Kiwi Fruit

Kiwi fruit is one of the most delicious fruits around the world. The name “Kiwi” means “strange” in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The name derives its origin from the famous bird of New Zealand, called Kiwi, which is the national symbol of the country.

This fruit is extremely popular for its tongue refreshing taste and abundant nutritional value. This fruit is a hybrid edible berry, belonging to the Actinidia deliciosa woody wine family and some more species of the genus of Actinidia.

Kiwi Fruit Common Name

Kiwi has many common names in many parts of the world. To name a few of them are Chinese gooseberry, macaque peach, macaque pear, vine pear, sunny peach, wood berry, hairy bush fruit, unusual fruit and even wonder fruit.

Kiwi Fruit Description

Find out how this delicious fruit looks and tastes like, along with identifying details of the fruit plant, leaves and flowers.

Picture 1 – Kiwi Fruit

Shape: Usually kiwi fruits are oval in shape.

Size: This fruit is of 4.5-5.4 cm/ 1 ¾ -2 inch in diameter and 5-8 cm/2-3 inch in length.

Color: Outer skin of the fruit is light brown colored and fibrous. The inner flesh is bright green in color. The flesh is decorated with thin rows of tiny black seeds, which are also edible like the fruit itself.

Taste: It has a sweetish tart taste. Its taste can be compared with that of strawberries or melons or even nectarines.

Smell: This fruit has a sweetly pungent aroma which is very invigorating.

Kiwi Fruit Plant

It cannot be called trees exactly. This is a climbing shrub which is vigorous, twining and woody. Sometimes, this plant envelops almost 10 to 15 ft. within its width. It grows about 9 to 12 ft. in height and 18 to 24 ft. in length.

Picture 2 – Kiwi Fruit Plant

Kiwi Fruit Flowers

The plant buds many creamy or whitish colored, fragrant flowers. These flowers are huge in size of about 1 to 2 inch in diameter. They bloom at the leaf axiles in form of singlet or even triplets.

Picture 3 – Kiwi Fruit Flower

Kiwi Fruit Leaves

Leaves of this plant are leathery in texture and are dark green colored. They are huge in size of being about 7 to 10 inches diameter and oval shape.

Kiwi Fruit Edibility

This delicious fruit is eaten in many forms. But the fresh fruit is the most popular amongst all its forms. Find out below how to peel, make juice and get extract from fresh kiwi fruit.

How To Peel Kiwi Fruit

Kiwi fruit is a very soft fleshy fruit. Hence, it is needed to be handled very delicately. Cut it into two halves and slip a thin lipped spoon carefully between the flesh and the skin. A little skin will come out, hold that part with two fingers and peel off the rest of the skin from the fruit.

How To Make Kiwi Fruit Juice

Cut the peeled off fresh kiwi fruits into pieces. Place them in a juicer and keep a glass beneath the spout of the juicer to collect the juice. Kiwi juice can be twisted into a smashing fruity mocktail by blending it with other fruit juices.

How To Make Kiwi Fruit Extract

Boil water and sugar in a 2:1 measurement until the liquid thickens and turns into a syrup. Put peeled and diced fresh kiwi fruits into the same pan and bring to slow boil for several minutes till the fruit pulp softens and blends with the syrup perfectly. Strain the bright green syrup so that the seeds and remaining pulp fibres are filtered. Bring the strained liquid back to slow boil again till it thickens a little more. Refrigerate this extract. This has a fridge life of about 40 days.

Picture 4 – Kiwi Fruit Slice

Kiwi Fruit Nutrition

This is a very nutritious fruit besides being delicious. Following is the nutritional content of per 100 gm of fresh and raw kiwi.

