Banana is the most loved fruit type in the world.  Unlike popular perception, the banana is not a tree, but a herb that grows high even till 15 m. There are almost a thousand varieties of bananas in the world with over 50 sub-types.

Bananas are cultivated in over 150 countries and mostly for domestic consumption. Bananas that are locally consumed have a huge part to play in food security in tropical countries.

Bananas are rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Here are a few health benefits of bananas, which you can keep in mind while creating fruit baskets:

• Rich in Potassium and Magnesium: Potassium improves health of heart and counters high blood pressure.
• Rich in pectin, a type of fibre: Helps in digestion and excretion.
• Rich in Vitamins C, A and B6. Vitamin B6 helps prevent diabetes, makes the nervous and immune system strong and aids in weight loss. Vitamin A helps improve health of eyes. Vitamin C boosts immunity.
• Free of cholesterol, sodium and fat.
• Rich in antioxidants that counter harmful free radicals in body. They help fight cancer.
• Rich in Tryptophans: These produce serotonin, which improves mood and counters depression.

Apart from these, here are some interesting facts about bananas:

• Bananas might have been the first fruit to be cultivated going back to as early as 8000 BC.
• On an average, 100 bananas are consumed on an average by a person in UK.
• The name banana comes from the Arabic word- ‘Banan’ meaning finger.
•  The trunk of a banana is not made of wood but of overlapping leaves.
•  Banana skin can be used to treat itchy skin for a mosquito bite.
• Bananas are produced in sub-tropical and tropical areas of Asia, Africa and the Americas.
• Banana is classified as a perennial herb and the fruit as a berry.
• Almost all bananas are derived from the type called as Cavendish bananas, native to South East Asia.
• Cavendish replaced a variety called as Gros Michel, which was made extinct by fungal infection.
• Gros Michel was tastier, larger and had better shelf life than the Cavendish variety.
• Some botanists believe that the Cavendish is headed for the same fate as the Gros Michel, in the near future.
• A medium sized banana contains around 95 calories. It provides fats but sustained boost of energy in an easily digestible, nutritious and natural form lacking cholesterol and sodium.
• Fyffes, the first British suppliers of bananas got its first banana consignment 124 years ago (in 1888).
• A banana stem is made of ‘hands’, consisting of 10 – 20 bananas. On splitting a hand, bananas become ‘clusters’ usually made of 3-8 bananas.
• Shoes can be polished using inside of banana peel.
• Wild bananas grow all over South East Asia but many are inedible.
• Most bananas are consumed domestically. Only 15% is kept for export, globally.
• Bananas make for excellent fruit gifts UK.
• Plantains refer to raw bananas, used for cooking.

These are some interesting facts about bananas.

Popularly known as the Divine fruit, Persimmon is that one fruit, which is not talked about too much. Usually, found during the autumn seasons, this incredible fruit is a native to China. The orange colour fruit looks quite similar to a tomato but in fact belongs to the berry family. This low calorie fruit can be eaten raw or dried. It is used in a lot of pudding dishes in China and is extremely beneficial for our health. The Japanese persimmon or divine fruit has countless advantages, here are some of them: –

1. Weight loss – This will be your best friend for life if you want to shed weight. Before we say anything, add persimmon right now to your fruit baskets. This med-sized fruit offers about 31 grams of calories. It weighs about 168 grams, and it barely has any fat in it. If you eat a whole persimmon an hour before lunchtime, you will not feel hungry at all. This is a good way to skip on some heavy food and have something nutritious which doesn’t add on calories.
2. Anti-haemorrhoids – This little fruit is known for its anti-haemorrhoid properties. This is also added in liquids, which are used to control excessive bleeding. It is said that during olden days, people in China used the juice of this fruit directly on wounds, which would constantly bleed.
3. Digestive system – Whether you have a strong digestive system or not, you must have this fruit at least once a week. The compounds found in this super fruit are said to prevent any kind of issues with your stomach or digestion. It is also great for improving your immunity system. Many medicines have this fruit as a key ingredient
4. Great for diabetics – Patients with diabetes should have this without fail. Those who crave for hunger often must relish this fruit to the fullest. It will keep your blood sugar level in control and also give you the right amount of nutrition.
5. Say goodbye to hypertension – Are you suffering from hypertension? Persimmon can fix your issues. When you have excessive of sodium in your food, you can trigger hypertension. Since this fruit has low levels of sodium, it can be used to relieve you from hypertension problems. Those who have hyperthyroid must also keep this fruit a part of their diet as they are not supposed to consume too much sodium.
6. Enhances vision – If you work 24 hours in front of the computer or any other screen, then you need this fruit. The Vitamin A in the fruit improves vision and protects the eyes from any cornea damages.
7. Natural cure for hiccups – Chinese medicines widely use this fruit extract for treatment of hiccups. Sometimes hiccups can make a major impact on your health if it goes on for more than 10 minutes. If you are having hiccups issues, pick up this fruit and eat it right away to stop.

All these wonderful reasons are enough to tell you why you must have persimmon fruit. Don’t forget to add this to every fruit basket gift, you will be sending to friends and family.

