‘Sweet Tooth’ Types Drawn to Fruit

Posted on July 27, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

WEDNESDAY– Folks with a sweet tooth know they’re wan to candy bars and ice cream. But research suggests this set also finds fruit more attractive a fact that can be turned to their advantage.

“The take-home message here is that if you are a self-identified sweet lover, try to replace a few sugary snacks with more healthful sweet snacks that are packed with nutrients, not just sugar and calories,” said Lona Sandon, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

She wasn’t concerned in the study, which was led by Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

“If someone does have a sweet tooth, the same desire for sugar that leads them to eat candy is also the same desire that leads them to be predisposed to fruit,” Wansink said.

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Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables earn US $136 million

Posted on July 6, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

The country aims to earn US $280 million in 2006, or a year-on-year rise of 19%, MARD said, adding up Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables are now accessible in 50 countries and territories with China, Russia and Japan being its largest markets.

To this end, MARD are concentrating on building trademarks for a number of specialty products, attractive marketing activities and increasing the land of profitable fruits and vegetables. It is also absorbed on planning material zones and widely applying superior technology into production.

A number of rigorous fruit zones have been productively set up such as the Hoa Loc sweet mango in the Mekong delta region of Tien Giang, dragon fruit in central Binh Thuan province, litchi in northern BAC Giang province, grapes in central Ninh Thuan provine and the Nam Roi pomelo in the Mekong delta province of Vinh Long.

However, these zones are only bookkeeping for a small proportion of the country’s total acreage of 755,000 ha of orchards. A mass of the country’s fruit acreage are properties of cultivator households.

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Fruits grown from accumulated dust

Posted on July 3, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

Raipur: For those who extreme dislikes dust around the house, here’s a quick remedy.

A scientist in India’s central Raipur city has productively grown a variety of fruits and vegetables from the dust accumulated in his terrace-garden.

The trial of growing plants on dust began after Aggarwal happened to visit his inherited house and witness an array of small plants growing on a thick layer of dust on the terrace.

Aggarwal quickly applied certain scientific principles, which supported the cause of growing plants even on dust using nutrients there in atmospheric air.

Though roots of any plant growing in dust cannot expand like to that of a potted plant, it was sufficient for Aggarwal to prove his point to non-believers.

“Initially, I grew vegetables in the dust. I have grown an 8-10 kilogram pumpkin, a six-kilo bottle gourd, cauliflower and cabbages on an experimental basis. But because there was no space for the roots to grow, I cut them after one or two flowerings. Slowly, I graduated to growing flowers and fruits and now I am growing ornamental flowers.”

Initially wary of his eager interest, Aggarwal’s passion has established acceptance with his wife, who no longer minds his eagerness to broom the house unlike any other conservative Indian wife.

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`King of fruits’ holds court

Posted on June 5, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

HYDERABAD: Sensation, Terpentine, Lal Kathra, Patara… Don’t get intrigue by the names, they are some of the 222 varieties of the `King of Fruits’ on display at the three-day mango demonstrate which was inaugurated by Agriculture Minister, N.Raghuveera Reddy at the Jubilee Hall here on Thursday.

The biggest fruit on show is Sora (average wt. two kg) while the least is Chekara Guthi (75 gms). Banganapalli, Suvarnarekha, Dasheri, Alphonsa, Totapari, Pedda rasam, Himayath and Tellagulabi are amid the 32 succulent commercial varieties being exhibited in 20 stalls.

The stalls have been put up by progressive farmers, dispensation units, DWCRA groups, exporters, Non-Governmental Organizations and persons dealing with post-harvest skill and micro-irrigation systems.

New hybrids, pickle varieties, home- made and profitable mango products are also on sale.

Talking to reporters, Mr.Reddy said that this was the first time such a big show was planned.

He said that mangoes were organism sold at lower than the prevailing market prices.

The king of fruit was grown in 10 lakh acres in the State and the estimated production was 31.36 lakh tones.

He harassed the need to increase exports.

