Fig Nutritional Value And Properties-1

General Description

Before know more about fig nutritional value and its properties, we can say that this fruit is from family Moraceae.


It is actually an inflorescence ( flower cluster ) .It has a soft consistency ,round ,oval or pear- shaped, with flattened base.

Its skin is thin and has pale green purple, or black, depending on the species. It has a pink or whitish pulp, flavor sweet which is full of tiny seeds.

It comes from the Middle Eastern countries . Probably its cultivation began in southern Arabia , from where it spread to East and West.

Fruit highly esteemed by ancient civilizations, it seems that the Phoenicians and Greeks who spread the fig  tree cultivation throughout the Mediterranean. Galen; Greek physician and philosopher, recommended figs to Greek athletes as a staple of their diet.


Figs also called "the food of the philosophers" because the great appreciation for his fruit and its benefits; philosophers like Plato and Diogenes. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance began to be dried in the sun, resulting in dried fig,product tha became a typical Christmas food. It has been documented the presence in America of cultivated varieties imported from Europe from 1520.


Seasonality
The first fruit of the fig tree, produced annually in late spring, called breva; comes from the flower buds that have not borne fruit and have been dormant during winter, while the figs themselves occur in summer-autumn.


Fig fruit benefits
Edible portion 85 grams per 100 grams of fresh product. Source of nutrients and nutritional fiber substances, sugars and potassium.
Nutritional valoration after water, the major component of fresh figs constituent carbohydrates (glucose, fructose and sucrose) . In fact ,alongside to banana, custard apple and grapes, fig is one of the fruits with the highest sugar content, so it is usually recommended in the diet of athletes and people who develop intense physical activity.


Although the protein content is not high, has all the essential fiber.Regarding fiber the fresh fig has a significant amount, which produces satiety and promotes intestinal transit, preventing constipation, and prevent colon cancer and cardiovascular disease.

It is not a fruit rich in minerals, although it has a high proportion of potassium, and contain appreciable amounts of calcium , phosphorus and magnesium.

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