View allAll Photos Tagged nutritious
Cicibebe is a nutritious biscuit for babies:)
It never had the guts to get so close to the window,so I had to throw the biscuit down:)
New article on Jamaican Tourism about "when to eat Ackee and when not to!" features this picture. nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2...
Ackee, related to Lychee and Longan fruit, was brought from West Africa to Jamaica before 1778 probably on a slave ship! Since then it has become a major feature of Caribbean cuisines. The common name is derived from the West African' Akye fufo'. The term Ackee originated from the Akan language. It is a member of the Sapindaceae or soapberry family. The scientific name, Blighia sapida, honors Captain William Bligh who brought the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England in 1793 and introduced it to science.
Ackee bears a pear-shape, multi-lobed fruit which has waxy red to yellow skin. When the Ackee fruit is ripe, it splits wide open. The edible part is the plump flesh, pale-to-buttery yellow in color, that clings to the lower part of the seed. This portion is called the aril. A shiny black seed sits on top of each aril. Only the aril is edible, and only after the fruit has "yawned open on the tree by itself." The seeds and rind contain high levels of toxins and SHOULD NOT BE EATEN, even when ripe.The seed and husk are always toxic. Ripe arils are boiled, usually in salt water or milk, then fried and eaten.
Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica. Ackee and saltfish is the national dish. Like tofu, Ackee has a creamy texture and is relatively mild in flavor so does best when paired with strong ingredients like saltfish and peppers in Jamaica’s national dish. When it is paired with such flavors it becomes something worth talking about! But EATER BEWARE, the skin, unripe fruit and seeds of Ackee are highly toxic!
Ackee Poisoning...
When food is scarce and people eat unripe fruits, there are epidemics of hypoglycemia. Children sometimes eat unripe fruits problems are seen chiefly in pediatric departments. More than one family member may be affected if several people have eaten unripe fruit or if the water in which Ackee fruit has been cooked is re-used in the kitchen. The condition is well known in Jamaica and is sometimes called the "vomiting sickness of Jamaica".
There are also Cluster Figs, Ficus auriculata, in the background of this image. These tropical figs are edible but of poor quality. And, to the left, a spiny red Gac.
Ackee, Akee, Vegetable Brain, Akee Apple or Akee, Blighia sapida
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami, FL
Fruit and Spice Park, Miami, FL
By Erika Swinson from Elkton, MD
Dream Theme: Health
What is the story behind your panel?
"My dream for a better future has evolved during the making of this panel. At first I was thinking about the role nutritous foods play in so many of the themes explored in the Dream Rocket project. If everyone had nutritious food to eat, a basic need would be met that might lead to healthier more productive and happy people all over the world. In my mind, this sentiment covered health, poverty, peace, science/technology, community, etc. Starting from this point I created the background of my panel.
The background is done in shades of yellow with triangles of red, orange, and yellow radiating around the edges and is symbolic of sunlight and joy, the perfect background for my vision. The four birds are blue with sqirling white lines and I think of them as the wind and rains that nurture and provide. I wanted to use bright colors not just so that they can be seen from far away on the rocket but also as a symbol of my hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Rather than food for the center, I came up with the idea of baskets. The baskets appealed to me both as a more traditional quilting symbol and as a broader symbol fo all that we might share with each other. In this way my thinking moved from food to any of the gifts, skills, or talents people might share to help make all the burdens of living more manageable. Thus, they are different colors and can be broadly seen as whatever abundance the viewer envisions as their gift for others.
So my dream for the future is wrapped up in the idea of abundance, the abundance of almost anything we can share with each other in order to end poverty, encourage health, push for the positive progress of science and technology, grow our communities, spread the value of peace, etc. I believe that the abundance of the unique gifts each of us brings to our lives, when shared with others, is most promising foundation for a better world to come. In this way, my dream is for a better tomorrow by working each day with what all of us can contribute for a better today."
-------------------------------------------
★What IS THE INTERNATIONAL FIBER COLLABORATIVE?
As the leading voice for collaborative public art projects around the world, the International Fiber Collaborative is dedicated to promoting understanding and appreciation of contemporary art & craft through educational experiences. We are committed to developing vital education programs that elevate, expand, modernize and enhance the image of collaboration and education today.
★WHAT IS THE DREAM ROCKET PROJECT?
