Fruits

Fruits are the set of edible fruits that are obtained from cultivated plants, having a high content of vitamins, minerals, few calories, and a good percentage of water. Among those fruits are:

Banana:

It is an edible fruit, whose size is variable, it is elongated and curved, very fleshy and rich in starch, it covered with a shell that can be green or yellow depending on its ripening.

In Colombia, it serves us to make desserts, fruit salads, and in many regions, it is very common to find the traditional banana cakes. It is also usually found in milkshake mode, where its light consumption recommended after preparation. Their benefits are quite significant, so let's meet them:

• It helps us in premenstrual symptoms since it contains vitamin B6, which regulates glucose levels in our blood, which can affect our mood.
• It helps fight anemia, thanks to its high iron content, which stimulates hemoglobin production.
• Help for blood pressure as it contains large amounts of potassium.
• Ideal for people suffering from constipation, as it helps restore bowel movement, thanks to its fiber content.
• It is an ingredient widely used by our grandmothers to cure the hangover, a simple banana milkshake with honey and we look like new.
• For those people who are quitting smoking, bananas can help them, as it contains vitamins B6 and B12, along with potassium and magnesium, which help the body recover from the effects of the lack of nicotine in the body.

For these and many more reasons, Colombian cuisine needs to have this ingredient in the kitchen.

Passion fruit:

It is an edible fruit, yellow pulp and similar to that of an egg, it is fibrous and juicy, covered with a thick shell that is inedible.

In Colombian cuisine, it mainly used to make juices or smoothies. However, this fruit can also use in sauces or vinaigrettes for salads, desserts, cakes, ice cream, etc. Among its benefits, we find the following:

• It helps to reduce the pressure arterial significantly.
• It is ideal for weight loss since its fiber has a satiating power, which causes our appetite to decrease markedly.
• It improves our intestinal transit, thus fighting constipation.
• It lowers blood cholesterol.
• It gives us vitamins A and C and of the B complex, such as potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium.
• Its seeds have oil that contributes to the care of our skin.

There are many reasons why we use this fruit in our country, it also brings some acidity to our dishes, making them more exotic and delicious when eating them.

Mango:

Mango is a citrus fruit with fleshy and sweet pulp. It stands out in the Colombian market for its excellent taste and variety. Yellow fruit and its flavor usually become acidic when it has not fully ripened.

The mango usually used to make exotic and brightly colored dishes. We can make salads with ripe mango, which takes care of the sweetness and a little acidity at the same time. It is also often used to make sauces, vinaigrettes, desserts, and cakes. It is an ingredient that serves many things in our kitchen, and that allows us to create many preparations, and among its benefits are:

• It helps us protect our skin and mucous membranes, thanks to its beta-carotene content.
• It helps us keep the musculoskeletal system in good shape, thanks to its combination of magnesium and potassium, thus preventing osteoporosis to muscle cramps.
• Its minerals control our pressure and help us to the proper functioning of the kidneys.
• They stimulate our defenses since it contains antioxidant vitamins and minerals, which, together with the phenolic compounds, help our system to fight against diseases.

A versatile ingredient in the kitchen. Delicious for our palate.

Coconut:

It is a fruit almost round. Its bark is quite hard and brown. Its seed is white meat, delightful flavor, and comes with a sweet liquid inside.

In our kitchen, it serves to make the famous coconut rice, very popular in our Caribbean coasts and is a delicacy for those who try it. Also, it is the protagonist in many of our recipes, such as coconut flan, coconut lemonade, coconut cake, coconut ice cream, among other recipes that we can find with this beautiful ingredient. Its best-known benefits are as follows:

• It gives us proper hydration since it is a vibrant ingredient in water.
• It has a laxative effect, thanks to its high fiber content, so it also helps fight fluid retention in our body.
• You can give us energy, since it has a high caloric content, so it recommended that your consumption be moderate.
• It is a source of energy for our muscles, thanks to its mineral content.
• Thanks to its detoxifying action, coconut can help us clean the kidney and have good internal hygiene.
• It serves to relieve vomiting, gas, and urinary problems, as it contains vitamin C, natural sugar, and many minerals.

And also, combined in our recipes is too good, enough reasons to use coconut in our Colombian cuisine.