Nutrient	Amount
Energy	61 kcal
Sugars	8.99 gm
Carbohydrates	14.66 gm
Dietary Fiber	3.0 gm
Protein	1.14 gm
Thiamine (vit. B1)	0.027 mg
– lutein and zeaxanthin	122 μg
Riboflavin (vit. B2)	0.025 mg
Vitamin B6	0.63 mg
Niacin (vit. B3)	0.341 mg
Folate (vit. B9)	25 μg
Vitamine K	40.3 μg
Vitamine E	1.5 mg
Vitamine C	92.7 mg
Iron	0.31 mg
Calcium	34 mg
Phosphorus	34 mg
Zinc	0.14 mg
Manganese	0.098 mg
Magnesium	17 mg
Potassium	312 mg
Sodium	3 mg

Kiwi Fruit Health Benefits

This delicious fruit comes with a number of health benefits as well thus gaining ever popularity.

There are substances in this fruit that protect our body cells from getting damaged by oxidative influence.
The anti-oxidant properties of kiwi improve the general health and enable to fight all diseases.
It keeps our bodies from free radicals, thus helping in supporting the bones and its connective tissues.
Regular consumption of this delectable fruit helps from cardiovascular troubles.
Eating this fruit also helps in preventing cancer.
As a part of diet fruit, this also checks obesity.
Consumption of kiwi has proven to maintain sugar levels.
The fruit reduces level of cholesterol.
Eating this fruit helps in prevention of asthma.
Research has proven that kiwi prevents DNA mutation.
Consumption of this fruit even helps in daily health problems like cold and cough.
It helps in over all digestion.
Kiwi protects us from vision destroying diseases, shielding from macular degeneration.
Vitamin C present in this fruit is good for gums as well.

Kiwi Seeds

These edible seeds are very nutritious and beneficial for health. The seeds of this fruit contain alpha-linolenic acid which is a kind of omega-3 fatty acids. This fatty acid helps in the development of brain and improves heart health as well. It also regulates the cholesterol level. Oil extracted from the seeds of kiwi is rich in alpha-linolenic acid.

Picture 5 – Kiwi Fruit Seeds

Kiwi Fruit Uses

This hybrid fruit has immense food value as well as medicinal value. Hybrid foods are full of nutritional and medicinal value since they are a mixture of the many healthy food species.

Edible Uses

It is used to make jams and jellies.
It is one of the world’s most popular choice for making pies and cakes.
This tangy fruit serves great for fruit salads and other deserts.
The fruit helps in cooking of the meat fast and properly when cooked in any meaty stew.
It is also used in decorating many sweet dishes.
Patients with respiratory problems are suggested to include kiwi in their diet routine, religiously.
This fruit also maintains many vital balances in our body, like sugar and cholesterol.
The leaves are boiled and made into a balm that helps in treating many skin conditions.
Kiwi is a very popular ingredient of very high quality of wine. It produces white wine.
Ropes are made from the branches and wines of this plant.
Oil extracted from the seeds of this fruit is much used in personal care and beauty products.

Medicinal Use

It is used to make jams and jellies.
It is one of the world’s most popular choice for making pies and cakes.
This tangy fruit serves great for fruit salads and other deserts.
The fruit helps in cooking of the meat fast and properly when cooked in any meaty stew.
It is also used in decorating many sweet dishes.

Other Uses

Patients with respiratory problems are suggested to include kiwi in their diet routine, religiously.
This fruit also maintains many vital balances in our body, like sugar and cholesterol.
The leaves are boiled and made into a balm that helps in treating many skin conditions.

Picture 6 – Kiwi Fruit Image

Kiwi Fruit Allergy and Side Effects

Though this fruit is very delicious and extremely nutritious being quite beneficial for our health, still some people might face some problematic conditions after consuming it. These people would be undoubtedly allergic to kiwi. Under such conditions eating this fruit should be strictly avoided. If by chance people allergic to the fruit eat it and face uncomfortable allergic symptoms then immediate medical attention is suggested instead of applying kitchen therapy. Let us find the allergic symptoms of kiwi.

