6 Differences Between Passion And Monk Fruits

Many people think that passion fruit and monk fruit are the same kind of fruit but have different names. In fact, they are two very different types of fruit, though they look the same. Passion fruit tastes sour while monk fruit is sweeter.

1. Essential difference between Passion Fruit and Monk Fruit

Passion Fruit: Passiflora edulis in scientific name, is a semi-woody vine species of passion flower, the Passiflora family. Native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina, it is now cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy fruit.

Monk Fruit(Luo Han Guo): It is the fruit of the cucurbitaceous plant Luo Han Guo, a perennial climbing vine, the tender stems are covered with white pilose and red glandular hairs, and the stems are dark purple with longitudinal ribs.

2. Distinguishing by leaves

Passion fruit: The leaves of passion fruit have a very strange phenomenon. The newly grown leaves are oval, and become palm-shaped (trilobed) as they grow into old leaves.

Monk fruit: leaves alternate, ovate or long ovate, green on the top, pubescent, densely distributed along the veins, dark green below; the tender leaves are dark brown-red, densely covered with red glandular hairs, densely pubescent along the veins.

3. Difference in flowers

Passion fruit: The round flowers look like the face of the sun, and the silky petals look like the rays of the sun, very gorgeous! Dioecious flowers, female flowers bear fruit, and male flowers are used for pollination.

Monk fruit: dioecious, inflorescence stalk, flower stalk, sepals, petals are all pilose and glandular hairs, florescence from June to August.

4. Difference in fruits

Passion fruit: egg shape, green when it is young, dark purple when it is ripe, generally sold in the market are fresh fruits, can be eaten fresh, can also be processed juice, jam, fruit wine, the taste is sweet and sour, and the fragrance is overflowing!

Monk fruit: Wong fruit is round, oblong or obovate, dark brown-red when young, green when mature, and hairy (dried fruits are mostly brown-black-brown). Generally, dried fruits are sold in the market. Both dried fruits and fresh fruits are mostly used for soaking in boiling water or making soup, and the taste is sweet.

5. Difference in efficacy

Passion fruit: Passion fruit has a complex effect on the central nervous system. It is a natural tranquilizer with relaxing and calming effects; it can treat insomnia, induce natural fall asleep and deep sleep, eliminate headaches, dizziness and other phenomena; it can also soothe Anxiety, nervousness, depression, headache, stomach pain, frequent urination, palpitation, muscle cramps, convulsions, pain and other discomforts caused by nervous tension.

Monk fruit: It has the effects of clearing heat and cooling blood, promoting body fluid and relieving cough, smoothing intestines and detoxification, rejuvenating skin, moisturizing lungs and resolving phlegm. Diabetes and irritability.

6. The difference in eating Passion and Monk fruits

How to eat passion fruit:

①Direct fresh food: split the passion fruit, scoop out the flesh with a spoon and eat it directly (the seeds are edible, rich in high-grade protein and high-grade fat).

②To make juice: Take a passion fruit, cut it open, scoop the pulp into a cup with a spoon, add 200ml of water, add a little sugar to adjust the sweetness, and stir to get a cup of nutritious juice with good color, aroma and taste. If you use a juicer to mix for a few seconds, the effect is better. Use ice water in summer, warm water in winter, and add a few drops of honey for better flavor. In addition, because the density of the fruit pulp contained in passion fruit juice is different from that of natural super fiber, it is a normal physical phenomenon that stratification occurs after being prepared and left for a period of time, and it has no effect on the quality.

③ Make tea: In addition to its calming effect, passion fruit also helps to improve sleep quality. Drinking a cup of tea made from it before going to bed every night can also help you fall asleep.

④ Honey lemon passion fruit juice: Take three passion fruits, about 200ml of cold water, a little honey, a little lemon juice, and a little crushed ice. Then wash and cut the passion fruit, dig out the pulp with a spoon, put it in the juicer, add honey, cold water, lemon juice, beat well and filter, pour it into a cup, add crushed ice and drink. Has the effect of lowering blood pressure.

⑤ Brewing wine, brewing tea or cooking dishes: In addition to extracting pectin, medicinal ingredients and processed feed, the fruit shell can also be used for brewing wine or tea, and cooking dishes.

How to eat monk fruit:

①Candy drink: crush monk fruit, add water and decoct it for 3 times, fry for half an hour each time, steam over low heat to remove moisture to make it viscous, let cool, mix in white sugar, mix well, and dry , Crushed and bottled for later use. Take about 10 grams each time to make a drink with boiling water.

