Tomatillos

Tomatillos (Physalis ixocarpa) also are known as husk tomatoes, miltomates, Mexican green tomatoes, jamberberries, and strawberry tomatoes. Physalis is a Greek word inferred to ‘bladder-pouch’ which refers to swollen flowers.

Tomatillo is a vegetable widely cultivate in Mexico for its fruit. In the USA, tomatillo is cultivated mainly in the regions where larger groups of people of Mexican origin live.

The plants prefer full sun and well-drained soils. Tomatillos are an indeterminate plant, meaning they will continue to flower and fruit until frost.

Tomatillos are bushy, spreading plants that may grow to a height of 3 to 4 feet with a similar spread. Plants are indeterminate—they keep flowering and bearing fruit until killed by frost.

Tomatillos are ripe when the fruit is firm and fills the papery husk. If green fruit turns yellow, it is overripe and less flavourful. The purple varieties are ripe when the green fruits turn purple and fill the husk. Fruit become soft when overripe. Tomatillo fruit often drop off the plant before they ripen.

Tomatillos has less iron content and higher sodium level than tomatoes and also is rich in magnesium. Organic acid composition in tomatillo is high based citric acid while it contains more organic acid than fresh and cooked tomatoes. Tomatillos contain 7% reduced sugar. In their fresh consumption, they contain less fructose and more glucose and sucrose than tomatoes.

In Mexico, tomatillo is consumed mostly in the form of sauces with hot pepper, which have Pre-Colombian origin. In Poland, it has been introduced in the from of a jam, relish with zucchini and hot pepper or in other processed forms.
Tomatillos

Nutrient rich of rambutan

Rambutan is a tropical plant which grown in warm, humid and low evaporation rates with high rainfall. Rambutan fruit is potential to be used as functional food due to its capability to provide beneficial health effects.

The fruit contains 82 per cent water, 0.9 per cent protein and 0.3 per cent fat. The edible portion i.e. aril is about 35 to 55 per cent of the total fruit weight while the skin and seed may be 40- 47 per cent and 6-10 per cent, respectively.

Food Value Per 100 g of Edible Portion
Total Carbohydrates: 16.02 g
Ash: 0.3%
Reducing Sugars: 2.9 g
Sucrose: 5.8 g
Fiber: 0.24g
Calcium:10.6 mg
Potassium: 140 mg
Magnesium: 10 mg
Phosphorus: 12.9 mg
Ascorbic Acid: 30 mg
Energy: 297 kJ
Nutrient rich of rambutan

Watermelon juice

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family of gourds and is related to the cucumber, squash, and pumpkin. Watermelon flesh is ~91% water by weight.

Watermelon juice, as a beverage, is found almost exclusively as an over-the-counter drink made by hand from the pink flesh of the watermelon fruit. While, in some cultures such as those of Mexico and India, such watermelon drinks are popular, in the United States and elsewhere, watermelon juice drinks are rare, with commercially available packaged watermelon juice drinks virtually unknown.

Watermelon is rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B, amino acid and also carotenoid lycopene. The red flesh of watermelon contains some vitamin A. Watermelon is rich in vitamin B that is primarily responsible for the production of energy in human body. Hence, consuming watermelon can boost the energy levels.

Citrulline and arginine are amino acids found in watermelon and are major components of the human nitrous oxide system and help regulate many biochemical processes. Citrulline lacks biological importance on its own but is transformed by the human body into arginine. Arginine is used in the nitric oxide pathway to help in vasodilatation and overall cardiovascular health.

Watermelons are also a good source of vitamin C with a cup (8 oz) of watermelon juice containing 20% of the daily value for vitamin C, which is an essential nutrient for humans because it aids in the synthesis of collagen in addition to protecting against oxidative damage.

The juice is believed to possess diuretic properties as it contains β-carotene pigments like lycopene, and potassium, in fair amounts.
Watermelon juice

Carambola

Carambola (Averrhoa carambola L.) belonged to the family oxalidaceae. Carambola is a popular tropical fruit considered to be native to India, Malaysia, China,Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and Florida.

The water content in fresh carambolas often exceeds 90%. The juice yield is normally more that 60%. Carambola is a good of vitamin A and vitamin C. The fruit also contains a significant amount of organic acid, especially oxalic acid.

