Strawberry Season Part 1 of 2 The World's Most Popular Plant Food |
[follow the Wikipedia links] What is the world's most versatile and loved natural food? There must be a few good candidates, but it's hard to argue against the strawberry (Fragraria vesca) winning this special designation.
Think of the many varied strawberry products
You may come to the conclusion that no other single food can rival strawberries for versatility and popularity. That may be why the excellent website, World's Healthiest Foods, featured strawberries last week (click!) Production volumes of strawberries for the grocery market also indicate a rising demand for this first berry of summer. Export of strawberries from California in 2005, for example, was 22 million pounds, almost double the volume in 2001. Interestingly, nearly 80% of California's export production of strawberries goes to Canada and the volumes headed for European countries are increasing by more than 8% per year. ** More interesting facts from the California Strawberry Commission on this industry exceeding $1 billion in annual sales ! ** What species of strawberries exist? The strawberry has been grown in North America since the time of early European settlers in the 1600s. There are some 20 named species, the most common being cultivars of either woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) or garden variety (Fragaria ananassa). Strawberries have an unusual appearance of many tiny yellow seeds in the red pulp -- about 200 in each berry. What are those?
Close up of strawberry achenes Courtesy of Wikipedia Strawberries have an atypical botanical morphology whereby the yellow speckled objects (seeds or “achenes”) in the red pulp are technically the “fruit”, and what we call the fruit is actually the pericarp or “vegetable”.
Confused? Let's explain. In botany, strawberries are called an “accessory fruit” meaning that the red pulp of consumer interest does not derive from the plant's ovary but rather from the cup (called the hypanthium) at the base of the fruit. Think of the shape of a rose blossom having a firm bowl-shaped base, and you may get the idea. Incidentally, strawberries are from the same plant family as roses, Rosaceae. The achenes (“eh-keens”), making up only 1% of the total berry mass, are the yellow seeds that do evolve from the ovary so are technically the “fruit”, an oddity in the plant world. This design was evidently devised by Nature to increase the plant's opportunity for regeneration. When eaten by predators, the seeds and fruit are then carried to another location where droppings may germinate new plants. Clever, eh?
What are the main pigments present in strawberries? See Part 2 next week, but here's a glimpse. The rich red color of strawberries comes from numerous chemicals of the phenolic super-family and its major subgroup called flavonoids densely populated in strawberries. One flavonoid class in particular – the anthocyanins – accounts for most of the red pigmentation. In addition to anthocyanins, vitamin C, ellagic acid, ellagitannins, quercetin, catechins, kaempferol and cinnamic acid glycosides are other antioxidant phytochemcials present in strawberries. All of these have been shown in preliminary laboratory research to provide potential health benefits for human consumers. Future clinical trials are the path to confirming these possible health benefits. See next week's essay! Reading
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