Centre Spread Fruits and Fruits Oranges You must have tasted sweet ripe oranges very often. It has a fresh sour and sweet taste. Oranges and lemons are full of vitamin C. One orange contains about 50 mg. of vitamin C; this is about two-thirds of our daily need. The acid of oranges and other citrus fruits can clean our digestive system. Bitter oranges are also rich source of vitamin C. Although they can't be eaten raw, they taste great when made into pickles or Marmalade. Bananas Who does not know the soft, sweet pulpy fruit, banana! Eat at least one banana a day because it contains everything a human needs to get for nutrition. They also contain all the 8 amino acids which our body cannot produce itself. Banana is a good source of fibre, potassium and vitamin C. There are many varieties of bananas in our country. Modern varieties are almost entirely seedless but the wild variety (which taste the same as the commercial yellow bananas) have lots of large seeds. Ripe bananas stimulate the movement inside our body and help in getting rid of constipation. Mangoes Hey! You are reading the May-June issue of Jantar Mantar; do not spill mango juice on it! We are so used to eating delicious mangoes during the summer months, the very sight of mangoes give us a feeling of summer holidays, isn't it? You can find many varieties of mangoes in the market these days. Its aroma and special taste make it so tempting to eat. Mango is a very rich fruit with lots of vitamins like B, C, and also iron and fibres. Mango, whose botanical name Manga indica originates from India, is now also grown in the other tropical countries in Africa and South America. Jackfruit What about the jackfruit, the factory of aromatic compounds? Touch a jackfruit and people a kilometer distance will be turning their noses your way! This fruit contain more than 250 kinds of Alkaloids. Chemists have isolated many many compounds from the jackfruit. A ripe jackfruit can weigh as much as 25 kilos. It is very rich in calories and a good source of Vitamin B and C. It is eaten boiled, roasted, or fresh when ripe. The origin of this plant Artocarpus heterophyllus also is known to be from India. Watermelons As mentioned above, botanists classify watermelon as a berry type of fruit. That is because the outer layer of ovary wall becomes soft and pulpy during the seed formation. We relish this sweet crunchy pulp in hot summer. As the name suggests, the main content of this fruit is water. You can also get vitamin C from the water melon along with fruit sugar. Watermelon grows in tropical countries, only in sandy soil at the bank of a pond or river. Pineapples The pineapple is another important tropical crop. Because the fruit has a pine-like appearance and is pulpy like the apple, it is widely called as pineapple. Botanist call it Ananas comosus. It is also known as Ananas in German and in various Indian languages eg., in Marathi. It is different from other fruits because it does not grow on a tree or bush but from a spiny rosette. The sword shaped leaves of pineapple plant are arranged in a spiral pattern and a large fruit develop from many flowers, at the center. Apples An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Apple is a nutritious fruit containing large amounts of iron. That is why a cut apple turns brown. The edible part of an apple is its bulged thalamus or receptacle. It is one fruit you can eat irrespective of your health condition without causing any harm. Apple is rich in minerals and vitamin A. Grapes Can a discussion of fruits be complete without mentioning grapes? Have you even seen a picture of a king's dinner table without a bunch of grapes?! It is a very ancient fruit, and had been used for wine making for many centuries. The black and green grapes are full of sugar and vitamin C. Tomatoes Nobody refers to the tomato as a fruit; it is a vegetable, is it not? But the parts of the tomato we eat are actually fruits. <5563390_2d68886926_o.jpg> <95apple.jpeg> or or