The Dream Rocket Team is collecting nearly 8,000 artworks from participants around the globe. The artwork will be assembled together to create a massive cover in which will wrap a 37 story Saturn V Moon Rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. We will also be displaying submitted artwork in dozens of national venues prior to the wrapping of the Saturn V. Additionally, we are posting images of submitted artwork & their stories on our Website, Flickr, and Facebook.The Dream Rocket project uses the Saturn V Moon Rocket as a symbolism of universal values of the human spirit. Optimism, hope,
caring for our natural resources, scientific exploration, and harnessing technological advancements for a better quality of life while safeguarding our communities, are all common desires across national and international boundaries. Participants are able to express and learn about these values through this creative collaboration. With the completion of each artwork, participants are asked to write an essay explaining their artwork, and the dream theme in which they chose.
★How can I Participate & Have my Artwork Displayed?
The Dream Rocket project would like to challenge you to ‘Dare to Dream’. To dream about your future and the future of our world through dream themes such as health, community, conservation, science, technology, space, peace, and so on. We would like you to use your selected Dream Theme to express, explore, and create your vision on your section of the wrap. We hope that you are able to express and learn through this creative collaboration. With the completion of each artwork, you are asked to write a brief essay explaining your artwork, and the dream theme in which you chose.
“The Saturn V is the ideal icon to represent a big dream. This rocket was designed and built as a collaboration of nearly half-a-million people and allowed our human species to venture beyond our world and stand on ANOTHER - SURELY one of the biggest dreams of all time. ENABLING THE DREAMS of young people to touch this mighty rocket sends a powerful message in conjunction with creating an educational curriculum to engage students to embrace the power of learning through many important subjects”
-Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium, New York
★I VALUE THE ARTS!!!!
The International Fiber Collaborative is able to share the power of a collaboration and art, thanks to the support of generous individual donors. We welcome any amount of donations and remember the International Fiber Collaborative is exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, making this gift tax deductible.
Donate Today at: www.thedreamrocket.com/support-the-dream-rocket
See our Online Flickr Photo Album at: www.flickr.com/photos/thedreamrocket/
★★★SIGN UP AT WWW.THEDREAMROCKET.COM
A simple tea. Fried eggs, beans, lightly-toasted granary bread, chopped tomatoes, mango chutney and ground black pepper.
Ancient crops yield nutritious diet conserving the soil.
The 350 kilometre transect of the GIAHS pilot site captures such environmental verticality and heterogeneity as it extends from the southern area of the Peruvian Andes and includes the environment around the sacred city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, (1 900 m), including the whole Vilcanota river watershed up to the divortium aquarium in the Raya (4 300 m), crossing to the northern part of the peruvian high plateau to reach Lake Titicaca (3 800 m). In this transect, more than 300 native communities maintain most of the ancient traditional agricultural technologies, in spite of strong outside economic influences.
A long list of treasures from the Inca civilization can be found in this GIAHS transect, and has been carefully conserved and improved over centuries to live in high altitudes (from 1 000 to 4 000 meters above sea level).
Andean people have domesticated a suite of crops and animals. Of particular importance are the numerous tubers, of which the potato is the most prominent. Several hundreds of varieties have been domesticated by generations of Aymara and Quechua in the valleys of Cusco and Puno, of which more than 400 varieties are still grown today.
The maintenance of this wide genetic base is adaptive since it reduces the threat of crop loss due to pests and pathogens specific to particular strains of the crop. Other tubers grown include oca, mashua, ullucu, arracacha, maca, achira and yacón. Farmers also grow some fruit trees, corn and chenopods.
Learn more: GIAHS, A Legacy for the Future
Photo credit must be given: © SIPAM/FAO/MINAM/Alipio Canahua
More information:
This nutritious Vega-infused dessert is packed with protein, fibre, Omega-3, probiotics and greens!
Find our recipe on VegaCommunity, here:
www.vegacommunity.com/profiles/blogs/in-the-vega-kitchen-...
Last pizza photo for a while, I swear! Decided to make a breakfast version this morning - tortilla, 1 slice cheese broken up, 1 super egg, tomatoes, onion, crumbled veggie sausage, pizza seasonings - tasty!
She posted this picture and #recipe on Instagram as @eathealthy_fit_mom.
She wants to encourage her kids to eat nutritious foods. The blueberries make it look sugary, but instead of refined sugar, it is loaded with powerful #antioxidants, including several servings of nutrient dense #superfoods like #PinesWheatGrass.
Here is Sharanya's recipe:
#Wheatgrasspowder from @wheatgrass_people with @_healthforce Nongmolecithin, #spinach, #blueberries, frozen banana, blackstrap molasses and soy milk with @lovemysilk peach yogurt and vitamin D drops. So good!!!
Sharanya is wise to choose individual ingredients rather than blends that contain a "kitchen sink" mixture of vegetables and fruits. Often ingredients in these blends are selected based on price, not quality. Poor quality ingredients can be disguised with darkly colored ingredients like #chocolate or #spirulina.