② Momordica grosvenori beverage: Wash and crush Momordica grosvenori, wash the hawthorn, and put it in the pot with Momordica grosvenori. Add clean water to the pot. After the heat is cooked, remove the residue and pour the juice into the cup. Put an appropriate amount of honey into the cup, stir well, and drink it as a summer drink. Can lose weight and fitness.

③ Monk fruit japonica rice porridge: crush monk fruit, add appropriate amount of water to boil, cook for 3 times, filter out the residue with gauze and set aside. Wash the japonica rice with water and add it to the monk fruit soup to cook the porridge. When the porridge is boiling, transfer to a low heat and continue to cook until the rice is rotten. Add salt and monosodium glutamate to eat.

White Bitter Melon - A Fruit-like Bitter Gourd

Bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd or balsam pear, is one of the most common vegetables in summer.

As the name suggests, it tastes very bitter! Some people like bitter melons despite the taste. One important reason is allegedly eating bitter melon can help boost one's appetite. However, some people dislike the bitter taste and stay away from this vegetable.

But in recent years, a novel vegetable (or fruit) called "white bitter melon" has appeared in some supermarkets and even fruit shops. It looks extremely like bitter gourd, but it is more a fruit than a vegetable. Because it can be eaten raw as a fruit, it is also sold as a fruit by some merchants, and more often appears in fruit shops. 

The price of white bitter melon is usually four or five times that of bitter gourd.

What Is White Bitter Melon?

This is a new variety of bitter gourd originated from Taiwan in 1987 and now cultivated in my regions worldwide. In 1998, two local species of bitter gourd were selected from Xincheng Township and Ji'an Township in Hualien, Taiwan. After years of screening and cultivating, finally this new hybrid of bitter melon was obtained in 2005. 

It resembles bitter gourd, though looks much better. The skin of white bitter gourd is exquisite (though equally warty) and white, which it's named so. Its original Chinese name is literally "White-jade bitter melon", that is to say, as white as jade.

In addition, the flesh of white bitter melon is thicker, the juice is richer, and the taste is more crisp. The most important point is that ordinary bitter gourd is not suitable to be eaten raw because it tastes grossly bitter.  But white bitter gourd is different. Its bitterness is very light, much lighter than the common green bitter gourd, and even sweetness can reach more than 6°, so it can be eaten as a fruit. If you cook it, you don't need to soak it at all, and it won't be too bitter even cooked directly.

White bitter melon is a little expensive because of its novelty and scarcity. But many curious people would readily pay for it. Especially for those who are keen to fitness and keep a diet, they regularly have it as fruit.

Nutritional Value of White Bitter Melon

The nutritional value of white bitter melon is very high:

1. Promote diet, reduce inflammation and reduce fever: Momordica charantia glycosides and bitterness elements in bitter gourd can increase appetite, invigorate the spleen and appetite; the alkaloid substance quinine contained in it has the effects of diuresis and blood circulation, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic, and clearing the heart;

2. Lower blood sugar, lose weight and lose weight: The fresh juice of bitter gourd contains momordica charantia glycosides and insulin-like substances. It has a good blood sugar lowering effect and is an ideal food for diabetic patients;

3. Anti-cancer and anti-cancer, adjuvant therapy: Bitter melon protein components and a large amount of vitamin C can improve the immune function of the body and make immune cells have the effect of killing cancer cells; bitter melon juice contains certain protein components, which can strengthen the ability of macrophages, clinically The above is effective for lymphosarcoma and leukemia; trypsin inhibitors extracted from bitter melon seeds can inhibit the proteases secreted by cancer cells and prevent the growth of malignant tumors.

Why Is A Tomato A Fruit?

Why is a tomato a fruit?

According to Collins Dictionary, fruit or a fruit is something which grows on a tree or bush and which contains seeds or a pit covered by a substance that you can eat. Also, Oxford Dictionary defines fruit as the part of a plant that consists of one or more seeds and flesh, can be eaten as food and usually tastes sweet. In layman's terms, fruit can be any part of the plant, as long as this part contains seeds, then it is a fruit. Therefore, a tomato that can contains tomato seeds should be a fruit.

But this is not without objections, as some would argue tomatoes are vegetable!

What is a vegetable?

However, Oxford Dictionary's definition for a vegetable is a plant or part of a plant that is eaten as food. Potatoes, beans and onions are all vegetables. Collins Dictionary gives a similar explanation. Merriam-Webster's definition of vegetable is: a usually herbaceous plant (such as the cabbage, bean, or potato) grown for an edible part that is usually eaten as part of a meal.

Although a tomato is not such a part of the plant as roots, stems, leaves, etc., from the perspective of botany, tomatoes are the fruits of bush plants, similar to cucumbers and chilli peppers. They can also be classified as vegetables.

So, in fact, tomatoes have two identities as both fruits and vegetables.

Are tomatoes vegetable or fruit? The historical story behind it!

The historical source of difficulty in determining tomato as fruits or vegetables can be traced back to the "Knicks v. Heden" case in the United States in 1893.

According to the Tariff Act promulgated by the U.S. in 1883, the import of fruits to the country was free of duties. However, imported vegetables are subject to a 10% tariff. the Knicks three brothers, the importer, sued Heden to the U.S. Supreme Court. The plaintiff's lawyer cited the definitions of "fruit" and "vegetable" in the "Webster's Dictionary", "Worcester Dictionary" and "Empire Dictionary" as testimony, and summoned two Witnesses with 30 years of fruit and vegetable sales experience.

• Then the plaintiff's lawyer read the dictionary's definition of "tomato": Solanaceae, native to South America, the fruit is a round berry, usually red or yellow. It also shows that the fruit of tomato and fruit are the same word, so it is a kind of fruit.
• The defendant's lawyer also quoted the "Webster's Dictionary" and "Wooth Definitions in the Special Dictionary and the Imperial Dictionary. Borrowing the "Webster's Dictionary", I explained the meanings of peas, eggplant, cucumber, zucchini and sweet pepper. Then, we also eat their fruits, but can you classify them as fruits?
• Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens Wolfgang Stuppi directly denied the definition of "vegetable" in the three dictionaries: "In the sense of botany, the word vegetable does not exist at all." Biologist Tamara Kershner immediately agreed...
• However, nutrition expert Joshua Sami disagrees with the obliteration of "vegetables": "Vegetables are a cooking term. I checked Hello De McGee's "Food and Cooking", which is called the "Bible of the Food World", wrote: "Vegetables only had their present meaning only a few centuries ago. They basically mean neither fruit nor Seed plant ingredients.'"

...

After the experts' free debate, the court soon got the result and the jury The group unanimously supports the defendant: Tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit... 

What Are Prunes?

What are prunes

Simply put, prunes are dried plums. Prunes are industrially obtained by dehydrating fresh plums at 85-90 degrees C for 18 h. Therefore, they are not literally fruit, but dried fruit or snacks.

Nutritional value of prunes

Prunes are rich in nutrients, including cellulose, vitamin A, minerals, trace elements, etc. Among them, vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, which is important for protecting the skin, and also helps the body's bone growth and tooth development. Besides, such dried fruit contains higher levels of phenolic compounds than most other fruits. Prune phenolics have shown beneficial effects on human health. Reports are available in the literature on ascorbic acid, phenol composition, and antioxidant activity of fresh plums and prunes. 

A study was carried out on two plum cultivars using two sets of air-drying temperatures: (i) air temperature at 85 degrees C until 50% of prune moisture level and then the temperature was lowered to 70 degrees C; (ii) air temperature at 60 degrees C. Whole fresh and dried fruits were assessed for phenolics (catechins, hydroxycinnamic acids, anthocyanins, and flavonols), ascorbic acid, and antioxidant activity (all parameters were calculated on a dry matter basis). Analysis of data shows that chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acid changes were affected by both process parameters and cultivar. Drying destroyed anthocyanins, and there was a significant decrease in flavonols. Ascorbic acid was drastically reduced in relation to process temperature. The most striking result was that drying at 85 degrees C doubled antioxidant activity in both cultivars, while contradictory results were found for 60 degrees C processed plums.

Health benefits of prunes:

1. Relieve fatigue

Dried prunes are sweet and sour, and moderate consumption can strengthen liver function and relieve fatigue.

2. Purify the blood

Dried prunes are alkaline foods that can balance the pH of the blood, purify the blood, and promote the natural excretion of toxins from the body.

3. Protect eyesight

Dried prunes are rich in vitamins, which can promote the synthesis of human protein. Regular consumption of dried prunes is good for vision and skin health.

4. Regulate blood pressure

Prunes are a high-potassium and low-sodium food with a high content of potassium ions, which can ensure the balance of electrolytes in the body, enhance the elasticity of muscles and blood vessels, and have a certain effect on lowering blood pressure.