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ARTICLES IN THE BOOK

  1. Almond
  2. Anise
  3. Apple
  4. Apricot
  5. Asparagus
  6. Aubergine
  7. Avocado
  8. Azuki bean
  9. Bamboo shoot
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  14. Blackberry
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  25. Capsicum
  26. Carambola
  27. Caraway
  28. Cardamom
  29. Carrot
  30. Cashew
  31. Cauliflower
  32. Celery
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  48. Date
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  50. Fennel
  51. Fenugreek
  52. Fig
  53. Garden cress
  54. Garlic
  55. Ginger
  56. Ginseng
  57. Globe Artichoke
  58. Gooseberry
  59. Grape
  60. Grapefruit
  61. Greengage
  62. Guava
  63. Haricot bean
  64. Hazelnut
  65. Juniper
  66. Kentucky coffeetree
  67. Khaki
  68. Kiwifruit
  69. Kumquat
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  76. Lupin
  77. Lychee
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  120. Runner bean
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  133. Sugar cane
  134. Sunflower seed
  135. Sweet potato
  136. Tamarillo
  137. Tamarind
  138. Tangerine
  139. Thyme
  140. Tomato
  141. Turnip
  142. Vanilla
  143. Vicia faba
  144. Walnut
  145. Watercress
  146. Watermelon
  147. Wheat
  148. Wild rice
  149. Zucchini

 

 
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FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
This article is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License 

Kiwifruit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The kiwifruit is the edible fruit of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia.

The most common cultivars of kiwifruit are oval, and about the size of a large hen's egg (5-8 cm long and 4.5-5.5 cm diameter). It has a hairy, dull green-brown skin that most people peel off before consumption. The flesh is bright green or golden with rows of small, black, edible seeds. The texture of the fruit is soft and the flavour is sometimes described as a mix of strawberry, banana, and pineapple.

The fruit gets its name from a marketing strategy, naming it after the kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand, where the fruit was first commercially popularised in 1959 by the New Zealand fruit-and-vegetable export company Turners and Growers; previously it was known as the Chinese gooseberry, but due to the Cold War, the Chinese label seemed unfit for popularization of the fruit in Western countries. Growers gradually adopted the name and in 1974 the kiwifruit became the official trade name.

In North America, South America and Europe, the "fruit" part of the name is usually dropped, and most people associate "kiwi" with the fruit rather than the bird. This usage can cause some minor confusion and tends to annoy or offend many New Zealanders. To minimize confusion about what a "kiwi" is—a bird, a fruit or a New Zealander—most New Zealand Kiwifruit is now marketed under the brand-name label Zespri which is trademarked by a marketing company domiciled in New Zealand, ZESPRI International. The branding move also served to distinguish New Zealand kiwifruit from fruit produced by other countries who could cash in on the "Kiwi" name, as it was not trademarked.

History

Actinidia deliciosa is native to southern China, where it is declared as the "National Fruit" of the People's Republic of China. Other species of Actinidia are also found in China and range east to Japan and north into southeastern Siberia. Cultivation spread from China in the early 20th century, when seeds were introduced to New Zealand by Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls' College, who had been visiting mission schools in China. The seeds were planted in 1906 by a Wanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, with the vines first fruiting in 1910. People who tasted the fruit then thought it had a gooseberry flavour and began to call it the Chinese Gooseberry, but being from the actinidia family it is not related to the Grossulariaceae (gooseberry) family.

The familiar cultivar Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward' was developed by Hayward Wright in Avondale, New Zealand around 1924. It was initially grown in domestic gardens, but commercial planting began in the 1940s. Italy is now the leading producer of kiwifruit in the world, followed by New Zealand, Chile, France, Greece, Japan and the United States. Kiwifruit is still produced in its birthplace China, but China has never made it to the top 10 list of kiwifruit producing countries. In China, it is grown mainly in the mountainous area upstream of the Yangtze River. It is also grown in other areas of China, including Sichuan.

Names

This fruit is native to China and had a long history before it was commercialised as kiwifruit. Hence it has many other older names especially in the Chinese language. In Chinese:

  • Macaque peach (獼猴桃 míhóu táo): the most common name
  • Unusual fruit or wonder fruit (奇異果 qíyì guǒ): the most common name in Taiwan and Hong Kong (奇異果 kay yee goh). A quasi-transliteration of "kiwifruit", literally "strange fruit".
  • Willow peach (楊桃 yáng táo - note that this term also refers to the Carambola)
  • Goat peach (羊桃 yáng táo); these two are homophonous with poplar peach (楊桃), meaning carambola.
  • Hairy pear (毛梨 máo lí)
  • Vine pear (藤梨 téng lí)

奇異果 is not an older name for this fruit in Chinese. It is a name given to this fruit by Taiwanese and Honkonese who do not speak Chinese the traditional way (these are NOT dialects). It is just a similar sound to kiwi. Such examples include strawberry (士多啤梨), cherry (车厘子), litchi or lychee (力奇), etc.

