Specialty

February 2, 2010, 7:40 am • Tags: , ,

icon_16The kiwifruit is the edible berry of a woody vine distantly related to other fruits such as blueberry and flowering plants such as rhododendron. It was originally known by its Chinese name, Macaque peach. Also known as the Chinese gooseberry, the fruit was renamed for export marketing reasons in the 1950s. It was briefly known as the melonette, and then called the kiwifruit, named after the brown flightless bird that serves as New Zealand’s national symbol.

New Zealand exported the fruit to the United States in the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Frieda Caplan, founder of Los Angeles-based Frieda’s Specialty Produce, played a key role in popularizing kiwifruit in the United States, convincing supermarket produce managers to carry the odd-looking fruit.

Gold Kiwifruit have a smooth, bronze skin, a pointed cap at one end and distinctive golden yellow flesh with a less tart and more tropical flavour than green kiwifruit. It has a higher market price than green kiwifruit. It is less hairy than the green cultivars, so can be eaten whole after rubbing off the thin, fluffy coat. While the skin of kiwifruit is often removed before serving, it is completely edible.

It is a rich source of vitamin C, with a potassium content slightly less than that of a banana. The skin is a good source of antioxidants. It is often reported to have mild laxative effects, due to the high level of dietary fiber. Raw kiwifruit is also rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidin, which is commercially useful as a meat tenderizer but can be an allergen for some individuals. Specifically, people allergic to latex, papayas or pineapples are likely to be allergic to kiwifruit.

Kiwifruit also serves as a natural blood thinner. A recent study performed at the University of Oslo in Norway reveals that, similar to popular mainstream aspirin therapy, consuming two to three kiwifruit daily for 28 days significantly thins the blood, reducing the risk of clots, and lowers fat in the blood that can cause blockages.