Unlike leafy green #vegetable powders, spirulina is very slow to loose color through oxidation. Spirulina is often used to hide brown colored leafy greens.
Poor quality wheatgrass and other greens often originate from China or from dehydrators in the United States that are used most of the year for pesticide-based alfalfa for confined animals being fattened for the industrialized meat industry.
Pines is 100% organic. We do not produce feed for the meat industry. All Pines products are packaged in amber glass bottles with special metal caps that allow us to remove the oxygen from each bottle.
This safeguard protects our high quality greens from oxidation until you open the bottle. The tight fitting metal caps helps keep the product fresh between uses.
Plastic tubs and paper packets are inappropriate packaging that cause rapid oxidation, making the contents a very poor value.
Pines Website: www.wheatgrass.com/
Pines Instagram: instagram.com/wheatgrass_people
Pines Twitter: twitter.com/PinesWheatGrass
Pines Flickr: bit.ly/1I60Mzc
Pines Tumblr: pineswheatgrass.tumblr.com/
The Father of Wheatgrass: www.cerophyl.net/
More tags: #greensuperfood #smoothie #juice #athlete #triathlon #spartanrace #marathon #bodybuilding #stamina #endurance #MightyGreens #GreenDuo #nitricoxide #glutenfree #gmofree #Paleo #vegetarian
Ensuring children have a nutritious diet from the beginning is vital to their health, education and future prospects.
Girl help by Asociación Manos que Ayudan IAP with the support of the Caritas food bank.
Caritas Mexico
tasteless, sticky, filling and highly nutritious. that's why they serve it in prison haha...
we ate it for about 2 weeks and laughed uncontrollably one night when we spoke about how we dealt with this food.
1. snowball - rolling the ragi in sauces hoping it picks up taste
2. pizza - flattening it and piling food on it
3. swallow it like a pill
ok, maybe it sounded more funny then
A woman holds ingredients, which will be used to cook for children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products. She and other women are learning how to make the porridge during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutri
Me pareció curioso la forma en que habían sembrado estas lechugas.
La foto está tal cual, sin retoques ni siquiera están tocadas las curvas.
A woman feeds to her child a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Other women are seated next to her. They learned how to prepare the porridge during a session led by a health extension worker. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Edible Parts: Leaves, Shoots,
Edible Uses: Coloring, Curdling agent, Drink, Oil, Potherb, Soup,
Young leaves - cooked as a potherb and added to soups etc.. They can also be dried for winter use. Nettles are a very valuable addition to the diet, they are a very nutritious food that is easily digested and is high in minerals (especially iron) and vitamins (especially A and C). Only use young leaves (see the notes above on toxicity) and wear stout gloves when harvesting them to prevent being stung. Cooking the leaves, or thoroughly drying them, neutralizes the sting, rendering the leaf safe to eat. The young shoots, harvested in the spring when 15 - 20cm long complete with the underground stem are very nice. Old leaves can be laxative. The plants are harvested commercially for extraction of the chlorophyll, which is used as a green coloring agent (E140) in foods and medicines. A tea is made from the dried leaves, it is warming on a winters day. A bland flavor, it can be added as a tonic to China tea. The juice of the leaves, or a decoction of the herb, can be used as a rennet substitute in curdling plant milks. Nettle beer is brewed from the young shoots.
CAUTION: The leaves of the plants have stinging hairs, causing irritation to the skin. This action is neutralized by heat or by thorough drying, so the cooked leaves are perfectly safe and nutritious. However, only young leaves should be used because older leaves develop gritty particles called cystoliths which act as an irritant to the kidneys. Possible interference with allopathic drugs for diabetes mellitus, hypertension. Central nervous system depression drugs (e.g. morphine, alcohol) may also interact with nettle. Avoid during pregnancy.
