With a botanical name – Actinidia chinensis, kiwi is a very healthy fruit, or rather berry, that you can include in your daily diet. Next time you go to buy fruits, do not forget to add a kiwi fruit into your fruit basket. The fruit is not only famous for its tasty flavour, but also the many health benefits that it has on our body. The ancient Chinese called it as Yang Tao. The fruit originated from China but is majorly seen in New Zealand. The missionaries in New Zealand introduced it to the world in the early 20th century. It came into the US in the late 1960s.

 History –

The fruit was known as Chinese gooseberry earlier. But, later on, it got its new name from New Zealand’s native bird kiwi. Today, the fruit is grown in many countries such as Italy, France, Japan, Chile and the US. The fruit comes in majorly two varieties, green and gold. It grows on woody vines and is of an egg shape and size.

 Appearance –

Kiwi is brown and hairy on the outer side. The oval fruit is about the size of a tennis balls. The inside of the fruit is lime green with many small black seeds. It is sweet to taste, just like a strawberry.

 Uses –

• Eaten fresh as a fruit.
• Used in salads.
• Used as a topping in cakes and pastries.
• Used to make pies, pastries, milkshakes and ice creams.
• Used to tenderize meat as it has acitidin.

 Health benefits –

• Kiwi is very rich in vitamins. It gives you 273% of your daily vitamin c requirements.
• It is an immunity booster fruit that keeps colds and flu at bay. Kiwi is highly recommended for people suffering from dengue.
•  With high amounts of vitamin k, kiwi helps in easy blood clotting and coagulation.
• The Vitamin A also present in reasonable amounts is great for your bones and tooth.
• It is also good for your vision.
• It can help you sleep better.
• The kiwi fruit is good for the health of your skin
• It prevents macular degeneration.
• Vitamin E and potassium balance the body’s electrolytes and hypertension.
• Kiwi is especially good for children and infant growth.
• It benefits foetus, pregnant and breastfeeding women.
• Avoids heart disease and cancer.
• It prevents constipation. it is a good source of dietary fibre.

 Instant kiwi serving ideas –

• Add sliced kiwi into your salads.
• Slice kiwi and strawberries, top them with some cream and enjoy the scrumptious dessert.
• Kiwi, pineapple and oranges can be blended to make a sauce that goes well with chicken and fish grills.
• Blend a smoothie of the kiwi fruit and beat the summer heat.

Kiwi however contains high amounts of fructose, which is not very good for your health, and hence, must be consumed in moderation. 100g of kiwi contains about 70 calories. So, include only one kiwi in your fruit basket UK per day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2016 at 9:26 am and is filed under Fruits Basket. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.