Kiwifruit

Visually striking with its green or golden interior and black seeds, kiwifruit, often shortened to kiwi, is an exotic fruit recognized as China’s national fruit. Kiwifruit is also known as Chinese gooseberry.

Kiwifruit is in peak season from September until November. An average kiwifruit, measuring 2 inches in diameter, weighs 69 grams.

Kiwifruit comes from the family of Actinidiaceae, of the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar of kiwi is Hayward, which has a fibrous, green-brown skin and bright green or golden “meal” with rows of tiny black seeds.

Kiwifruit is a rich source of Vitamins C and K and a range of antioxidants such as beta-carotene, lutein and xanthin. They contain 83 percent water by weight.

More than 70 percent of kiwifruit production is in Italy (384,844 tonnes), New Zealand (376,400 tonnes) and Chile (240,000 tonnes), the three leading producers in 2012. With these three producers, kiwi is produced for worldwide consumption almost all year. Greece produced 161,400 tonnes in 2012, and France, the No. 5 producer, sold 65,253 tonnes.

Stats for 100 Grams of Kiwifruit, Green, Raw

• 61 calories

Notable Nutrients

Percentages based on the Reference Daily Intake for a 2,000-calorie diet

• Fiber: 12%
• Folate: 6.3%
• Vitamin C: 154.5%
• Vitamin E: 7.3%
• Vitamin K: 50.4%
• Copper: 6.5%
• Manganese: 4.9%
• Potassium: 8.9%

Carbs/Protein/Fat

• Carbohydrates: 86.6%
• Protein: 6.3%
• Fat: 7.1%

Food Type

• Listed as acid or subacid fruit in a range of raw food books

Sources

• Self Healing Colitis & Crohn’s by Dr. David Klein
• http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/2300
• http://www.cronometer.com
• http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/kiwi-fruit.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwifruit