 Nature’s bounty
by Caryl Nugara
Fruits are sweet or sour growing
on woody trees, plants, bushes and vines, having seeds within and fleshy
tissues which conserve moisture and ripen in the sun.
They are eaten raw, cooked, candied or dried. Crushed fruits make
nourishing drinks and processed into crystals they form the base for
desserts. They contain easily digested protein, carbohydrate, starch,
vitamins and pectin.
Tropical fruits such as mangoes have thread-like substance in the
ripened pulp which help to eliminate waste from the body.
Iron, potassium and calcium are in fruits such as apples, pears and
bananas. Fructose is in ripe fruit and those that belong to the citrus
family like oranges and lemons have high potency of vitamin C.
Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries are small, juicy fruits
growing in clusters. Grapes grow abundantly in the mediterranean regions
and manufactured into delicious wine. Raising and currants are the dried
products.
  Fleshy fruits such as plums, cherries, peaches and apricots are
called “drupes”. Hazelnuts, cadjunuts and walnuts hang on the parent
tree encased in shells.
Our tropical island has diverse fruits such as pineapples, papaw,
guava and ‘rambutan’ in bright red bunches.
They thrive in good earth and rain, touched by dew-drops and ripened
by sunbeams passionately quivering in the atmosphere.
It is interesting to know that women in Biblical times obtained dye
from the skins of purple grapes and vermilion pigments from pomegranate
husks.
Their hued garments were unique enhancing their femineity. |
