Kiwi is a remedy to respiratory diseases and is great for skin
The kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of a woody vine in the genus Actinidia. It has a fibrous, dull greenish-brown skin and bright green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. The kiwifruit is a small fruit approximately three inches long and weighing about four ounces. Its green flesh is almost creamy in consistency with an invigorating taste reminiscent of strawberries, melons and bananas, yet with its own unique sweet flavour.
Native to China, kiwifruits were originally known as Yang Tao. They were brought to New Zealand from China by missionaries in the early 20th century with the first commercial plantings occurring several decades later. In 1960, they were renamed Chinese gooseberries. Other species of Actinidia are native to India, Japan and southeastern Siberia.
Packed with more vitamin C than an equivalent amount of orange, the bright green flesh of the kiwifruit speckled with tiny black seeds adds a dramatic tropical flair to any fruit salad. California kiwifruit is available November through May, while the New Zealand crop hits the market June through October making fresh kiwis available year round.
Raw kiwifruit is rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidain which is commercially useful as a meat tenderiser. Actinidain also makes raw kiwifruit unsuitable for use in desserts containing milk or any other dairy products which are not for immediate consumption, because the enzyme soon begins to digest milk proteins.
Sliced kiwifruit has long been regularly used as a garnish atop whipped cream on the common New Zealand and Australian dessert, the pavlova. It can also be used in a variety of other savoury and sweet dishes.
nIn the world of phytonutrient research, kiwifruit has fascinated researchers for its ability to protect DNA in the nucleus of human cells from oxygen-related damage. The protective properties of kiwi have been demonstrated in a study with six and seven-year-old children in northern and central Italy. The more kiwi or citrus fruit these children consumed, the less likely they were to have respiratory-related health problems including wheezing, shortness of breath, or night coughing. These same antioxidant protective properties may have been involved in providing protection for these children.
Kiwifruit is a very good source of dietary fiber and is good for keeping the blood sugar levels of diabetic patients under control. Kiwifruit is also a good source of the mineral potassium.
nEating vitamin C-rich fruit such as kiwi may confer a significant protective effect against respiratory symptoms associated with asthma such as wheezing. A study that followed over 18,000 children aged six-seven years living in Central and Northern Italy found that those eating the most citrus and kiwifruit (five-seven servings per week) had 44 per cent less incidence of wheezing compared to children eating the least (less than once a week). Shortness of breath was reduced by 32 per cent, severe wheeze by 41per cent, night time cough by 27per cent, chronic cough by 25per cent and running nose by 28 per cent.
Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating three or more servings of the fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36 per cent, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.
Enjoying just a couple of kiwifruit each day significantly lowers the risk of blood clots and reduces the amount of fats in the blood.