Nutritive value of fruit crops

1. Carbohydrates

• Daily requirement of carbohydrate is 400–500 g per capita.

• Raisins – 77.3%

• Apricot (dry) – 72.8%

• Date – 67.37%

• Karonda (dry) – 67.1%

• Banana – 36.4%

• Bael – 30.6%

2. Proteins

• Daily requirement of protein is 60–70 g.

• Cashew nut – 21.20%

• Almond – 20.88%

• Walnut – 15.60%

3. Fat

• Pecan nut – 70.0%

• Walnut – 64.5%

• Almond – 58.9%

• Cashew nut – 46.9%

• Avocado – 22.8%

4. Vitamins

• Vitamins classified in two groups:

  1. Water soluble: Vitamin B complex and Vitamin C.

  2. Fat soluble: Vitamin A, D, E and K.

Vitamin-A (Retinol, Carotene)

• Daily requirement is 1.2 mg/day.

• Precursor of vitamin-A is carotenoids.

• Mango – 4800 IU

• Papaya – 2020 IU

• Persimmon – 1710 IU

• Date palm – 600 IU

Vitamin-B1 (Thiamine)

• Daily requirement is 1.2 mg/day.

• Cashew nut – 630 mg/100g

• Walnut – 450 mg/100g

• Almond – 240 mg/100g

Vitamin-B2 (Riboflavin)

• Daily requirement is 1.7 mg/day.

• Bael – 1191 mg/100g

• Papaya – 250 mg/100g

• Cashew nut – 190 mg/100g

• Pineapple – 120 mg/100g

Vitamin-C (Ascorbic acid)

• Daily requirement is 70 mg/day.

• Barbados cherry – 1400 mg/100g

• Aonla – 600 mg/100g

• Guava – 299 mg/100g

Vitamin-B3 (Nicotinic Acid)

• Daily requirement is 19 mg/day.

• Litchi – 122.5 mg/100g

5. Minerals

Calcium

• Daily requirement is 500–600 mg/day.

• Fruit Sources

• Litchi – 0.21%

• Karonda – 0.16%

Iron

• Daily requirement is 20 mg/day.

• Dry karonda – 39.1%

• Date (Pind) – 10.6%

Phosphorus

• Daily requirement is 20 mg/day.

• Almond – 0.49%

• Cashew nut – 0.45%

• Walnut – 0.38%

6. Fibers

• Fiber is comprised of components of plant materials (long chain glucose molecules) that are resistant to human digestive enzymes.

• Fiber plays an important role in digestion.

• Maximum dietary fiber found in fig – 7 g/100g, followed by guava (6.9%) in fruit.

Point to Remember

• In fruits, walnut (687 kcal/100g) have maximum calorific value followed by almond (655 kcal/100g), cashew nut (596 kcal/100g) and date 283 kcal/100g and in vegetable, tapioca have maximum calorific value followed by garlic (142 kcal/100g) and lima bean (105 kcal/100g).

• Cobalt is present in ‘Vitamin B12’.

• Papin is prepared from papaya.

• Grapes are rich source of tartaric acid.

• Vitamin-E is the anti-sterility vitamin.

• Carotene has xanthophyll hydroxyl group.

• Selenium (Se) is the anti-oxidant mineral.

• Avocado has 26.4% fat content.

• The fruits and vegetables are known as ‘Protective Foods’.

• Protein content in potato is 1.4%.

• Ascorbic acid known as anti-oxidant vitamin.

• Vitamin-C is sensitive to heat.