MEDICINAL USES: Antiasthmatic, Antidandruff, Antirheumatic, Antiseborrheic, Astringent, Diuretic, Galactogogue, Hemostatic, Hypoglycemic, Stings, Tonic,
Nettles have a long history of use in the home as a herbal remedy and nutritious addition to the diet. A tea made from the leaves has traditionally been used as a cleansing tonic and blood purifier so the plant is often used in the treatment of hay fever, arthritis, anemia etc.. The whole plant is Antiasthmatic, antidandruff, astringent, depurative, diuretic, galactogogue, hemostatic, hypoglycemic and a stimulating tonic. An infusion of the plant is very valuable in stemming internal bleeding, it is also used to treat anemia, excessive menstruation, hemorrhoids, arthritis, rheumatism and skin complaints, especially eczema. Externally, the plant is used to treat skin complaints, arthritic pain, gout, sciatica, neuralgia, hemorrhoids, hair problems etc.. The fresh leaves of nettles have been rubbed or beaten onto the skin in the treatment of rheumatism etc.. This practice, called urtification, causes intense irritation to the skin as it is stung by the nettles. It is believed that this treatment works in two ways. Firstly, it acts as a counter-irritant, bringing more blood to the area to help remove the toxins that cause rheumatism. Secondly, the formic acid from the nettles is believed to have a beneficial effect upon the rheumatic joints. For medicinal purposes, the plant is best harvested in May or June as it is coming into flower and dried for later use. This species merits further study for possible uses against kidney and urinary system ailments. The juice of the nettle can be used as an antidote to stings from the leaves and an infusion of the fresh leaves is healing and soothing as a lotion for burns. The root has been shown to have a beneficial effect upon enlarged prostate glands. A homeopathic remedy is made from the leaves. It is used in the treatment of rheumatic gout, nettle rash and chickenpox, externally is applied to bruises. The German Commission E Monographs, a therapeutic guide to herbal medicine, approve Urtica dioica, Stinging Nettle for rheumatic ailments (internal use of leaf), irrigation therapy, for inflammatory disease of the lower urinary tract and prevention of kidney 'gravel' formation, urination difficulty from benign prostatic hyperplasia (root).
OTHER USES: Biomass, Compost, Dye, Green, Yellow, Fiber, Hair, Liquid feed, Oil, Repellent, Waterproofing,
A strong flax-like fiber is obtained from the stems. Used for making string and cloth, it also makes a good quality paper. It is harvested as the plant begins to die down in early autumn and is retted before the fibers are extracted. The fiber is produced in less abundance than from flax (Linun usitatissimum) and is also more difficult to extract. The plant matter left over after the fibers have been extracted are a good source of biomass and have been used in the manufacture of sugar, starch, protein and ethyl alcohol. An oil obtained from the seeds is used as an illuminant. An essential ingredient of 'QR' herbal compost activator. This is a dried and powdered mixture of several herbs that can be added to a compost heap in order to speed up bacterial activity and thus shorten the time needed to make the compost. The leaves are also an excellent addition to the compost heap and they can be soaked for 7 - 21 days in water to make a very nutritious liquid feed for plants. This liquid feed is both insect repellent and a good foliage feed. The growing plant increases the essential oil content of other nearby plants, thus making them more resistant to insect pests. Although many different species of insects feed on nettles, flies are repelled by the plant so a bunch of freshly cut stems has been used as a repellent in food cupboards. The juice of the plant, or a decoction formed by boiling the herb in a strong solution of salt, will curdle milks and thus acts as a rennet substitute. This same juice, if rubbed into small seams of leaky wooden tubs, will coagulate and make the tub watertight again. A hair wash is made from the infused leaves and this is used as a tonic and antidandruff treatment. A beautiful and permanent green dye is obtained from a decoction of the leaves and stems. A yellow dye is obtained from the root when boiled with alum.
Delicious, unhygienic, inexpensive, nutritious, all these and many more adjectives can be used to describe the different varities of food available on any Calcutta street or side walk. From typical Indian to Indo-Chinese to Mughlai to Tibetan, you can sample all the different cuisines at absolutely unbelievable prices.
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Bell Peppers
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bell Peppers,agriculture, background, bright, capsicum, closeup, color, colored, cooking, cuisine, diet, eating, feed, food, fresh, freshness, gourmet, health, healthy, hot, image, ingredient, kitchen, lifestyle, multi, natural, nature, nutrition, nutritious, organic, paprica, paprika, pepper, plant, raw, salad, shiny, spice, sweet, taste, tasty, vegetable, vegetarian,orange,yellow,Illustration, picture, image, uk, england, image-collection,collection,jekiri, "digital graphic",graphic,design,photoshop,digital art,elements
Catclaw sensitive briar (Mimosa nutallii) Lake Andes WMD. Catclaw sensitive briar is very nutritious for livestock, which will seek it out. It is an important indicator of range condition, decreasing when overgrazed.
The leaflets are sensitive to touch and will fold together when disturbed. The leaves also fold at night or on dark cloudy days. This unusual habit of folding leaves on windy and cloudy days and at night is believed to be a water conserving adaptation. It is found in native prairies in portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas in Region 6. Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Nutritious millets were once a strong part of traditional diets in Southern India but have since become a 'forgotten food.'