The protein content is very low, being approximately 0.5 g/100 g of pulp. The calorific value of the fruit is not very high amounting to about 35 cal/100 g.

Carambola fruit is a good source of natural antioxidants such as vitamin C, carotenoid and phenolic compounds. The total carotenoid content was 22 ug/g fresh weight. High antioxidant activity has health benefits such as protection against cell damage.

Up to 17 amino acids have been isolated from fruits the most important of which are serene, glutamic acid and alpine.

The star sections of fruit are used in salads cakes. They are also used for preparing juice, preserves, jam, jelly and pickles. Carambola fruit with its attractive appearance, oval shape and translucent thin skin is soft and juicy is very perishable. It has strong fruity aroma and sour-sweet taste.
Carambola

Vitamin C content in camu-camu

The exotic camu-camu is grown in the nutrient-rich rain forests soil of Peru and other hot and damp tropical climates. The plant bears cherry-sized berries that are highly acidic, very tart, and are often sweetened to please human palette.

In the north-east region of Peru, people sometimes eat the fairly acidic camu-camu fruits fresh, but traditionally they have used them to make refreshments and liquors.

Camu-camu fruits have a higher vitamin C content, which is of particular use in treating a wide range of ailments, and they also possess important metabolites for nutrition and health. Vitamin C helps with immunity, tissue repair and healing as well as with cancer and cataract prevention.

In case anybody injured or have had a surgery , taking large quantities of vitamin C can help speed up the healing process.

The camu-camu berry is one of the world’s most potent sources of vitamin C – packing more than 60 times the amount preserving than the almighty orange.

Oranges often have around 1,000 ppm of vitamin C, while the camu-camu berry can have concentration as high as 50,000 ppm or about 2 grams of vitamin C per 100 grams of fruit.
Vitamin C content in camu-camu

Health benefits of watermelon

The fruit is an annual vine belonging to the squash and melon family. There are more than 50 varieties, including seedless watermelons. Watermelon is not only great on a hot summer day; this delectable thirst – quencher may also help quench the inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer and arthritis.

Nutritionists have long appreciated the health benefits watermelon provides, particularly as a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as fiber.

The nutrient content of a slice of raw watermelon that 1 in, thick in diameter without refuse (480 g), is: 152 calories; protein, 3 g; carbohydrate, 34.6 g; fiber, 2.4 g; fat, 2.1 g; iron, 0.82 g; potassium, 560 mg.

Watermelon is also a source of the potent antioxidant, lycopene. Research has shed new light on watermelon’s health benefits due to high concentrations of lycopene, an antioxidant that may help reduce the risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic disorders.

The juicy flesh may be red, orange, yellow or white. Watermelon is sweet tasting and perfect for snack, dessert or picnic.
Health benefits of watermelon

Nutritional characteristics of grapefruit

Grapefruit is low in calories which make it great for dieting. Practically all grapefruit in the United States is grown in Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas.

Basic Nutritional Facts:
• Grapefruit is a low-calorie food
• an excellent source of vitamin C
• a good source of inositol• a member of the vitamin B complex
• It is a common breakfast fruit, salad fruit, or juice fruit.

The grapefruit is known for its sour to semi-sour flavor, It contains grapefruit mercaptan, a sulphur, which in turn contain sterpene, influencing its flavor.

The major bioactive groups in grapefruit include flavonoids, carotenoids, limonoids, furanocoumarins, and organic acids.

White grapefruit has been reported to be slightly richer in flavonoids than pink and red ones. Pink grapefruit is rich in vitamin A, and acts as a natural antioxidant. Grapefruit is an excellent cleanser for the digestive and urinary systems and the peel has many therapeutic properties.
Nutritional characteristics of grapefruit 

The uses of raisins

Raisins didn’t become popular in Europe until the 11th century when knights returning home from the Crusaders brought raisins back with them from the Mediterranean and Persia.

Raisins are one of the most popular types of dehydrated foods products. Raisins are dried fruit of various kinds of grapes that contain considerable sugar and are cured in the sun or in an oven.  As a dried fruit, they are a concentrated source of calories and nutrients, including vitamin B6, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and thiamin.

