Tag: fruits

Oranges and Tangerines, Healthy Excellence of Calabria

13.10.2020

There is nothing stranger than to think that the emblem of the Mediterranean, Mandarins, Tangerines and Oranges, do not originate in this splendid land, Calabria. Among the many sources that can be cited on the subject is the wonderful book, “the Mediterranean” by Fernand Braudel which clearly states that the gardens we see in the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean scrub, the typical fruit trees of the Mediterranean does not come from here.

The spectacle that the flora and fauna of the Mediterranean opened to the Greeks was completely different over 2500 years ago. Braudel said: “If Herodotus, the father of history, who lived in the fifth century BC, returned and mixed with today’s tourists, he would encounter one surprise after another. <<I imagine him>>, wrote Lucien Febvre, <<while remakes his Periplus of the Eastern Mediterranean today. Those golden fruits among the dark green leaves of certain shrubs, oranges, lemons, mandarins, he doesn’t remember ever seeing them in his life, they come from the Far East, they were introduced by the Arabs>>”.

However, this is the past, the history. Nowadays, these citrus fruits have acclimatized here better than elsewhere. Today talking about Calabria means talking about its treasure of Mandarins, Oranges and Tangerines!

VERY TASTY AND PRECIOUS FOR HEALTH

Calabria produces about 25% of the national citrus production. There are about 44,000 citrus farms. Reggio Calabria is the province with the largest number of companies followed by that of Cosenza.

A plenty of vitamins

These two provinces always produce a quantity higher than 70% of the total for each species produced. The most cultivated species in Calabria is orange followed by clementines in the provinces of Cosenza and Catanzaro and by mandarin in all the others.

Calabria produces about 63% of the total production of clementines in Italy, 32% of oranges, 39% of other varieties of mandarins and 4.6% of lemons.

Calabria, thanks to its particular climate and the commitment of farmers, as well as being one of the most important citrus fruit producers in Italy, is characterized by the excellent quality of these products. In addition to goodness, these citrus fruits have substances that are precious for our health, among them vitamin C stands out. The human body is unable to produce or store ascorbic acid, essential for life. Lack of this vitamin can lead to bleeding and scarring problems. Vitamin C is important for the proper functioning of the immune system and the synthesis of collagen in the body, it serves to allow the absorption of iron and has an antioxidant action. Collagen strengthens blood vessels, skin, muscles and bones. Humans cannot create collagen without vitamin C.

ORANGES AND TANGERINES: A PANACEA FOR MOOD

We may point out that fruits and vegetables in general are not only good for health from a physical point of view but are also a panacea for mood. Increasing the consumption improves psychological well-being in a short time, two weeks are enough. This is what emerges from a New Zealand study, from the University of Otago, published in the “Plos One” Journal.

Of course, there are some variables that greatly influence the presence of vitamin C in food, from when it is harvested to when it arrives in our intestines.

Delicious and simple mandarins

The contact of vitamin C with the air tends to decrease its concentration in food; when, for example, an orange is squeezed and vitamin C comes into contact with the oxygen in the air, it oxidizes and a part is lost. Heat tends to “destroy” vitamin C; for this reason it is much more convenient to eat raw food whenever possible. The freshness of the food is also essential for the presence of vitamin C; the more time passes from the collection of food to its entry into the body, the more the presence of vitamin C decreases.

In fresh spinach stored for 7 days, at 4 ° C, only 20% of the total amount of vitamin C remains, from this it can be deduced that oranges stored for months have very little vitamin C.

 The 10 fruits richest in vitamin C are:

  • Currants  200 mg
  • Kiwi 85 mg
  • Strawberries and Clementines 54 mg
  • Oranges and lemons 50 mg
  • Tangerines 42 mg
  • Grapefruit 40 mg
  • Melon 32 mg
  • Raspberries 25 mg
  • Kaki 23 mg
  • Blackberries 19 mg
Colors, Health and Beauty

The other 10 vegetables richest in vitamin C are

  • Peppers 151 mg
  • Broccoli and rocket 110 mg
  • Brussels sprouts and turnip leaves 81 mg
  • Cauliflower 59 mg
  • Spinach 54 mg
  • Cabbage 47 mg
  • Endive 35 mg
  • Celery 32 mg
  • Asparagus and chard 24 mg
  • Tomatoes 21 mg

 The daily levels of vitamin C intake recommended by our national health system are as follows:

  • Infants (up to 1 year) 35 mg
  • Children (1 to 10 years) 45 mg
  • Male and female children (11 to 14 years) 50 mg
  • Adults 60 mg
  • Expectant mothers 70 mg
  • Lactating women 90 mg

Juice of Bergamot: Superfood drink

06.04.2020

PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS

Thanks to about 350 polyphenols, Bergamot of Calabria has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and vasoprotective properties. In addition, the juice can reduce blood glucose and activate some organic antioxidants, while the flavonoids present in bergamot juice are very good relaxants as well, they soothe the nerves and reduce nervous stress, insomnia, and depression.

The essential bergamot oil inside the juice stimulates appetite, liver and pancreatic functions. The juice is useful in cholecystitis, in tachycardia and arterial hypertension; it is locally useful in stomatitis, gingivitis and pharyngitis; it is an intestinal, disinfectant and astringent pesticide. Finally, it is balsamic in the respiratory tract.

For the vitamin C, Bl and B2, P and vitamin A and E content in juice and flavedo, bergamot can be considered a fruit with good vitamin content, and its juice a “superfood drink”; therefore, it is useful in bone disorders due to altered calcium absorption, teething disorders, collagen pathologies, muscular weakness or even neuromuscular hyper-excitability, cardiac heretism, iron deficiency anaemia, hepatic congestion and various diseases with impaired vessel permeability.

On a nutritional level, bergamot juice, with the weak acids contained in it (acetic, malic, citric, tartaric acids…), gives rise to the production of carbonates and carbonate alkaline (potassium and calcium above all), which, in addition to promoting intestinal calcium absorption, contributes to maintaining the alkaline reserve.

JUICE MIXING

Bergamot is available from October to March, so its juice can be drunk natural, diluted with a little water, or sweetened with an Earl Grey Tea. Further, it can be mixed with orange juice. Bergamot juice is a perfect Mediterranean drink, when added to prosecco or to sparkling water.

This mixing of the juice can be used to reduce headaches and muscle tension or as digestive drink. Further, if the juice is added to flavour yoghurt, a perfect mix can be obtained or, freezing it, a refreshing sorbet.