Learn more about women's role as recipe and agricultural biodiversity custodians and the 'Agricultural biodiversity, value chains and women's empowerment' event: bit.ly/1Wy12Q6
Share using #BioWomen
Your experience starts as we….
Add a few drops of StruisLux Bath Oil to your foot spa. Feel the rich, nutritious ostrich oil soften and soothe your skin while you relax. Stimulating algae extracts are blended with a high concentration of ostrich oil to hydrate your skin, leaving it feeling nourished and youthful, while your feet emerge refreshed and rejuvenated.
After towel drying (treatments are varied) we will…..
Now smooth StruisLux Ostrich Oil Balsam enriched with beeswax and Vitamin E all over your feet concentrating on the heels and any sore areas. The low melting point of ostrich oil allows this soothing balsam to soak deep into your skin for ultimate effect. Naturally high in omega oils, it regulates cell structure, leaving your skin feeling velvety soft. StruisLux Ostrich Oil Balsam takes care of rough, chapped skin and is reported to cure athlete’s foot.
To complete the treatment we…..
Apply StruisLux Massage Cream so you can luxuriate in the warm, stimulating sensation. It melts deliciously into your skin, penetrating deep into the cells to leave your feet feeling fresh and revitalized. Our cream, combined with the massaging action helps to stimulate circulation and encourage a feeling of well-being. Powerful, yet gentle, our soothing massage cream can be used on sensitive skin. Just enjoy.
File name: 10_03_000527b
Binder label: Beverages
Title: Ask for Royal Cream Chocolate, a highly nutritious article for immediate table use. [back]
Created/Published: N. Y. : Heffron & Phelps, Lithographers
Date issued: 1870 - 1900 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print : chromolithograph ; 13 x 8 cm.
Genre: Advertising cards
Subject: Older people; Beverages
Notes: Title from item.
Statement of responsibility: Royal Food Co.
Collection: 19th Century American Trade Cards
Location: Print Department
Rights: No known restrictions.
Ancient crops yield nutritious diet conserving the soil.
The 350 kilometre transect of the GIAHS pilot site captures such environmental verticality and heterogeneity as it extends from the southern area of the Peruvian Andes and includes the environment around the sacred city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, (1 900 m), including the whole Vilcanota river watershed up to the divortium aquarium in the Raya (4 300 m), crossing to the northern part of the peruvian high plateau to reach Lake Titicaca (3 800 m). In this transect, more than 300 native communities maintain most of the ancient traditional agricultural technologies, in spite of strong outside economic influences.
A long list of treasures from the Inca civilization can be found in this GIAHS transect, and has been carefully conserved and improved over centuries to live in high altitudes (from 1 000 to 4 000 meters above sea level).
Andean peasants manage a diversity of crops and crop varieties which have been adapted to different altitudes and are grown in up to 20 plots in different ecological zones to spread risk across the mountain environment. A plot is seldom dominated by a single crop, and even a potato field has up to 10 different varieties.
Crops are combined for different purposes. Mashua and potato are grown
together as protection against certain diseases. To prevent cattle damage, tarhui (lupine) is planted on the edge of maize fields. Maize, beans and pumpkin complement each other in maintaining soil fertility and growing space.
Learn more: GIAHS, A Legacy for the Future
Photo credit must be given: © FAO / Mary Jane de la Cruz
More information:
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Blood is nutritious: female Brewer's blackbird feeds on the proceeds of the hole it has pecked in a pig's back -- at the well-known pigpen, Lochside Drive south of Martindale.
August 2019, Njoben, Central River Region in The Gambia. August 2019, Njoben, Central River Region in The Gambia. Some of the male farmers are picking the ripe peppers in the garden. The FAO has been helping to expand the Farmer Field School in Njoben (Central River Region -CRR) since 2014, with funding from the EU. The field has been extended from one hectare to five hectares. Today, the various crops grown here: tomatoes, orange fleshed sweet potato, herbs, peppers, cassava, cabbage, okra, rice and many other nutritious foods are grown and consumed by more than 200 women and 14 men, and their families, from the local community. The surplus is sold, and this allows many of the families to improve their livelihoods and send their children to school. Another noteworthy improvement is the comprehensive borehole and water distribution system that has been established, thereby relieving almost 500 women farmers from the hardship of drawing water from the wells.