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Surviving on fruits from last 43 yrs

Posted on June 1, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

Hyderabad: Fruits for breakfast, lunch and also for dinner, no it’s not a joke. A lady in Andhra Pradesh is doing precisely that. She is ongoing on fruits diet for the last 43 years.

72-year-old Laxmi Tulasi from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh stopped consumption food since 1963. For one year she took just honey and lime juice but later she started eating only fruits. Till date she has merely fruits as food.

Laxmi is 72 and is extremely healthy. No prizes for guessing the secret, yes, it is fruits that she thrives on.

Laxmi is taking only fruits like banana, grapes, pomegranate, and guavas for the last 43 years. Laxmi left food in 1963 after a quarrel with her family members. As a protest, she started having only honey and lime juice for one year but later she began eating fruits for all meals.

“In 1963 I left food. For one year I continued with lime and honey and later started eating one banana and fruits and have two cups of tea everyday. The reason for this was a tiff with my family members on some issue. I was peeved when someone said something which I did not like.'”

Laxmi Tulasi is a very well educated lady and she retired as Mandal (Block) Development Officer. After retirement, she promptly took up social service to help the other women in her village.

Not only is she connecting women of her village but from surrounding villages also in various vocational courses.

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‘Look-East’ policy has started bearing fruits

Posted on May 30, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

As the India-Asian free trade agreement (FTA) has to be finalized by June 2006, the ministry of commerce has the Herculean task of operational out the details, counting identification of key exports & imports and the rates of responsibility to be offered for promoting two-sided trade flanked by the countries involved. There are also complex negotiating issues on rules of origin and value addition, apart from negative lists.

The India-Asian FTA must have come earlier. The economic association, in the light of our historic commercial ties and geographical nearness, has gained momentum since the nighttimes, when we opened our economy. Since 1993, India has been productively pursuing a ‘Look East’ policy to enhance economic cooperation with its neighbors in the East.

India’s ‘Look East’ policy has ongoing bearing fruits and the economy is harvesting handsome dividends. Asia, exclusive of the Middle East, accounts for 32% of our global exports, while the share of imports is 24%. In the last five years, India’s exports to Asian contain increased by over 280%. Imports from Asian have augmented by around 220%.

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India eyes new markets for its ‘king of fruits’

Posted on May 29, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

NEW DELHI: India, the world’s largest mango maker, is set for a big push to sell its succulent “king of fruits” to countries like Japan and the United States, officials say.

The mango is inhabitant to India, which grows 12mn tones of the fruit, more than half the world’s output.

But India’s exports amount to just 7% of the world mango deal, according to government figures.

“It’s almost negligible – peanuts,” said A S Rawat, from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

But APEDA expects Indian mango exports to go up sharply in the next year, and has been operational hard to open up markets like Japan and the United States.

“You can safely presume a 50% (rise) next year,” S Dave, the export group’s director, said.

His hopefulness is based in part on what appears to be rehabilitated interest in both the United States and Japan for the mango.

“The United States is looking forward to eating Indian mangoes,” US President George W Bush said on a visit to India in March in what was dubbed “mango diplomacy” by the Indian media.

Right now India exports about 65,000 tones of mangoes, up from now under 50,000 tones five years ago, typically to Europe and the Middle East. It began selling to China two years ago.

“Definitely we need to increase (shipments) . we have a niche product and people know our varieties,” Rawat said.

But with more than 1,000 varieties of mangoes, in dissimilar hues, shapes, sizes, it hardly seems likely that foreign consumers can be acquainted with all of them.

Meanwhile, a group from the United States Department of Agriculture is arriving this week to work out technological issues, US embassy spokesman David Kennedy said.

“I think it’s hopeful,” said Kennedy. “We’re working on it with the regulatory authorities.”