They are also high in dietary fiber and have no cholesterol. Today, raisins are made similarly the world around. The grapes are handpicked and spread in rows between the vines to dry in the sun. Their bloom – the coating of natural yeast that cling to all grapes – remains intact and the dried grapes turn almost black.

Raisin can be eaten as a snack, either alone or mixed with nuts and either dried fruits. They are stirred into yoghurt, added to cereal and oatmeal, used in breads and cakes.

Like other fruits, raisin should be washed thoroughly before they are used. They may then be soaked in warm water and stewed in exactly the same way as prunes.
The uses of raisins

Fruit of watermelon

Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus is a frost tender, vining annual crop with sweet-tasting fruit that is often consumed as a cool desert.

The composition of watermelon per 100 g edible portion (50-70% of the mature fruit) is: water 91.5 g, energy 134 kJ (32 kcal), protein 0.6 g, fat 0.4 g, carbohydrate 7.2 g, Ca 8 mg, P 9 mg, Fe 0.17 mg, thiamine 0.08 mg, riboflavin 0.02 mg, niacin 0.2 mg, folate 2 mg, ascorbic acid 9.6 mg.

Watermelon is served fresh as slices, as chunks, as juice, pickled rind, gale candy, and as edible seeds (harvested from confectionary type cultivars).

It is no longer just a summer fruit and is becoming an everyday fruit like apples, bananas and oranges.

Worldwide the yield of watermelon averages about 25 t/ha, varying from 5-60 t/ha, depending on cultivar and cultural practices.

Watermelon varieties are separated by seeded and seedless, types, then by rind color, shape, size and flesh color. There are at least 1000 named watermelon varieties, some of these originating 50-80 years ago still planted.
Fruit of watermelon

Fruit of pears

The fruit of the tree of the same name, the pear is grown in several parts of the world, particularly in regions with a temperately cool climate. With their glossy leaves and white blossoms, pear trees are a beautiful accent in a home landscape.

The pear (pyrus communis) is a delicious fruit that is related to the apple and the quince. About the size of apple, pears generally have characteristics large, round bottom that tapers toward the top.

Depending upon the variety, their paper-thin skins can be yellow, green, brown, red or a combination of two or more of these colors. There are many varieties of pears sold. Bartlett and Comice pears are soft, juicy and sweet. They are also very fragile. Bosc and D’Anjou are firmer, but still very sweet and juicy.

Generally pears do not necessarily ripen on the tree. They are picked when still greens, which picking maturity being determined by flesh firmness, color or soluble solids test as established by various regulations.

Fresh pears contain 83% water. Additionally, each 100 g (about 3.5 oz) provides 61 calories (kcal) of energy, 130 mg of potassium, and only 2 mg of sodium. The calories in pears are derived primarily from the sugars (carbohydrate) which gave pears a sweet taste.

Pears are excellence source of water-soluble fibers, including pectin. In fact, pears are actually higher in pectin than apples. This makes them quite useful in helping to lower cholesterol levels and in toning the intestines.

About 48% of the pear is sold as fresh pears for consumption as fresh fruits and for home use. The remaining 52% is processed as canned or dried fruit.
Fruit of pears

Health benefits of papaya

There are many varieties of papaya; the fruit can be yellow to strong orange. The ideal market size is approximately 750 grams to 1 kilo for freight.

The papaya (carica papaya) is a spherical or pear shape fruit. The fruit is also known as pawpaw, is not only delicious but is also a favorite for it is digestive, medicinal and nutritional value.

Papaya, like most fruit derives most of it calories from simple carbohydrates, with the remaining calories coming for protein and fat.

Among the health benefits of papaya include:
*It boosts the immune system. Papaya is particularly high in vitamin C, A and E all powerful immune boosting antioxidant vitamin.

Together with it natural dose of vitamin E, beta carotenes, and lycopene, papaya protects skin from signs of sun damage, like wrinkles and brown sports.

*Papaya is high in anti-oxidants, flavonoids and carotenes. Papaya helps antioxidants slow down the aging process by providing human body with lots of free radical scavengers.  Papaya helps the body to properly digest food and when the body digest all the nutrients it needs the body will remain vital for a long time.