The community has been trained on gardening and helped agricultural extension workers to introduce more varieties of vegetables and apply climate smart agriculture. Similar support has been expanded to seven other community gardens throughout the country. This component is part of the “Post-crisis response to food and nutritious insecurity in The Gambia” (Project code: GM/FED/38780)
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Edible Parts: Leaves, Shoots,
Edible Uses: Coloring, Curdling agent, Drink, Oil, Potherb, Soup,
Young leaves - cooked as a potherb and added to soups etc.. They can also be dried for winter use. Nettles are a very valuable addition to the diet, they are a very nutritious food that is easily digested and is high in minerals (especially iron) and vitamins (especially A and C). Only use young leaves (see the notes above on toxicity) and wear stout gloves when harvesting them to prevent being stung. Cooking the leaves, or thoroughly drying them, neutralizes the sting, rendering the leaf safe to eat. The young shoots, harvested in the spring when 15 - 20cm long complete with the underground stem are very nice. Old leaves can be laxative. The plants are harvested commercially for extraction of the chlorophyll, which is used as a green coloring agent (E140) in foods and medicines. A tea is made from the dried leaves, it is warming on a winters day. A bland flavor, it can be added as a tonic to China tea. The juice of the leaves, or a decoction of the herb, can be used as a rennet substitute in curdling plant milks. Nettle beer is brewed from the young shoots.
CAUTION: The leaves of the plants have stinging hairs, causing irritation to the skin. This action is neutralized by heat or by thorough drying, so the cooked leaves are perfectly safe and nutritious. However, only young leaves should be used because older leaves develop gritty particles called cystoliths which act as an irritant to the kidneys. Possible interference with allopathic drugs for diabetes mellitus, hypertension. Central nervous system depression drugs (e.g. morphine, alcohol) may also interact with nettle. Avoid during pregnancy.
MEDICINAL USES: Antiasthmatic, Antidandruff, Antirheumatic, Antiseborrheic, Astringent, Diuretic, Galactogogue, Hemostatic, Hypoglycemic, Stings, Tonic,
Nettles have a long history of use in the home as a herbal remedy and nutritious addition to the diet. A tea made from the leaves has traditionally been used as a cleansing tonic and blood purifier so the plant is often used in the treatment of hay fever, arthritis, anemia etc.. The whole plant is Antiasthmatic, antidandruff, astringent, depurative, diuretic, galactogogue, hemostatic, hypoglycemic and a stimulating tonic. An infusion of the plant is very valuable in stemming internal bleeding, it is also used to treat anemia, excessive menstruation, hemorrhoids, arthritis, rheumatism and skin complaints, especially eczema. Externally, the plant is used to treat skin complaints, arthritic pain, gout, sciatica, neuralgia, hemorrhoids, hair problems etc.. The fresh leaves of nettles have been rubbed or beaten onto the skin in the treatment of rheumatism etc.. This practice, called urtification, causes intense irritation to the skin as it is stung by the nettles. It is believed that this treatment works in two ways. Firstly, it acts as a counter-irritant, bringing more blood to the area to help remove the toxins that cause rheumatism. Secondly, the formic acid from the nettles is believed to have a beneficial effect upon the rheumatic joints. For medicinal purposes, the plant is best harvested in May or June as it is coming into flower and dried for later use. This species merits further study for possible uses against kidney and urinary system ailments. The juice of the nettle can be used as an antidote to stings from the leaves and an infusion of the fresh leaves is healing and soothing as a lotion for burns. The root has been shown to have a beneficial effect upon enlarged prostate glands. A homeopathic remedy is made from the leaves. It is used in the treatment of rheumatic gout, nettle rash and chickenpox, externally is applied to bruises. The German Commission E Monographs, a therapeutic guide to herbal medicine, approve Urtica dioica, Stinging Nettle for rheumatic ailments (internal use of leaf), irrigation therapy, for inflammatory disease of the lower urinary tract and prevention of kidney 'gravel' formation, urination difficulty from benign prostatic hyperplasia (root).
OTHER USES: Biomass, Compost, Dye, Green, Yellow, Fiber, Hair, Liquid feed, Oil, Repellent, Waterproofing
A strong flax-like fiber is obtained from the stems. Used for making string and cloth, it also makes a good quality paper. It is harvested as the plant begins to die down in early autumn and is retted before the fibers are extracted. The fiber is produced in less abundance than from flax (Linun usitatissimum) and is also more difficult to extract. The plant matter left over after the fibers have been extracted are a good source of biomass and have been used in the manufacture of sugar, starch, protein and ethyl alcohol. An oil obtained from the seeds is used as an illuminant. An essential ingredient of 'QR' herbal compost activator. This is a dried and powdered mixture of several herbs that can be added to a compost heap in order to speed up bacterial activity and thus shorten the time needed to make the compost. The leaves are also an excellent addition to the compost heap and they can be soaked for 7 - 21 days in water to make a very nutritious liquid feed for plants. This liquid feed is both insect repellent and a good foliage feed. The growing plant increases the essential oil content of other nearby plants, thus making them more resistant to insect pests. Although many different species of insects feed on nettles, flies are repelled by the plant so a bunch of freshly cut stems has been used as a repellent in food cupboards. The juice of the plant, or a decoction formed by boiling the herb in a strong solution of salt, will curdle milks and thus acts as a rennet substitute. This same juice, if rubbed into small seams of leaky wooden tubs, will coagulate and make the tub watertight again. A hair wash is made from the infused leaves and this is used as a tonic and antidandruff treatment. A beautiful and permanent green dye is obtained from a decoction of the leaves and stems. A yellow dye is obtained from the root when boiled with alum.
