Food trivia | 100 facts about fruits (part 5)

Fruits are tasty, full of energy, and normally used as snacks. We all have one (or maybe more) favorite fruit. But how many things do we know about them?

Let’s find out more about them!

1. Banana is a fruit that belongs in the family of Musacae.
2. It belongs in the family of Musaceae.
3. It is also part of the genus Musa.
4. But is is classified as… a berry!
5. Bananas are native fruits to the tropical places of Indomalaya and Australia.
6. But it is considered that they first appeared in Papua New Guine, which is near to Australia.
7. Bananas have a long history since they were first mentioned in the 6th century B.C.
8. They were also identified in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
9. India though grows the most bananas all over the world.
10. India is followed by China.
11. An Indian man once consumed 81 bananas in only 30 minutes!
12. Bananas don’t grow from the land, but they are “produced” by banana trees.
13. Banana’s scientific name is musa sapientum.
14. Musa sapientum means “fruit of the wise men”.
15. Bananas don’t sink in the water, because they can float.
16. The most popular bananas are the yellow ones, but there are also bananas in other colors such as the red bananas.
17. Red bananas grow in Australia.
18. Japanese use the fiber in the banana in order to make fabric and… paper!
19. There is a Banana Club Museum, that is located in California.
20. It has more that 17.000 bananas!
21. Bananas are the 4th most popular agricultural prodyct worldwide.
22. More than 100 billion people in the world enjoy bananas.
23. In Ugandan language the word matooke means food and banana.
24. Bananas are quite famous in the music industry, since this is the fruit that has the most songs written about it than any other fruit.
25. Also there is popular animation that is called Minions and in which the minions are… bananas!
26. Also, back in the 90s there was a really popular animated TV show named “Bananas with pajamas”.
27. Banana makes a great juice when combined with sour cherry.
28. Bananas grow up to 25 feet and their leaves can reach up to 9 feet length.
29. 75% of a banana is consisted of… water!
30. In case you are on a dit, bananas are perfect for you since they are low calory food.
31. Bananas are the “happiest” fruits because they are the only fruit that help you produce serotonin.
32. The sad news is that if you are allergic to latex then you probably are allergic to bananas, too.
33. Bananas are better and more tasty when ripen “young” and green.
34. If you put a banana in a refrigerator on the outside it will turn dark brown or black, but this won’t affect the inside.
35. This is going to happen of course if you don’t eat it within a few days.
36. Human being have 50% same DNA with these fruits!
37. Persea americana, or the avocado, is believed to have originated in the state of Puebla, Mexico,though fossil evidence suggests similar species were much more widespread millions of years ago, occurring as far north as California when the climate of that region was more hospitable to them.
38. The native, undomesticated variety is known as a criollo, and is small, with dark black skin, and contains a large seed.
39. It probably coevolved with extinct megafauna.
40. The oldest evidence of avocado use was found in a cave located in Coxcatlán, Puebla, Mexico, that dates to around 10,000 BC.
41. The avocado tree also has a long history of cultivation in Central and South America, likely beginning as early as 5,000 BC.
42. A water jar shaped like an avocado, dating to AD 900, was discovered in the pre-Incan city of Chan Chan.
43. The earliest known written account of the avocado in Europe is that of Martín Fernández de Enciso (circa 1470–1528) in 1519 in his book, Suma De Geographia Que Trata De Todas Las Partidas Y Provincias Del Mundo.
44. The first written record in English of the use of the word ‘avocado’ was by Hans Sloane in a 1696 index of Jamaican plants. The plant was introduced to Indonesia in 1750, Brazil in 1809, South Africa and Australia in the late 19th century, and the Levant in 1908.
45. The word “avocado” comes from the Spanish aguacate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word which goes back to the proto-Aztecan *pa:wa which also meant “avocado”.
46. Sometimes the Nahuatl word was used with the meaning “testicle”, probably because of the likeness between the fruit and the body part.
47. Commercial orchards produce an average of seven tonnes per hectare each year, with some orchards achieving 20 tonnes per hectare.
48. Like the banana, the avocado is a climacteric fruit, which matures on the tree, but ripens off the tree.
49. Avocados used in commerce are picked hard and green and kept in coolers at 3.3 to 5.6 °C (37.9 to 42.1 °F) until they reach their final destination. Avocados must be mature to ripen properly.
