Fruit: The Benefits of this Healthy Snack
What do you gravitate towards when you’re hungry between meals? What’s your perfect studying snack? Maybe you like chips, or a granola bar, or even some candy. But, have you considered a simple piece of fruit. In today’s blog, we’ll go through the various types of this food. Plus, list their benefits so you can find what will work best for you!
Types of Fruit
Not sure what fruit you’d like to eat? Check out these top body-fuelling choices.
Apple.
Cultivated for thousands and years, apples have religious and mythological significance including Norse, Green, and European Christian tradition. There are more than 7,500 known varieties of apple, each with their own distinct flavour and other characteristics. What’s more, different apples belong to one of three different categories:
- Dessert or Eating Apples. These are the fruit you can just pick up and eat.
- Cooking Apples. This type occupies pies and pastries.
- Cider Apples. These help make the beloved Autumnal drink.
Apple flavours range from mild and sweet to aggressively tart. They come in a range of colours with red and green at each end of the spectrum. They do not have to be peeled to be eaten.
Banana.
Botanically a berry, bananas usually take an elongated and curved shape. They have soft flesh covered with a rind which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. Bananas grow in clusters and find themselves in 135 countries. Another type of banana is the “plantain” which unlike the dessert variety is used in cooking.
Did you know bananas are at risk of extinction? Because one fruit to the next is so similar genetically disease can run rampant through the species. So, how do we save it? Well, currently scientists can splice this species with a newly discovered species immune to the disease. In doing so, they’ll create a new type of banana that is edible and disease-free.
Bananas taste sweet and contain notes of vanilla and honey. To consume, peel off the rind.
Orange.
Another classic in the bowl, an orange is a hybrid between the pomelo and the mandarine. Thus, this sweet variety is not wild. Originating in a region enclosing Southern Chine, Northeast Indo, and Myanmar, the earliest mention of the sweet origin came in Chinese literature dating back to 314 BC.
Types of orange include:
- Valencia. Late Season.
- Hamlin. Seedless or small seeds.
- Navel. Easiest skin to peel.
- Cara Cara. Low in acid.
- Blood. Dark red flesh and juice.
Oranges have a sweet-tart taste. Like bananas, peel off the rind to eat them.
Pineapple.
The pineapple is a tropical plant indigenous to South America; it has been cultivated there for many centuries. They grown as a small shrub. Pineapples come in a spiky rind with an impressive flair of leaves sticking out the top. This rind must be removed before eating. Their flesh is bright yellow in colour.
A pineapples taste is zesty, sweet, and tangy. Why is this the case? Because they contain an enzyme that breaks down proteins in your mouth. Don’t panic, you’re body is built to regenerate any damaged cells!
Strawberry.
A classic fruit, strawberries are widely appreciated for their aroma, bright red colour, juicy texture, sweetness and versatility. Not only do we eat them plain, but we also put them in jams, smoothies, pies, ice cream, milkshakes, and chocolates.
First, grown in the gardens of Brittany, France in the 1750s, the world production of strawberries now stands at 9 million tonnes. But, did you know it’s not actually a berry? Technically, it doesn’t meet the botanical requirements.
Watermelon.
Watermelon and summer go hand-in-hand, and are yet another fruit with an inedible rind. They grow on a scrambling and trailing wine-like plant. It’s sweet, juicy flesh ranges from deep red to pink and hosts many black seeds.
There are a variety of different ways to eat watermelon: raw, pickled, or juiced are just a few!
Papaya.
Unlike the strawberry, the papaya is technically a berry. Native to northern South America, it naturalised through the Caribbean, Florida, Texas, California and Hawaii. When ripe, its skin has an amber to orange hue with a similar coloured flesh. Inside, a cavity hosts numerous black seeds.
Soften than a melon, it reminds the eater of a mix between a cantaloupe and a mango. Its flavour is sweet with a creamy texture.
Grapes.
Growing in clusters of 15 to 300, grapes are:
- Eaten raw.
- Make wine, jam, juice, and vinegar.
- Dried as raisins, currants, and sultanas.
Its homeland is the Middle East where cultivation began 6,000-8,000 years ago. They come in crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green, orange, and pink. Their taste ranges from sweet to tangy to acidic.
Their Benefits
We now know the facts about these fruits. But, what are their benefits?
- Apple. Promoting good gut bacteria, apples are high in vitamins and have antioxidant effects. When eating, leave the skin on! This is because it’s where a lot of the fibre lies.
- Banana. This fruit is rich in carbs and natural sugars, thus making it perfect for long study sessions. Additionally, bananas are a good source of potassium which lowers blood pressure.
- Orange. Boosting your immune system, the orange is high in vitamin C. Feeling anxious? Well, this vitamin lowers stress hormone levels and blood pressure.
- Pineapple. Also rich in Vitamin C, the pineapple is loaded with many helpful nutrients. Additionally, they help to fight off infections.
- Strawberry. Delicious to eat, strawberries also pack a healthy punch of carbs, vitamins, and blood sugar regulation.
- Watermelon. First of all, watermelon is great at ensuring you’re staying hydrate. Additionally, it contains antioxidants that benefit brain health.
- Papaya. Playing a role in flighting inflammation, the para contains vitamins and minerals which protest the eyes and help prevent eye diseases.
- Grapes. By eating grapes, you can lower your blood pressure; decrease blood sugar levels; and improve your memory, attention, and mood.
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