Fruits are an important part of our Food Intake; here we will go through some of the popular and some unknown facts about Fruits. The Study of Fruits is called Pomology which is branch of study of Plants-Botany.
According to the definition in Botany, a fruit is seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that are form from the ovary after flowering.
There are more than 2000 types of Fruits and then thousands of subtypes so we will cover the facts about the known fruits as of now.
Some Vegetables are actually Fruits:
If we go by the laws of Botany-the study of plants then many vegetables are actually fruits.
These are Tomatoes, Pumpkin, Avacado, Pepper, Cucumber, String Beans, Peas, Egg Plant or Brinjal, Okra, Olives, Corn, Beans-Kidney Beans and others, Chickpeas and Zucchini.
Fruits from the family of Flowers:
Apricots, Plumps, Cherries, Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Apples, Pears and Peaches are part of the Rose Family. It’s the plant family these belong to, it’s called Rosaceae and these are the flowering plants with 5 petals and oval leaves.
Why an Apple a Day keeps the Doctor away:
Apples are loaded with Vitamins, Minerals, Fibre and Anti-Oxidants, have very less Calories and above all it makes you feel you are full so you do not eat unnecessarily. Consumption of Apple improves brain function and bone health & reduces the risk of Diabetes.
Apples have 25% air and hence float in water though it looks Solid. An Apple can give you more energy than a cup of Coffee as its natural sugar is more stronger than the caffeine in a cup of coffee.
There are more than 7000 types of Apples. China is the world leader in Apple Production with 41 million metric tons.
We are Bananas:
India is the leader in Banana Production with 2.9 crore tons of Bananas grown each year followed by China. Banana is technically a Herb.
Eating Banana produces Serotonin which is also called the Happy Chemical and hence Banana is considered as a mood enhancer fruit.
Human and Bananas share 60% DNA and there are about 1000 varieties of bananas.
Banana contains Potassium and so are great pre-workout snack as Potassium help in Muscle and Nerve function during exercising.
People go Bananas when they see Mango:
India is the leader in Mango Production and accounts for 50% (21 million tons) of the world’s total Mango Production.
Mango is the National Fruit of India and everyone in India loves Mangoes and go bananas during the Mango Season that starts from March and goes till July.
Mango is known as the King of Fruits for its very nutrition value as it is rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B and Vitamin B6 and the minerals namely Cooer, Magnesium and Potassium.
Strawberry is definitely the American Fruit:
Strawberry is the only fruit with its seeds on surface and not inside. An Average Strawberry has 200 seeds.
United States of America is the world leader in Strawberry production that stands at 1.4-1.5 million tons with the state of California alone contributing to 75% of the total country’s production.
Between April and June California produces 1 billion pounds of strawberry from 23,000 acres of Strawberry farm land.
Pineapple is a Global Fruit:
A pineapple plant can produce only 1 pineapple in one year not like other fruit plants that have multiple fruits.
Pineapple is rich in Manganese and Vitamin C and is best for reducing inflammation in reducing blood clots. Pineapples are International symbol of Welcome.
Oranges-the Juice Master:
Oranges are the largest citrus fruit in the world and is the Juice Master because 85% of the Oranges are used to the very famous Orange Juice.
Such has been the popularity since ages that the colour ‘Orange’ was derived from the name of the fruit-‘Orange’. Earlier it was referred to as ‘Geoluhread’ which is the old English word for red-yellow.
Talk about the love for Orange, after Vanilla and Chocolate-Orange is the 3rd most favourite flavour in the World.
There are around 600 types of Oranges that are produced and Brazil is the world leader in Orange Production with approximately 17 million tons produced per year which is 30% of total production of Oranges in the World. 95% of the Orange production of Brazil happens in State of Sao Paulo.
China is the second leading producer of Orange followed by India.
The Super Fruit:
Pomegranate is classified as the Super Fruit because it can be stored in refrigerator for 2 months, one pomegranate contains approximately 1000 seeds, Pomegranate Trees can live for 200 years and there are more than 750 varieties of Pomegranate.
India is the world leader in Pomegranate production followed by Iran.
It’s a fruit with lots of water as the name indicates:
Watermelons contain 92% water and hence called Watermelons.
You will be surprised to know that Watermelons come in 1200 different varieties across the Globe.
While the World record for the biggest and heaviest fruit is held by Mathias Willemjins fri growing a Pumpkin that weighed 2624.6 pounds or 1190.5 Kilograms, the World Record for the biggest Watermelon is held by Chris Kent for growing a Watermelon that weighed 350.5 pounds or 159 Kilograms.
Square Watermelons: The farmers of Japan have been growing Square Shaped Watermelons for last 40 years and now heart and Pyramid Shapes have also been achieved.
China is the world leader in Watermelon Production is far ahead of Turkey which is at second position. China produces 79-80 million tons of Watermelons whereas Turkey produces just 4 million tons of Watermelons per year.
Pear Pear everywhere:
There are 3000 varieties of Pear available across the Globe. Pear also belongs to the family of Rose called Rosaceae. China is the leader in the world when it comes Pear Production followed by Argentina.
The most expensive Pear comes at $ 9-10 apiece as it looks like a Buddha. This creative feat was achieved by a Chinese Farmer.
One tree different Fruits:
There is a tree called ‘The Fruit Salad Tree’ which bears upto 8 different related fruits from the same family. Like the Cirtus Fruit Salad Tree can have Lemonds, Oranges, Mandarins, Tangelos, Grapefruit and Limes
It is done by grafting fruits from the same family and not from different family. The Fruit Salad Tree was created by James and Kerry West in 1990, farmers from South Wales-Australia.