watermelon is a low-calorie fruit that is high in water and fiber. This makes it a good choice for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

Improved skin health: Vitamin C, an antioxidant found in watermelon, helps protect your skin from damage. It is also essential for the formation of collagen, which gives your skin its strength and elasticity.

Reduced inflammation: Watermelon is a good source of antioxidants, which help fight inflammation. Inflammation is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Conclusion: Overall, watermelon is a healthy and delicious fruit that can offer a variety of health benefits. It is a good choice for people of all ages and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways.

Mulberries: Super Fruit

In the month of spring that is March, the mulberry trees are laden with both reddish black and white fruits. These berries are filled with nutrients rich fluids. The fruits have short life and tend to fall to the ground as soon as you shake the branches. The season span is very small about 25 days.

There are many trees in the forest near our home where I go daily and enjoy the berries packed with nutrients picking directly from the branches.

The mulberry trees are related to the family of figs and bread fruit trees. The scientific name of the fruit is Morus Alba. In Asia, the trees are grown to provide leaves for Silkworms.

The popularity of the mulberries is increasing due to their sweet flavour, high nutritional composition which provide many health benefits.

Berries are mostly water. These provide only 60 calories in a cup containing 140 gram berries. Fresh mulberries consist of 9.8% carbohydrates which are mostly good sugars like glucose and fructose, but also contain some starch and fiber. Fiber is 75% insoluble in form.

The mulberries are a rich source of vitamin C, iron, vitamin K, Potassium and Vitamin E which is an antioxidant .

Other very important nutrients from the health point of view are Anthocyanin which prevents the oxidation of bad LDL cholesterol. So it is good for heart health. Cyanidin is responsible for the purple colour in the berries.

Mulberries contain Rutin a powerful antioxidant which helps in combating heart ailments, cancer and diabetes. Similarly there is myricetin which also fights cancer.

In all, the mulberries are good for health yummy food provided by the nature.

Bitter Melon!??

Karela aka Bitter gourd is bitter but it is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. Bitter gourd contains iron, magnesium, vitamins, and potassium. The calcium and potassium content in it is twice that of spinach and banana.

Are you surprised to know that it is not a vegetable but a fruit. It belongs to the family of Melons which are known for their sweetness and are popular all over the world. It is called “BITTER MELON“

melonshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/07/19/melons-tips-watermelon-cantaloupe-honeydew/

Karela is a native of Indian subcontinent and now it has been established that it contains a insulin like compound polypeptide-p which helps in regulating the blood sugar.

Karela contains potassium which helps to reduce the blood pressure by replacing some of the sodium responsible for increasing blood pressure.

It improves the skin and hair. It is rich in antioxidants, vitamins A and C.

Even USA is going to take its farming in a big way recognising it’s benefits.

https://sakasaka.net/bitter-melon-juices-7-health-benefits.html

Perhaps when God was distributing goodness to the family of Melons, all the sweetness was bestowed upon its brothern. It was feeling sad as it’s taste was very bitter and it was ruing the fact that due to the bitter taste nobody will like it.

But God blessed it and said “My son, I can’t make you sweet but i will bless you with so many nutrients and medicinal properties that you will outshine all your siblings and become a darling of the human beings”

Plantains and Bananas!!

Banana is the most consumed fruit in the world. It is very easy to eat. Just peel and eat. It is an instant source of energy. Sportsmen love it. It can be eaten in the form of milkshakes or as such. It is any time fruit.

Banana and Plantains look very similar. But in fact they have some subtle differences which make them suitable for different food recipes. Nutritionally there is not much difference between them. Plantains grow in Central Africa, the Caribbean, and other tropical regions, and they’re commonly used in Latin, African, and Caribbean cuisine.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/health-benefits-bananas/amp

As the bananas and Plantains begin ripening their colours start changing from green to yellow to black. Sweetness also increases in the same way.

Plantains are longer in size than Bananas. A plantain is almost double (12″) as compared to a banana (about 6″). Plantains are used mostly as a vegetable rather than as a fruit. When raw, both bananas and Plantains are bland. Sweetness increases as they begin to mature. When fully ripe, Plantains are more sweeter than Bananas.

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/all-about-plantains/amp

Sugar in the Plantains comes from starch. As starches take longer to breakdown into simple sugar they are initially less sweeter than Bananas. But since starches are complex sugars, they yield more simpler sugars.

Because ripe bananas are sweet, they are usually used in dessert recipes or baked goods, including banana bread, muffins, and cupcakes, often with chocolate chips thrown in. Chips are eaten as snacks.

Bananas are richer in many vitamins and minerals but due to their sugar base rather than starch base, user especially people with diabetes cannot overindulge in their consumption.