Sweet Fragrant Juicy Lychees or Litchis currently in abundance all over Thailand and at its cheapest best!
Thailand is also fondly referred to as the world’s kitchen owing to its vast variety of fruits and vegetables. Delicious and juicy lychee or “Litchi” heralds you the arrival of summer. Besides sweet and nutritious, the berries have cooling effect on the human body. Botanically, this exotic fruit belongs to the family of Sapindaceae and named scientifically as Litchi chinensis.
Litchis, not only eye-catching in spring when the huge sprays of flowers adorn the tree but also is a stunning sight for nature lovers when the tree is full of berries.
In structure, the fruit is a drupe; oval, heart-shaped or nearly round, measures about 3–5 cm long and 3 cm in diameter and weigh about 10 g. In appearance, the fruit has close resemblances with longan and rambutan fruits.
Its outer surface is covered with rough leathery rind or peel featuring pink color. The peel can be easily removable in the ripe fruits. Inside, the pulp consists of edible portion or aril that is white, translucent, sweet, and juicy.
The fruit has sweet, fragrant flavor and delicious to savor. The pulp has single, glossy brown nut-like seed, 2 cm long, and 1–1.5 cm in diameter. The seeds, like in sapodilla, are not poisonous but should not be eaten. Fresh lychees are readily available in the markets from June to October, about 120-140 days after flowering.
Separate each fruit from the brunch and wash them in cold water. To peel; gently pinch at stem end and peel away outer coat slowly as in the top picture. Furthermore, using a small-paring knife, make an incision over its outer tough skin lengthwise all the way to tip. Take care not to press the fruit otherwise you squirt its juice! Next; carefully peel away the tough outer skin along with the inner thin membrane to expose beautiful, jelly textured translucent white flesh. Once you remove its outer cover, put the whole berry in the mouth as you do in seed grapes. Do not bite. To enjoy, gently suck its divinely sweet juice by rolling between your tongue and palate and spit out the seed.
Lychee fruit contains 66 calories per 100 g, comparable to that in the table-grapes. It has no saturated fats or cholesterol, but composes of good amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Research studies suggest that oligonol, a low molecular weight polyphenol, is found abundantly in lychee fruit. Oligonol is thought to have anti-oxidant and anti-influenza virus actions. In addition, it helps improve blood flow in organs, reduce weight, and protect skin from harmful UV rays. (Takuya Sakurai (Kyorin University, Japan), Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 72(2), 463-476, 2008).
Litchi, like citrus fruits, is an excellent source of vitamin C; 100 g fresh fruits provide 71.5 mg or 119% of daily-recommended value. Studies suggest that consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
Further, it is a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, niacin, and folates. These vitamins are essential since they function by acting as co-factors to help the body metabolize carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
Litchi also contains a very good amount of minerals like potassium and copper. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids help control heart rate and blood pressure; thus, it offers protection against stroke and coronary heart diseases. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells.
Selection and storage
Fresh lychee fruits are available in the markets from June to October. The Fruit must be allowed to ripen fully on the tree itself since the ripening process stops soon after harvested. Over maturity makes them turn dark-brown in appearance and lose their luster and flavor. While harvesting, snip off the entire fruit brunch, keeping just a short piece of the stem attached to the fruit.
In the store, choose fruits that feature fresh, without cuts or mold. Litchis have a very good shelf life. Fresh fruits can be kept at room temperature for up-to five days and can be stored for up to five weeks in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen or dried and canned for export purposes.
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Women learn how to cook for their children a nutritious porridge made from locally available products, during a session led by a health extension worker at the health post in the village of Maderia, in Gemechis, a woreda (district) of Oromia Region. Health extension workers are government-paid health workers, often working in their community of origin, who provide community-based health promotion and disease-prevention services..
.
