Radish

Description

      The radish is one of the most commonly used vegetables in India. It is a hairy annual herb. It has no stem or branches. It has only one root which is round, cylindrical or tapering, white or red, slightly coarse, fleshy, succulent, and 3 to 7 cm thick, 10 to 20 cm long. It has a pungent flavor. It stimulates appetite and promotes a healthy bloodstream.

      There are many varieties of radish, differing in size, and color. The red and white colored are most familiar. They are tender when young but become woody and, tough as they mature.

Potato

Description

      The potato is the most popular and widely used vegetable in the world. It is an annual plant, producing swollen underground stem tubers. This vegetable forms an indispensable item of daily food and is an important source of nutrition.

Origin and Distribution

      The potato is a native of South America, where it has been cultivated from ancient times. It was introduced to Europe in the later-half of the 16th century. But nearly one hundred years, it was looked upon as a poisonous tuber. Its food value was realized only in 1771, when a prize was offered in France for the discovery of an article of food which could be used as substitute for wheat in times of famine.

Onion for Health

Description

      The onion a pungent edible of the lily family is one of the oldest cultivated vegetables. It is considered a food of exceptional value for flavoring and seasoning.

      The onion is a biennial herb, usually grown as an annual. All its parts produce a strong onion odor when crushed. It has superficial root system, a very short flattened stem at the base of the plant, which increases in diameter as growth continues. Leaves are long, linear and hollow. A bulb is formed by thickening of the leaf bases when the plant reaches a certain stage of growth. The fruit is a globular capsule.

Mint

Description

      Mint is a popular spice, used extensively in Indian cooking. It is an erect, branched perennial herb with underground modified stems. The Shoots produced from these stems are four angled, and bear oval-shaped leaves which are simple, delicate, thin, dark green in color and fragrant.

Origin and Distribution

      Mint is a native of temperate Europe. Ancient Romans and Greeks knew about this plant. In olden days it was believed that Menthe, the damsel lover of God Pluto, was transferred into this herb due the anger of Persephone, the wife of Pluto and Goddess of Wealth. Therefore mint is commonly known as Minthae in Latin. The ancient Greek physician, Saufarsats used mint in the preparation of various carminative medicines. Even Mohammadan physicians were familiar with this herb. Chinese and Japanese knew this herb as long as two thousand years. Mint has now been introduced in all parts of the world and it widely grows in Indonesia, West Africa etc In India, mint grows widely in Himalayan plains and Kashmir valley in a number of varieties.

Lettuce

Description

      Lettuce is regarded as the king of salad plants. It is most popular of all the salad vegetables It has rounded leaves up to 25 cm. in length and 15 cm. in width. Leaves and stem contain milky juice. There are several varieties of lettuce. They differ in color of the leaves, size and texture. The color of leaves varies from light to dark green. Broadly two varieties are generally used at table, namely, the loose-leaf lettuce and the true head-lettuce. In the loose-leaf lettuce the leaves hang on all side. The head lettuce is like a cabbage with the leaves drawn together

Raisins

Description

      The raisins are dried grapes. All grapes are, however, not suitable for making raisins. The grapes, which are very sweet, are only selected for drying. Raisins have high nourishing qualities.

Origin and Distribution

      Raisins have been used as food from very ancient times. They had been known to the traders of the Mediterranean Coast even in Greek and Roman ages. Raisins are produced in several parts of the world, but the great bulk of world product comes from Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, California, Australia and South Africa.

Pomegranate

Description

      The pomegranate is a very delicious and semi-seedy fruit. It has refreshing and soothing qualities and is easier to digest than any other fruit. The fruit has been held in high esteem from time immemorial as a food and a medicine. It is symbolic of plenty and a basket of pomegranates was chosen as a symbol of the 18th International Horticultural Congress held in 1970. The pomegranate is a six-sided fruit of fairly large size, with tough, leathery skin. It is divided inside into several cells containing numerous angular seeds. These seeds are surrounded by a succulent coating of pink or crimson color with a delicious sub-acid flavor. The sweet ruby-pink and the sour varieties are most popular.

Date

Description

      The date is one of the most nourishing fruits. It is a food of great importance and is called the bread of the Sahara. But its use is now universal. It is included in the categories of both dry and fresh fruit. The date is a cylindrical fruit of yellow to reddish brown color. It has' fleshy pericarp surrounding a single seed containing 60 to 70 per cent sugar. The tree-ripe fresh date is delicious fruit. It, however, undergoes fermentation very rapidly. It is, therefore, dried in the sun. The fruit loses about 35 per cent of its weight In the process of drying.

Banana

Description

      The banana is one of the oldest and best known fruits of the world. It is delicious and seedless and is available in all seasons at a price which is within everybody's reach. It is a very hygienic fruit as it comes in a germ-proof package. Its thick covering provides an excellent protection against bacteria and contamination. The mature fruits vary in sizes and may be greenish, yellow or reddish in color.

Grapes

Description

Grapes are one of the most valuable fruits; they are delicious, highly nutritious and most easily digestible. They are one of Nature's precious gifts for the revitalization of the human system.

Spherical or ovoid in shape, the grape is a form of berry; they are of innumerable varieties differing in size, shape, color, aroma and taste, The sizes vary from as big as plums to as small as peas. They are found in various colors such as green, black, red and blue.

Grapefruit

Description

      The grapefruit occupies a high place among the citrus fruits because of its flavor, its appetizing properties and its refreshing qualities. The fruit is often very large-larger than the human head It varies in color and may have a pale yellow or pinkish flesh. The rind is usually quarter to half an inch thick.

Fig

Description

The fig occupies a high position among fruits. Soft, sweet and pulpy, this delicious fruit promotes health. It is a pear-shaped hollow fruit, with sugary pulp and a large number of small seeds of golden color sticking to the wall of the cavity. It is variable in size and color. The ripe fresh fruit is juicy, wholesome and delicious. However, being highly perishable, it is sold in the world markets in its dry form.

Papaya

Description

The papaya has been regarded as one of the most valuable of tropical fruits. It is a large, f1eshv, hollow berry up to 50-60 cm. in diameter and usually weighs from ½ kg to 2 kg. It is cylindrical or pear-shaped. The central cavity is surrounded by hundreds of small seeds, though sometimes seedless varieties of the fruit are also found.

The fruit has a thin smooth skin. It is dark green in color at first, but as the papaya ripens, it changes to bright yellowish or orange. Inside, the thick juicy flesh has a soft melting quality, and may be yellow or pink. It has a delicate aroma and delicious f1avor.