Cultivars

Almost all kiwifruit in commerce belong to a few cultivars of Actinidia deliciosa: 'Hayward', 'Chico', and 'Saanichton 12'. The fruit of these cultivars are practically indistinguishable from each other and match the description of a standard kiwifruit given at the head of this article.

 Sliced Golden Kiwifruit
Sliced Golden Kiwifruit

A new Cultivar Group of Actinidia chinensis known as Golden Kiwifruit or "Chinabelle", with yellow flesh and sweeter, less acidic flavour resembling a tropical fruit salad, was produced by the New Zealand Crown Research Institute, HortResearch and is being marketed worldwide in increasing volumes. Some wild vines in China have yellow fruit but are small and not commercially viable. Seeds from these plants were imported to New Zealand in 1987 and the company took eleven years to develop the new fruit through cross-pollination and grafting with green kiwi vines. Golden 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. Unlike the green cultivars, it is less hairy, so it can be eaten whole after rubbing off the thin, fluffy coat.

Food value

Sliced kiwifruit
Sliced kiwifruit

Kiwifruit is a rich source of vitamin C. Its potassium content by weight is slightly less than that of a banana. It also contains vitamins A and E. The skin is a good source of flavonoid antioxidants.

Raw kiwifruit is also rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidin, (in the same family of thiol proteases as papain), 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 also.

This enzyme makes raw kiwifruit unsuitable for use in desserts containing milk or any other dairy products which are not going to be served within hours, because it soon begins to dissolve milk proteins. This also applies to gelatin based desserts, as well, as the actinidin will dissolve the collagen proteins in gelatin very quickly, either liquifying the dessert, or preventing it from solidifying. However, the US Department of Agriculture suggests[1] that cooking the fruit for a few minutes before adding to the gelatin will overcome this effect.

Sliced kiwifruit has long been regularly used as a garnish atop whipped cream on one of New Zealanders' favourite desserts, the pavlova.

Cultivation

Kiwi Fruit orchard, The North Island, New Zealand
Kiwi Fruit orchard, The North Island, New Zealand

Kiwifruit can be grown in most temperate climates with adequate summer heat. Where Actinidia deliciosa is not hardy, other species can be grown as substitutes.

Female flower
Female flower

Kiwifruit is commercially grown on sturdy support structures, as it can produce several tonnes per hectare, more than the rather weak vines can support. These are generally equipped with a watering system for irrigation and frost protection in the spring.

Kiwifruit vines require vigorous pruning, similar to that of grapevines. Fruit is borne on one-year-old and older canes, but production declines as each cane ages. Canes should be pruned off and replaced after their third year.

Kiwifruit plants are normally dioecious, meaning that individual plants are male or female. Only female plants bear fruit, and only when pollenized by a male plant. One male pollenizer is required for each three to eight female vines. An exception is the cultivar 'Issai', a hybrid (Actinidia arguta x rufa) from Japan, which produces perfect flowers and can self-pollinate; unfortunately it lacks vigour, is less hardy than most A. arguta forms and is not a large producer.

Kiwifruit is notoriously difficult to pollinate because the flowers are not very attractive to bees. Some producers blow collected pollen over the female flowers. But generally the most successful approach is saturation pollination, where the bee populations are made so large (by placing hives in the orchards) that bees are forced to use this flower because of intense competition for all flowers within flight distance.

Preparation and consumption

One way to eat a kiwifruit.
One way to eat a kiwifruit.
A kiwifruit spoon specifically designed for eating kiwifruit.
A kiwifruit spoon specifically designed for eating kiwifruit.

Kiwifruit can be eaten whole, like an apple (including the skin), cut in half and eaten like a passion fruit or peeled and sliced, like a pineapple. For people who prefer not to eat the skin, the fruit can be cut in half and then the flesh scooped out with a spoon. Kiwifruit is sometimes sold with a plastic tool designed for this purpose with a spoon at one end and a knife at the other. Another method is to slice the fruit into several coins about .25" thick, possibly cutting each coin into quarters, and serving it, skin-on, as a platter or with plain yogurt.

Kiwifruit can be peeled using a potato peeler, drawing up from the bottom towards the thicker, harder end where the fruit was attached to its branch. Cutting "against the grain" releases juice which lubricates the blade and a swifter, cleaner cut results.

Kiwifruit has an acid juice containing proteases, making it ideal as a meat tenderiser when roasting. In New Zealand and Australia, kiwifruit are a favourite topping for pavlova, although the proteases break down the cream, meaning the pavlova must be consumed promptly.

See also

Look up kiwi fruit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • List of fruits
  • Zespri International Limited
  • Seeka Kiwifruit Industries website

External links

  • Zespri's international website
  • Purdue University NewCROP
  • Kiwifruits in Australia
  • NCBI's taxonomy browser
  • Photos of kiwifruit and alfalfa pollination in California
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit"