Kiwi fruits, often abbreviated as kiwi are small fruits with plenty of health benefits. Sliced Kiwi fruits are often used in desserts and people all over the world include these fruits for breakfast and lunch. Its taste varies from sweet to tangy. Kiwis are not ordinary fruits; they are packed with a lot of flavours and numerous health benefits.

Kiwi, also known as Chinese gooseberry, belongs to the family Actinidiaceae. Its scientific name is Actinidia deliciosa. It has a lovely oval shape and its inside pulp is green with small black seeds that are edible. Kiwi has a brown furry skin which is edible, but people generally remove it before eating the flesh of the fruit. The skin is very thin. The fruit is indigenous to South China and China produced more than 50% of the total world kiwi production. Kiwi used to be called the Chinese gooseberry, but sometime around 1970, the people of New Zealand nicknamed the fruit kiwi fruit.

The Chinese have been using kiwi mostly as a tonic for children and women after childbirth. Kiwi fruits are generally served as appetizers and also added in salads, in fish and meat dishes, in pies and puddings, in cake fillings and ice-creams. Growing kiwi takes up a lot of space and requires long, mild winters. The leaves and branches of the kiwi plant are often used to treat mange in dogs, by boiling them in water.  Stems of the kiwi vine are used to make ropes in China.

According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), China is considered to be the largest producer of the kiwi fruit, producing more than 50% of the total world kiwi production in the year 2016. In India, kiwi is grown in various parts of the country - Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir in the north; in the north-eastern states of Sikkim, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh; Karnataka and Kerala in the south.

According to an article published by Paul Lachance from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, among the 27 most commonly consumed fruits, kiwi is one of the most nutritious fruit, followed by papaya, mango, and orange. His study also revealed that kiwi has the highest content of Vitamin C and magnesium.

Kiwi fruits come in two colors, one is green and the other one is gold, both are abundantly rich in Vitamins C, E, K, B9, carotenoids, potassium, fiber, and phytochemicals. Kiwi helps in keeping a balance between the good cholesterol (LDL) and the bad cholesterol (HDL). Kiwi is a great platelet booster. This fruit also helps in keeping the blood pressure under check. Eating golden kiwi along with other iron-rich foods can help increase the iron content in your body. On the other hand, eating green kiwis helps in digestion and promotes laxation, especially in older people who suffer from constipation. Kiwi has a substantial amount of vitamin C. Kiwi is also rich in antioxidants and protects us against harmful free radicals.

Some basic facts about Kiwi:

• Scientific name: Actinidia deliciosa
• Family: Actinidiaceae, a small family of flowering plants.
• Common name: Kiwi, kiwifruit. It was originally called the “Chinese Gooseberry.”
• Common Hindi name: Kiwi phal
• Native Region and Geographical Distribution: This fruit was originally cultivated in the North-Central and Eastern parts of China. It was first cultivated in the 12th century in China, during the Song Dynasty and it was mainly cultivated for its medicinal properties. After China, New Zealand started to cultivate this fruit, and they did it for commercial purposes. Later it became popular with the British and American forces during the time of World War II.
• Fun fact: Kiwifruit is known as the “nutritional all-star” because according to a study in Rutgers University, researchers found that this fruit provides the best nutrients among 21 most commonly eaten fruits

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