*The papaya providing protective benefits against cancer, heart disease, and other diseases associated with free radical damage.

*Papayas contain two enzymes: papain and chympapain that have been shown to help reduce inflammation and to increase the rate of healing from burns.

*Papain helps to breakdown protein. It is used to treat digestive system disorders.  Papain breaks down protein in food, allowing for better digestion.

*Papaya is an ideal fruit for smokers as it replaces the lost levels of vitamin C.

*Papaya seeds also have hidden health benefit; it is to cleanse the intestines.
Health benefits of papaya

Nutrient content of peaches

Peaches are fruits that have fuzzy skins. There are thousands of varieties of peaches. They are among the most widely eaten fruits in the world.

Peaches are excellent when consumed fresh. They also have culinary uses, mainly desserts, but also in pickling and in chutneys and preserved in brandy.

A large peach fruits provides with 570 international units of vitamin A which is very important to health vision, and it also provides with 11.6 mg of vitamin C which is a tissue builder and an antioxidant.

Peach fruits do provide lower levels of vitamin K and E, with about 6a% of the daily value based on a 2,000 calories diet. Other vitamins in peaches are riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic and niacin.

Peaches also fair source of potassium and fiber. A medium size peach has 35 calories. Dried peaches contain about 7 times the solids and calories of the fresh fruit.
Nutrient content of peaches

What are the health benefits of mulberry?

Mulberry fruit has many health benefits. The primary medicinal function of mulberry is its ability to release heat from the body.  Mulberry has traditionally been used to release heat and toxins from the skin and lymphatic system.

Specific ways that mulberry is used to release heat include clearing heat from lungs and clearing the liver for the sake of relieving sore red eyes, bleeding and the vomiting of blood.

The fruit is good for digestive tract illness. It can stimulate digestion and assimilation of nutrients in the small intestine.

Mulberry fruit has the function of nourishing blood. If the person who has anemia, pallor, dizziness, insomnia, and heart-palpitations regularly takes mulberry juice, they will experience good effects.

Compounding with other herbs can nourish blood, blacken hair, and help grow hair. Those experience premature aging, such as graying hair and impotence, can take mulberry often.

Mulberry is full of vitamin A and B family and is effective in regulating fat, while boosting metabolism, which is perfect for weight control.

Scientists have pinpointed a number of biologically active compounds in the extract of mulberry leaves, that is effective in suppressing the progression of atherosclerosis, the built up of cholesterol-rich plaque in the arteries.

The fruits are rich in anthocyanins and hence hold great potential for using for health benefits and as natural food colorants.  One once of ripe mulberry fruit contains nearly 60 mg of anthocyanins.

This plant pigment is noted for its powerful antioxidant property and are being investigated for anti-neopastic, radiation-protective, vasotonic, vaso- protective, anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive and hepatoprotective properties.
What are the health benefits of mulberry?

Health benefits of nutmeg

Known as a popular spice around the world, nutmeg is also popular for its many health benefits. Nutmeg fruit is the only tropical fruit that is source of two different spices: nutmeg and mace.

Nutmeg has been found to be an effective anti-diarrheal agent, reducing the amount of stool, increasing the period between evacuations and improving intestinal tone while inhibiting the contractions that would normally be stimulated by irritating agents.

American herbalists use nutmeg as a digestive remedy for nausea,vomiting, indigestion and diarrhea.

The fruit is a good source of vitamins A, C and D, minerals (calcium, manganese, iron, copper, potassium and magnesium), carotenoids and essential volatile oils.

Nutmeg consumed as a brain tonic during ancient Roman and Greek. This due to the nutmeg can effectively stimulate human brain which resulted in eliminate fatigue and stress.

Nutmeg oil relieves stomachaches by removing the excess gas from intestines. Nutmeg also can boost appetite.

Modern research has revealed that nutmeg extract possess aphrodisiac activity. Nutmeg also has other effects beneficial to sexual health; it can help increase circulation, lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure.
Health benefits of nutmeg

Nutrition of sweet cherry

There are over 500 varieties of the cherries, but only 15 are important commercially. Sweet cherries were once known as ‘bird cherries’ as their name (avium) indicate.