Anaphylaxis

Symptoms of this condition include tightening of the respiratory airways which gives a sensation of the throat closing off and breathlessness.
The heart rate accelerates rapidly.
Blood pressure drops randomly.
Some might even faint.
Dizziness is the least dangerous symptom of this condition.

Nervous System Conditions

Lightheadedness might be experienced under this conditional symptom.
Dizziness and unconsciousness also comes under the nervous system symptoms.

Abdominal Symptoms

Nausea is the first symptom of abdominal condition in kiwi allergy.
Vomiting is a very usual condition.
Abdominal pain can also be experienced.
It might also make the allergic person suffer from diarrhea.

Respirator Symptoms

Breathlessness is one of the most uncomfortable symptoms of allergy from this fruit. It might even turn fatal if not paid immediate attention.
If whistling sound is produced while breathing after consuming kiwi then the person is surely allergic to the fruit.
Nasal congestion after eating this fruit is yet another symptom of allergy.

Skin Symptoms

Itching of the skin can be caused after having the fruit.
The allergic person may suffer from rashes on the skin.
Skin hives is another common symptom of the allergy.
The allergic person might even suffer from eczema.

Oral Symptoms

Some minor oral symptoms like tongue and lips itching and tingling are not even recognizable b are major symptoms of kiwi allergy.
The more prominent and discomforting symptoms are swelling up of the tongue, throat and lips.

These allergy symptoms should be taken very seriously, even the minor ones before they turn into major health problems.

Kiwi Fruit During Pregnancy

In Chine, native homeland of this fruit, babies and expecting women were given the fruit due to its high nutritional value. Pregnant women are almost recommended to include kiwi in their regular diet. This fruit is high in folate content, which helps in formation of cells. Nutritionists consider the fruit to be one of the most perfect pre-biotic fruits. The fruit helps in proper growth and body formation of the baby while inside the mother’s body.

But, like many other highly nutritious edibles, one should not over consume this fruit to avoid complications.

Kiwi Fruit Recipes

This delicious fruit is eaten in various ways and innumerable recipes. The fruit is used in making pie, jams, jellies, cakes, deserts, ice creams and many more sweet recipes.

It is even used in cooking meat dishes since this delicious fruit gives a slight tinge of tangy taste in the preparation and tenderizes the meat thus helping in digesting it. Great wine is made out of this fruit.

Picture 7 – Kiwi Fruit Recipes

Kiwi Fruit Weight Loss Diet

This hybrid fruit makes a great weight loss fruit. It keeps the stomach full and does not let get hungry due to the high dietary fiber content. Many diet plans religiously include this fruit in their regime since this it provides all the nutrition to the body without adding to the body weight.

Kiwi Fruit History

This fruit is an authentic Chinese by origin. It was brought to USA in the year 1904. New Zealand cultivated it first batch of kiwi fruits in the year 1910. Since then the fruit has gained immense popularity in the fruit market due to its great nutritious value and fabulous taste. That is why New Zealand named the fruit as Kiwi, on the name of the country’s symbolic bird.

How To Store Kiwi Fruit

Fresh and uncut kiwi can be stored in a plastic sandwich bag inside refrigerator for a month or so.

Kiwi Fruit Seasons

The tangy-sweet fruit are to be harvested when the seeds turn black. It is eaten around the globe from January till July.

Types Of Kiwi Fruit

There are many botanical species of kiwi which are not to be confused with its cultivars. The different types of this fruit are Zhong hua also known as Chinese gooseberry, Jing li also known as Pear gooseberry, Ruan zao, Mao hua and Huang yan.

Interesting Facts About Kiwi Fruit

Read some fun and interesting facts about this delicious fruit.

This fruit serves a great diet fruit, providing us with nutrition yet suppressing the hunger sprang.
Though the fruit is more popular in the western countries but it bears it origin in China.
It got its name due to its growing popularity in New Zealand, where kiwi is the symbolic bird.
This tangy sweet fruit is actually a berry.
This fruit is eaten raw and also cooked in meat stews.