My Top 5 Exotic Fruits

My Top 5 Exotic Fruits
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lynne_Evans]Lynne Evans 

The world has a plethora of fruit, and whether it is exotic or not, depends on where you happen to live and what fruit is indigenous to that country. From the point of view of someone who has lived for most of their life in the West, then lychees, rambutans and mangosteens are exotic, although they would not be for people who live in South East Asia. I note that these fruits are "exotic" for the spell check on my PC too.

1 The dragon fruit

I have never taste one of these, so for this reason it is my number one exotic fruit. It is the fruit of a night-flowering member of the cactus family, but it is unlike a prickly pear. It comes from the Philippines and Malaysia as well as from some other southern Asian countries. There are three main varieties of dragon fruit, all of which contain small black seeds; they can be white, orange or pink-red fleshed. This is eaten raw, or cooked; made into preserves, jams and jellies.

  They contain powerful antioxidants which help combat the free-radicals in our bodies which can cause healthy cells to become cancerous. It also contains tiny amounts of vitamins and minerals but its main health benefit is its antioxidant activities.

2 Noni or Indian Mulberry

Noni fruit has been used in the islands of Polynesia for centuries as food and medicine with all parts of the tree being used in traditional medicinal preparations. It looks like a long white mulberry, hence its other name. This fruit contains minerals and vitamins which are necessary for our health, but it does not deserve the reputation of being a wonder fruit. Beware manufacturers' claims for this fruit as none of its uses in traditional medicine have been proved - yet.

3 Ber fruit

I have actually tried this fruit in Pakistan but didn't like it. Ber is also known as Indian jujube or Chinese date in English. However it doesn't travel well, so doesn't reach foreign markets. It has an astringent taste and to me the smell is like that of hops used in brewing beer. It is that smell which I find particularly unpleasant, but others consume rather a lot of these fruit.

4 Musk Melon or Cassabanana

I have never tasted this fruit either, but it looks interesting, hanging from trees like huge German sausages. Some are the colour of deep purple egg plants (aubergines) and they are related to the horned melon, honey melons and watermelons, to name but a few of its relatives. It is highly nutritious, containing some of the B-complex vitamins, vitamin C and minerals including calcium and iron. It smells musky, hence its name.

5 Kiwano or Horned Melon

This fruit looks like a small spiky pineapple and originates in Africa. It contains vitamin and some B-complex vitamins as well as calcium, potassium and iron. Inside kiwanos are seeds which look like those of a passion fruit and you eat it in the same way as one of these; scoop out the seeds and eat them, or use them to decorate desserts. They taste a little like a banana, or a melon, lime or cucumber, so are definitely worth trying at least once.

We should eat five 40 gram portions of fresh fruit and vegetables every day, but no one said that you should only eat apples and oranges- why not try to find some of these exotic fruits in your ethnic communities' shops http://www.herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.com If you found this article interesting, why not click on this link and find out more about the fruit mentioned in this article? There is a lot of information about other fruit, spices and herbs which can help us improve our health too.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?My-Top-5-Exotic-Fruits&id=7303691] My Top 5 Exotic Fruits