Apples, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, apricots, pears, plums, peaches, and almonds are all part of the rose family. The Rosaceae family is known to have over 4,800 species. The fruit of many of those species are edible as noted above.
Ripe cranberries can bounce like a bouncy ball.
Chocolate was once used as currency. The Aztecs used cacao beans as currency in and around the 15th century. The cacao beans were unable to grow on the lands of the Aztecs, so it was considered a luxury and was used to pay taxes. *Note: Archaeologist have found evidence of chocolate being consumed as early as 1900 BC in Mexico.
Peanuts are not actually in the nut family, they are part of the legume family, a fact that many vegans might already be aware of. Another interesting fact: the part of the plant which produces the peanuts are not the fruit of the plant, but root nodules.
Eating bananas can help fight depression. Studies have shown that the amino acid tyrosine helps with the production of dopamine, the happy hormone. Bananas, avocadoes, and almonds are three foods which contain this amino acid. Folate, iron, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, potassium, selenium, thiamine, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and zinc are other essential nutrients that help with the prevention and treatment of depression.
Canola oil was originally called rapeseed oil however, it was renamed in 1978. Canola is short for Canadian Oil.
Yams and sweet potatoes are two different things. Check out our Sweet Potato Vs. Yam article to learn the difference.
Have you ever been bobbing for apples? Apples float because 25% of their composition is made up of air.
Cucumbers are 96% water. The only vegetable that has a higher content is lettuce. Other fruit and vegetables which have high water contents are celery, zucchini, and watermelon.
Pineapple plants only produce one pineapple per year. The pineapple plant produces 200 or more flowers which then grow into a multiple fruits or collective fruits and eventually become a single mass. This is what gives pineapples their sections. Other fruits what grow this way are figs, mulberries, and breadfruit.
Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, as well as bell and chili peppers are all from the same family, the Solanaceae or Nightshade family. Several members of the Solanaceae family are highly toxic to humans and animals. For example, the fruit and leaves of the potato plant are highly toxic though we are able to consume the root or tuber, and while the fruit of the tomato and bell pepper species are edible, the leaves are toxic.
One cup of dried figs contains the same amount of calcium as one cup of cow’s milk.
Kiwis have more vitamin C than oranges.
One cup of raw beet greens has double the daily requirements of vitamin K.
Swiss chard is packed with two antioxidants that are great for the eyes.
