Group C. Sweet Fruits

Under this head we will enumerate as typical examples figs and dates, which contain so large a proportion of sugar as to make them important articles of diet in countries where they are produced. The dried figs of the market contain only twenty per cent of water and 62.8 per cent carbohydrates, mostly sugar. The 5.5 per cent protein is contained largely within the seeds, and as these are not usually broken in the mastication, this protein contained within them has little dietetic value. It is the sugar which possesses the value, the nutritional value. Dates are closely similar to figs in their chemical analysis, containing even more sugar (65.7 per cent). Dried prunes and raisins might be mentioned under this class, the former containing sixty-six per cent sugar, the latter seventy-four per cent. However, prunes and raisins as ordinarily used in the dietary are of secondary importance as sources of sugar. Figs and prunes possess a very noticeable laxative effect, due without doubt to the seeds in the case of the figs.

In the choice of fruits, one should be governed largely by the season, choosing such as are in season so far as possible. The great advantage in this is that the fruits in season are always in better condition, because they can be picked riper and are not exported so far, therefore more wholesome. One should especially avoid the choice of unripe and immature fruit, as in such the proportion of cellulose and tannic acid is far greater than in ripe fruits. When one cuts an immature apple, for example, with a steel knife, the presence of tannin is shown in the dark stain (tannate of iron) which is shown on the knife blade and in the brown color which the cut surface shows within a very few minutes after it is exposed to the air. Thoroughly ripe fruit gives these indications in only a slight degree and after much longer time, due to the fact that during the last days of the ripening process cellulose and tannic acid are changed to sugar and fruit juices. It is easy to understand how the ingestion of several green apples can cause a severe case of indigestion in the case of the small boy who cannot wait for the autumn sun to finish its ripening process.

Another thing to avoid in the choice of fruits is over-ripeness or beginning decay. Properly speaking, a fruit cannot be too ripe. However, if completely ripe when gathered, it is usually so mellow that if it has to undergo delays of hours or even days in transportation from the garden or orchard to the table, and is subjected to high temperature, dust and jolting in transit, it may be reduced to an unrecognizable mass of fermenting pulp by the time it reaches its destination. Fruit growers are compelled, therefore, to gather fruits that are to be transported long distances before they are completely ripe, thus necessitating a part of the maturing process to be accomplished in transit. This enables the dealers to deliver at the door of the consumer fruit which is presentable and not unwholesome. Such fruits, however, should be very carefully looked over before they are brought to the table to discard any portions that have been injured in transit or that show signs of fermentation or decay.

Table III. - Fruits

As a rule, fruits which are luscious and sweet when gathered thoroughly ripe, are tart and much less palatable and highly flavored when gathered immature to be cured in transit. In many cases these fruits require stewing and the addition of considerable sugar to make them wholesome and palatable. Among the fruits thus frequently prepared may be named currants, gooseberries, apples, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, whortleberries, plums, apricots. Among the fruits uniformly prepared in this way are cranberries, while among fruits uniformly served fresh or uncooked are grape fruit, oranges, strawberries, grapes, melons. Bananas, though usually served uncooked, are sometimes baked in the oven.

If the banana is not thoroughly ripe it is probably more wholesome when baked, as the cooking makes the starch digestible. It is the presence of starch in the pulp of the banana that makes it so unpalatable when not ripe. The ripening process changes the starch to sugar.