In July/August 2014, Ethiopia is nearing the end of a joint European Union (EU)-UNICEF national nutrition security programme that is building on government-led efforts to permanently reduce the rates of under-five child and maternal under-nutrition. The programme is part of a four-year (2011–2015) UNICEF/EU global initiative, with multiple regional, national and community partners. It focuses on four countries in sub-Saharan Africa and five in Asia but aims to influence nutrition-related policies throughout these regions. The Africa programme – Africa’s Nutrition Security Partnership (ANSP) – focuses on Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda. It is intended to benefit directly 1 million children and 600,000 pregnant and lactating women – and to benefit indirectly 25 million children and 5.5 million pregnant or lactating women across the continent over the long term. At the macro level, the programme builds policy capacity for nutrition security; institutional capacity; data and knowledge sharing; and the scale-up of nutrition interventions. At the national and district levels, it promotes government and community ownership of development processes, including training, mapping and the mobilization of intra-community networks, such as women’s groups. And it utilizes a cross-sector approach, combining nutrition, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and social protection interventions to maximize the positive effects on child and maternal nutrition. The goal is generational change in both institutional and individual beliefs and actions on nutrition – contributing, as well, to the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2014/Nesbitt
Sweet Fragrant Juicy Lychees or Litchis currently in abundance all over Thailand and at its cheapest best!
Thailand is also fondly referred to as the world’s kitchen owing to its vast variety of fruits and vegetables. Delicious and juicy lychee or “Litchi” heralds you the arrival of summer. Besides sweet and nutritious, the berries have cooling effect on the human body. Botanically, this exotic fruit belongs to the family of Sapindaceae and named scientifically as Litchi chinensis.
Litchis, not only eye-catching in spring when the huge sprays of flowers adorn the tree but also is a stunning sight for nature lovers when the tree is full of berries.
In structure, the fruit is a drupe; oval, heart-shaped or nearly round, measures about 3–5 cm long and 3 cm in diameter and weigh about 10 g. In appearance, the fruit has close resemblances with longan and rambutan fruits.
Its outer surface is covered with rough leathery rind or peel featuring pink color. The peel can be easily removable in the ripe fruits. Inside, the pulp consists of edible portion or aril that is white, translucent, sweet, and juicy.
The fruit has sweet, fragrant flavor and delicious to savor. The pulp has single, glossy brown nut-like seed, 2 cm long, and 1–1.5 cm in diameter. The seeds, like in sapodilla, are not poisonous but should not be eaten. Fresh lychees are readily available in the markets from June to October, about 120-140 days after flowering.
Separate each fruit from the brunch and wash them in cold water. To peel; gently pinch at stem end and peel away outer coat slowly as in the top picture. Furthermore, using a small-paring knife, make an incision over its outer tough skin lengthwise all the way to tip. Take care not to press the fruit otherwise you squirt its juice! Next; carefully peel away the tough outer skin along with the inner thin membrane to expose beautiful, jelly textured translucent white flesh. Once you remove its outer cover, put the whole berry in the mouth as you do in seed grapes. Do not bite. To enjoy, gently suck its divinely sweet juice by rolling between your tongue and palate and spit out the seed.
Lychee fruit contains 66 calories per 100 g, comparable to that in the table-grapes. It has no saturated fats or cholesterol, but composes of good amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Research studies suggest that oligonol, a low molecular weight polyphenol, is found abundantly in lychee fruit. Oligonol is thought to have anti-oxidant and anti-influenza virus actions. In addition, it helps improve blood flow in organs, reduce weight, and protect skin from harmful UV rays. (Takuya Sakurai (Kyorin University, Japan), Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 72(2), 463-476, 2008).
Litchi, like citrus fruits, is an excellent source of vitamin C; 100 g fresh fruits provide 71.5 mg or 119% of daily-recommended value. Studies suggest that consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
Further, it is a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, niacin, and folates. These vitamins are essential since they function by acting as co-factors to help the body metabolize carbohydrates, protein, and fats.
Litchi also contains a very good amount of minerals like potassium and copper. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids help control heart rate and blood pressure; thus, it offers protection against stroke and coronary heart diseases. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells.
Selection and storage
Fresh lychee fruits are available in the markets from June to October. The Fruit must be allowed to ripen fully on the tree itself since the ripening process stops soon after harvested. Over maturity makes them turn dark-brown in appearance and lose their luster and flavor. While harvesting, snip off the entire fruit brunch, keeping just a short piece of the stem attached to the fruit.
In the store, choose fruits that feature fresh, without cuts or mold. Litchis have a very good shelf life. Fresh fruits can be kept at room temperature for up-to five days and can be stored for up to five weeks in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen or dried and canned for export purposes.