Kennedy will not comment on when American consumers may be able to buy Indian mangoes, but Dave, of the Indian export group, said he expected it to happen by next year. -AFP

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Let’s Start Promoting Fruits and Vegetables like the Europeans Do

Posted on May 23, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

They have the right idea over in Europe. Let’s start cheering people to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Although Europeans are eating worse now than they did 47 years ago — with diets too rich in sugar and saturated fats, agriculture and right farming policies can help promote healthy diets, pointed out an economist with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The FAO’s Josef Schmidhuber told representatives from member countries of the Regional Offices for Europe of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the FAO that the “FAO is actively promoting fruit and vegetable manufacture for both health and for income-generation for producers,” FoodNavigator.com reported.

Hurrah! Cool idea. Now why don’t they do that over here?

The FAO economist also said that an ongoing joint WHO/FAO plan on fruit and vegetables represented “an exciting avenue for prolonged cooperation in the health, education and agriculture sectors.”

American leaders and celebrities, are you listening? We could get some ideas from our European brethren.

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‘Eat a rainbow’ of fruits and vegetables every day

Posted on May 11, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

Research has shown that many fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients, special compounds that have all kinds of good healthy benefits capable of everything from improving eyesight to reducing the risk of cancer.
The chemical names and biological processes of these phytonutrients might be too complex, but there is an easy way to incorporate them into your diet.

Fortunately, many nutrients are very pigments, the natural dyes that make fruits and vegetables a certain color. So to get all those health benefits, just be sure when “eat a rainbow” of colorful fruits and veggies every day.

Here are some of the important phytonutrients are also associated with each color:

Red fruits and veggies such as strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon and also cherries are associated with lycopene and anthocyanins that could help strengthen collagen proteins in the body and prevent lung, prostate and stomach cancers.

Orange produce such as carrots, squash, citrus and fresh melons are associated with beta-carotene and limuloids that could protect against chronic bronchitis, asthma and emphysema, reduce the risk of cataracts and lung cancer, and help decrease cholesterol levels.

Yellow veggies like yellow bell peppers, corn and legumes are very much associated with limuloids and beta-carotene, as well as zeaxanthin that have the added benefits of protecting vision and preventing tumors and cancer in the colon, breast and prostate glands.

Greens like spinach, collard greens, broccoli and good tomatillos are associated with lutein, saponins, and glucosinolates that could help preserve eyesight, maintain heart and skin health, increase enzyme activity to detoxify cancer-causing agents and help lower lipid levels.

Blue fruits like blueberries, grapes and plums are associated with anthocyanins that could strengthen collagen proteins and help prevent colon, cervical and prostate cancer.

Purple produce like grapes, raspberries and eggplant are also associated with anthocyanins as well as flavonoids that have the added benefit of providing anti-inflammatory and pain relief.

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Hazardous ripening of fruits

Posted on May 9, 2006 by fruitsinfo-admin

Reportedly, for last few years in succession fruit traders are engaged in the dangerous practice of spraying chemicals on fruits and even injecting the same on them to give these a very premature ripe look to enhance their appeal to consumers. But such business motive could be fatal for those who consume such fruits because the chemicals used are called to be carcinogenic for human beings and even animals. They could cause cancer and also other ailments. There are reasons to be apprehensive that the hazardous practice is continuing in the continuing fruit season as law enforcement proceedings against the same are not noted.

A mobile court is seen fining food caterers and also food producers of different kinds. Unfortunately, these activities have not extended the fruit sellers and this is a very serious oversight on their part because hazardous ripening of fruit poses a serious public health threat.
It is unthinkable that official authorities who should be worried about the threat to public health on this score could remain indifferent and uncaring. The news about ripening fruits in a health hazarding way may have led to a crackdown on such fruit sellers by now to eliminate their harming potential and then to create disincentives for such action in the future. However, it is better to be late than never.

The Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) are normally engaged in testing all kinds of consumer products to settle on their standard or safety. Fruits cannot be outside their authority and range of activities. Clearly, they have the powers to force the distributors of such fruits to open their shops for their collection of samples and also for testing of the same. If the BSTI authorities do this in relation to a number of large fruit sellers, then, it is believed; others would get the message and take steps on their own to stop this dangerous practice out of an anticipation of facing punitive measures for doing otherwise. Therefore, the BSTI needs to turn its attention to this need immediately.

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