Cherry Picking

Cherry is a fruit which becomes the best part of whatever it is used in. Like the topping in the cake. It is the most desired part of the cake. When ripe they taste luscious and look beautiful. When not ripened they taste sour.

The term “Cherry Picking” means to select the best among the lot. It is like taking home the best value for the money. You shift through the lot and opt for the best and reject the one’s which are not the best.

Cherry Picking can be deliberate or accidental. For example, in many companies the results data is cherry picked. It means the management selects only part of the data which suits their assertion.

Similarly the politicians do the cherry picking of the data. They select only those portions of a report that is in the favour of their agenda. Many newspapers also do this for creating a bias among the parties.

Cherry picking is used in advertising. The results of a the studies like using a particular brand of toothpaste which protects gums are shown as “4 out of 5 ” doctors recommend it.

How does one know that the facts he is citing to back his claims is holistic not cherry picked? This is possible if he is owner of the data or the source from where he has gotten the data is trustworthy.

Nobody is sure about the origin of the phrase. Initially those ship workers which tried to get the easiest of the tasks on the ship were called Cherry Pickers. From their the use of the phrase must have been diversified over time.

Happy Cherry Picking!!!!

Apples

For those who are from science stream, the Apple occupies a place of esteem. As the story goes, an apple fell on Newton, one of the greatest physicists, mathematicians an philosophers as he was sitting under an apple tree and mulling over the gravity and suddenly the darkness was dispelled and outcome was his laws of gravity. This seems very ludicrous because the process of ideation is not momentary. It goes on and on.

Apple is also the brand name of the revolutionary electronic products founded by Steve Jobs. Its product line includes laptops, ipods and ipads.

But one thing is true that Apple is the king of fruits. It is about apples hat doctors said “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Apples are the most widely cultivated fruit trees. There are thousands of varieties of apples in the world. It is grown in the mild to cold climates. The apple has, like other fruits that has been domesticated, undergone a sea change from its original wild varieties.

Thousands of the varieties that are grown today can be divided broadly into three: Cider varieties, Cooking varieties and Eating varieties.

Cider varieties are usually more acidic, although cider can be made from any type of apple. Cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from fruit juice, most commonly apple juice but also the juice of peaches or other fruits.

Cooking varieties include the Bramley, one of the most popular and easily stored types of apple. Eating varieties include the well-known Cox’s Orange Pippin, Granny Smiths, Russets, Braemar, Golden and Red Delicious.

Eating apples have been selected for several centuries for their color, size, ‘bite’ sweetness, physical nature of the pulp revealed once bitten, and their aftertaste. The aroma of the ripe apple before consumption is also an important commercial consideration.

Modern selections are now so high in sugar and low in balancing Malic acid that dentists often no longer recommend apples to clean the teeth. It is same story like white rice. Rice in the natural form has a coating of brown color on the seed. This coating is rich in many vitamins especially “Vitamin B” and in the process of polishing this coating is removed and resulting rice is rich only in starch but poor in the minerals and vitamins. So the rice has to be taken with supplements like green leafy vegetables and fish to compensate for the minerals and vitamins. The famous 1930s slogan, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away‘ extolling its value as a source of carbohydrate and dietary fiber, is no longer universally applicable as many varieties now contain so much sugar they actually cause tooth decay.

Mango : The King of Fruits

Hiuen Tsang, Chinese scholar after being in India is going back. Time AD 627-643, on the fabled Silk Route. Apart from his knowledge of Buddhism, his rucksack contains an extraordinary fruit called Mango.

The name in hindi AaM is derived from Sanskrit word AMRA which seems to be the loan word from Dravidian and is related to Tamil words for Mango like “mamaram”. Portuguese were responsible for transferring the name to the West. It is growing in India since 4000 years at least.

Moguls were great connoisseurs of the fruit. Akbar got 100000 mango trees planted in Lakhi Bagh (Lakhi: 100,000, Bagh means Garden) near Darbhanga Bihar India. Others who relished the fruit were Shahjahan and Noor Jehan, Aurangzeb, Sher Shah Suri. Raghunath Peshwa got large numbers planted all over Maharashtra.

Main Constituents:

Citric acid and related compounds are responsible for sour taste. Several terpenes have been found in unripe fruit..

Ripe mango contains volatile compounds like alpha terpineol, ocimene, limonene, 3-carene etc. Yellow colour is due to beta Carotene.

Nutrients

Mangoes are rich in potassium, about 8% carbohydrate with 1.6 % dietary fibre. Very rich in vitamin A , C, B-6, calcium, iron, and magnesium.

Some famous Indian Varieties:

1: Alphonso or Hapoos
King among the mangoes. Named after Portugal admiral D Afonso de Albuquerque. Deogad in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra has got the GI tag of genuineness.