50. Avocados that fall off the tree ripen on the ground.
51. Generally, the fruit is picked once it reaches maturity; Mexican growers pick ‘Hass’ avocados when they have more than 23% dry matter, and other producing countries have similar standards.
52. Once picked, avocados ripen in one to two weeks (depending on the cultivar) at room temperature (faster if stored with other fruits such as apples or bananas, because of the influence of ethylene gas). Some supermarkets sell ripened avocados that have been treated with synthetic ethylene to hasten to ripen.
53. The use of an ethylene gas “ripening room”, which is now an industry standard, was pioneered in the 1980s by farmer Gil Henry of Escondido, California, in response to footage from a hidden supermarket camera which showed shoppers repeatedly squeezing hard, unripe avocados, putting them “back in the bin,” and moving on without making a purchase.
54. In some cases, avocados can be left on the tree for several months, which is an advantage to commercial growers who seek the greatest return for their crop, but if the fruit remains unpicked for too long, it falls to the ground.
55. Avocados can be propagated by seed, taking roughly four to six years to bear fruit, although in some cases seedlings can take 10 years to come into bearing.
56. The offspring is unlikely to be identical to the parent cultivar in fruit quality.
57. Prime quality varieties are therefore propagated by grafting to rootstocks that are propagated by seed (seedling rootstocks) or by layering (clonal rootstocks).
58. After about a year of growing in a greenhouse, the young rootstocks are ready to be grafted. Terminal and lateral grafting is normally used.
59. The scion cultivar grows for another 6–12 months before the tree is ready to be sold.
60. Clonal rootstocks are selected for tolerance of specific soil and disease conditions, such as poor soil aeration or resistance to the soil-borne disease (root rot) caused by Phytophthora.
61. Blueberries are perennial plants.
62. They are blue or purple.
63. They belong to the Cyanococcus section.
64. They belong to the genus of Vaccinium.
65. Other berries such as cranberries belong to the same genus.
66. Blueberries are divided into 2 groups: the commercial, and the wild ones.
67. Another division of blueberries is the following: highbush, and lowbush.
68. The highbush ones are commonly found in the grocery stores.
69. The lowbush are smaller but sweeter.
70. The lowbush ones are used for processing.
71. Both are native to North America.
72. They were introduced to Europe in the 1930s.
73. Blueberries are frozen in only 4 minutes!
74. One cup of blueberries contains 80 calories.
75. It also has 3.6 grams of fiber.
76. And also by eating only 1 cup of blueberries, you get 25% of your daily vitamin C.
77. Harvest time for blueberries is from mid-June until mid-August.
78. They prevent cancer.
79. Also, they help the brain to function better.
80. Blueberries are gluten-free.
81. They have quite an antioxidant activity.
82. The blueberries help you lose weight.
83. The blueberries are considered as a… superfood.
84. The blueberries were called “star-fruits” because of the 5 pointed stars that are formed at the blossom end of the berry.
85. The name was given by the North American indigenous peoples.
86. Eating blueberries on a daily basis improve heart health.
87. More specifically if you eat 150g of blueberries on a daily basis, you reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
88. Blueberry in gaming is someone who is not in your squad but belongs to your team.
89. Blueberry has a different meaning in slang.
90. Kiwifruit grows as a vine. It can reach a size of 10 meters (33 feet) in length.
91. Kiwifruit can produce fruits up to 30 years and to survive for more than 50 years.
92. The kiwifruit was first found growing in China, where it was known by the name “Yang Tao”.
93. At the beginning of the twentieth century, missionaries brought the fruit to the island of New Zealand, where it received it’s named “kiwi” after the small flightless bird native to the island.
94. Main pollinators for kiwifruit are bees.
95. In kiwifruits, you can see the difference between a male and a female.
96. Kiwifruit is rich in many bioactive compounds that have the antioxidant capacity to help to protect against free radicals, harmful by-products produced in the body.
97. Kiwifruit contains two times more vitamin C than oranges. It is also a rich source of vitamin E and K.
98. It also contains good amounts of minerals like manganese, iron, and magnesium.
99. Kiwifruit can help improve the function of your immune system.
100. Medium-sized kiwifruit contains only 46 calories.

Read more: Food trivia | 100 facts about fruits (part 4)