Sweet cherry’s water soluble dry matter content is between 10-20%. A significant proportion of the water-soluble dry matter comes from soluble carbohydrates, mono-and disaccharides (glucose, fructose and sucrose), which are main contributors to the energy content.

Fresh cherries are 80 to 84% water, Fresh cherries contains 70 calories (kcal) per 100 g. When cherries are canned in a syrup, the calories of the fruit per serving increase.

Sour cherries contain vitamin A and C, copper and manganese and sweet cherries have the same nutrition, with a little less vitamin A. Sweet cherries possess 110 IU of
vitamin A.

Two third total carbohydrates in sweet cherry is fructose (4.2 g/100 g) and this is significantly higher than glucose (2.2 g/100 g).

Sweet cherry also contains sugar alcohol, sorbitol (.76 g/100 g) which has a laxative effect.
Nutrition of sweet cherry

Vitamins in sweet cherry

Cherries are categorized as ‘sweet’ or ‘sour’ according to their flavor. Sweet cherries are usually eaten fresh. They can be used to top ice cream, yogurt, or pancakes and waffles, or they can be tossed into a fruit salad.

Cherry production is limited to temperature regions that experience moderately cold winter temperatures as the cherry tree requires a dormancy period each year that begins with defoliation in the autumn.

Both sweet and sour cherries are good sources of vitamin C. According to National Cancer Institute in 2004; sweet cherry contains important amounts of carotenoids, mainly beta-carotene (38ug/100g) and lutein/zeaxanthin (85 ug/100 g).

Zeaxanthin is a constitutional isomer of lutein. Lutein is the dominant xanthophylls that are the primary human sources of carotenoids.

In sweet cherry, the main vitamins are vitamin C (7-50 mg/100g) followed by vitamin E (0.07 mg/100 g) and vitamin K (2 ug/100 g).
Vitamins in sweet cherry

Fruit of soursop (Annona muricata L)

Soursop (Annona muricata L) is the most tropical member of the genus and produces the largest fruit in the family and is the only leading itself to preserving and processing.

It belongs to the Annonaceae family and like other fruit of the genus Annona is a syncarp formed by the coalescence of pistils and receptacles in a large pulpy structure.

Plant is an evergreen tree growing to a height of 6-8 m. Fruit are very large weighing about 1.5-3 kg each, heart shaped with dark green surface outlined in rhomboidal areas of short fleshy spines.

It was distributed very early to the warm lowlands of eastern and western Africa, Asia, and to south-east China.

Fruit are harvested when fully mature, firm, yellowish green with spines set apart. Pulp is whitish, fibrous, juicy and sub-acidic in taste with 11-14%$ sugar content.

Their flavor can be likened to musky pineapple and their aroma to that of black currants.

The edible potion of the soursop fruit is an excellent source of vitamins B and C and a fair to poor source of calcium and phosphorus.

Soursop is considered aphrodisiac and diuretic. It has been used to treat hemorrhoids, obesity, heart and kidney ailment, urethritis and in some parts of the world, leprosy and liver ailments.

The fruit is sold as fresh or frozen pulp, strained soursop juice and frozen concentrates, which have been preserved as various juice blends, ice cream, sherbets, nectars, syrups, shakes, jams, jellies, preserves, yoghurts and ice creams.
Fruit of soursop (Annona muricata L)

Nutrient-rich banana

Bananas are sweet, being rich in carbohydrates (mostly the sugars glucose and fructose), as well as in folic acid, vitamins B6, and C, and pectin.

Bananas is a good source of potassium having 100-200 mg.

They also contain an enzyme that aids in the production of sex hormones. Banana are a good source of energy in the form of non structural carbohydrate, but low in fat, they are an excellent food for pregnant mothers, babies and children.

Bananas are one of the first non-breast foods given to babies due to their consistency, ease of digestion, sweetness , non-allergenic properties and high nutrient content.

The carbohydrate content on the edible of fresh bananas is about 20 percent. During the ripening period the starch is converted into sugar, though in the cultivars known as plantains this process does not take place.

Because of its high starch content, banana fruit is a major source of dietary carbohydrate uptake.

Banana fruit has been extensively used in folk medicine and is reported to exert a cholesterol-lowering effect as well as to decrease the risk of colorectal cancer.
Nutrient-rich banana