Most of us eat only tasty fruits. It is natural to like a tasty fruit, the flavour of which is a treat to the taste buds. The blatant truth, however, is that the most insipid fruits make for the ones, which add numerous of nutrients and health to ones meals. Prickly pears not might sound unusual to you, but they also look unusual. Their taste and the tongue do not go well together. But the many health benefits offered by them are totally worth their insipid journey from the tongue to the stomach. So, do make it a part of the fruit baskets you buy for yourselves or send as gifts to your loved ones.  We have a list of health benefits by them. Read on.

They boost the immune system – Single serving of it has almost 1/3^rd of daily Vitamin C need. The ascorbic acid, also known as Vitamin C, has a prime role to play in our immune system. It triggers the rapid formation of white blood cells and works as an excellent antioxidant in every part of your system. No metabolic as well as enzymatic processes will go on in the body without the Vitamin C. Starting from the muscle tissues to the bones; everything needs a good proportion of daily Vitamin C.

Strengthens the teeth and bones – A majorly essential part of one’s daily diet is the calcium, available in an excellent amount in this fruit.  Most people already would know calcium is the most significant element to form the bone tissues. 99.9% calcium in the body is located in the teeth and bones. Routine everyday intake of calcium is a safeguard against dental issues as well as bone disorder such as the osteoporosis.

Aids digestion – Like nearly every vegetables and fruit, even the prickly pears have a rich content of dietary fibre, signifying that they regulate all our digestive processes. It aids food to smoothly pass the digestive tract, and thereby gives no chance to bloating, constipation, gastrointestinal issues such as gastric ulcers and even the threatening colon cancer.

Assures a healthy heart – A lot of wonderful components in this fruit make it amazing for the functioning of the heart. First of all, the rich content of fibre can help eliminate the content of unwanted cholesterol, significant content of potassium helps keep the blood pressure normal. Potassium keeps the blood vessels relaxed and keeps you away from extreme stress levels. Plus, the betalains in this fruit is directly linked with the development of endothelial walls located in blood vessels. The possibility of any damages to the body is significantly reduced. Controlling cholesterol, building strong blood vessels and maintaining blood pressure prevents heart disease, strokes and atherosclerosis.

Wards off cancer – While science is still looking for a definite solution to cancer, one of the ways to ward off the spreading of free radicals is by increasing the antioxidants in the body and Prickly pears are rich in flavonoids, polyphenols and betalains, all of which are antioxidants.

Choosing essential vitamins nutrients over a good taste is up to you choice, and so is the fruit for a fruit basket. When the fruit basket delivered, make sure it carries with it a message of health.

The total variety of fruits is infinite. While most of us know only about the daily fruits like Apple, banana, guava, etc., what we do not know is that there are thousands of fruits, which have lots of health benefits. And these deserve recognition too. So let’s meet the fruits we bet you haven’t heard of.

Sugar apple – Sweetsop or sugar apple belongs to the tropical America but is widely grown in Philippines, India and Pakistan too. The look of the fruit is like that of a pine cone of 5cm in diameter. Beneath the lumpy and hard skin is very fragrant flesh of sugar apple that holds several in it. The taste is slightly that of custard.

Mammee Apple – Santo Domingo apricot or mammee Apple is an evergreen tree, which belongs to South Africa and later was brought into other countries of the world too, including Hawaii and Florida. The Apple is a berry of 25 cm in diameter. Its outer rind is thick and has yellowish pulp within. The seeds inside depend upon the size of the fruit. The fragrant pulp is sweet.

Cherymoya – Custard apple or Cherymoya is a deciduous plant that is found in the mountainous regions of South America. In shape, it is round and there are 3 varieties of skin in which these are found -Tuberculate, which is covered in modules, Impressa, which is indented and Intermediate, which is an amalgamation of the two. Inside the skin, the flesh is fragrant and juicy and its consistency is almost like that of custard. They say that the taste of the fruit is a combination of passion fruit, banana, pineapple and papaya. The taste feels amazing on the taste buds.

Platonia–bacuri or Platonia- It is a very large tree found in the rain forests of Paraguay and Brazil. The size of the fruit is almost like that of an orange, and it has a thick peel that gives out yellow latex on being pressed. There is a white sticky pulp inside, which is wrapped in black seeds. It tastes good and the flavour is both sweet and sour.

Cocona–Another tropical fruit from the mountainous areas of South America is the Cocona, which grows on very small shrubs and in less than 8 months these somehow grow from small seeds to big fruits. And it takes another one month for the fruit to ripen. It is a berry and its colour is red, yellow or orange. The look of the fruit is somewhat like tomatoes and the taste is said to be like tomatoes and lemon mixed.

Breadfruit – This belongs to the family of mulberry. It is native to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian islands. It is somewhat like bananas since it can be consumed raw on being ripe and can be cooked when it is unripe.

So, this season when you send someone a fruit basket, try and incorporate one of these fruits into it to make it a special assortment basket. And don’t forget to introduce these fruits to the others too!