Apple:

It is an apple fruit, which is edible and rounded, its skin is thin, and we can find it in the green or red market. Its meat is white and very juicy, sweet if it is red, or acidic if it is green.

In our kitchen, it serves to give sweet or sour touches to salads, we can also make pickled apples to accompany other dishes, and it can also use as a natural thickener in homemade jams. Also, we can find or make apple wine, an exceptional wine to drink, or to make specific traditional preparations. The best-known benefits of apple are:

• It helps us reduce blood cholesterol and prevent it from accumulating in the walls of blood vessels, as it contains a soluble fiber called pectin.
• It helps us control blood pressure, thanks to the large amounts of potassium it contains.
• It protects our brain neurons, as it provides an antioxidant called quercetin.
• It prevents the formation of cancer cells, thanks to the natural fiber it has, and that is fermented in the colon, thus producing chemicals that help against these malignant cells.
• Help our teeth look clean because at the barre, eat leftover food.

So if what you are looking for is to give your salads or meals an exceptional touch, the apple is a total success option.

Strawberry:

It is around, sweet and sweet fruit, intense red with small yellow seeds on the surface.

In our kitchen, the strawberry serves to provide sweet flavors, and if it is not very ripe, acidic flavors. A leading ingredient in the preparation of strawberries with cream, reduction of strawberries to accompany a dish, also serves for the preparation of desserts, sauces, smoothies, among others. The benefits that strawberries provide when consuming them are the following:

• It helps fight bodywear, thanks to the number of antioxidants it contains.
• They are highly recommended for people who have cholesterol, as it contains omega 3.
• They help our dental care, cleaning, and whitening our teeth in a very natural way.
• Promotes fertility and helps keep blood cells stable because it contains vitamin E.

It is a food widely used for desserts, but it also adds an exceptional flavor to salads, so it commonly uses in our kitchen.

Pineapple:

It is a tropical plant with very spiny, long, and split leaves, whose fruit is fleshy and edible, usually yellow.

In our kitchen, it serves to bring freshness to the dishes, in addition to giving it an exceptional color it gives it unique flavors. It is widespread to find juices of this flavor, some smoothies or green juices, and, also, its pulp is ideal for desserts, salads, side dishes, fillings, and even for use in pizza. Its most important benefits are:

• Aid for weight loss, as it is considered one of the lightest and most digestive fruits.
• It is diuretic, thanks to its high water content.
• It helps us to end constipation and fluid retention.
• It is essential for our nervous and muscular system, thanks to its minerals, especially potassium.
• Regulates the thyroid gland thanks to its iodine content.
• Also, it contains bromeliad, an enzyme that promotes digestion and metabolizes proteins.

In our kitchen, this ingredient has arrived to create quite exotic and customer- friendly dishes, becoming quite popular with us.

Avocado:

It is an exotic and fleshy fruit obtained from a tropical tree that has the same name. Its bark is thick and hard, dark green, or light, depending on the variety. Its pulp is creamy, yellowish-green, and has a seed in the large dark brown center.

In Colombian cuisine, this ingredient is used for the preparation of many dishes, in salads, for example, it provides some creaminess and softness in its flavor. However, it is also the protagonist in specific preparations such as avocado cream, guacamole, avocados fillings, and other recipes that are popular in some areas of our country, whose main ingredient is avocado. The benefits that we can find in this ingredient are:

• They help us lose weight since it provides our organisms with soluble and insoluble fibers, which make us feel quite satisfied.
• It is ideal for pregnant women, since it provides benefits in the process of formation of the fetus, thanks to its folic acid content.
• Reduce cholesterol.
• Avocado contains healthy fats and vitamin E, which help us avoid heart disease.
• It helps us prevent cancer.

The avocado is an inevitable fruit in the diet of Colombians, the main ingredient when preparing many dishes.

Plum:

It is the fruit of the plum, round and sweet, it is thin-skinned, and its meat is very juicy. Its color and size may vary depending on the tree that produces it.

In our kitchen, it serves to make the famous plum sauce that accompanies many of our meats, although it is also used to make cakes, or be part of a fruit salad. Its most recognized benefits are:

• It is chosen to carry out a diet of weight loss due to its low energy intake, its richness in fiber, and high aqueous content that creates a satiating effect in the body.
• It favors hydration due to its richness in potassium.
• It positively influences the intestinal flora.

The use of plums in Colombia has been increasing markedly over the years. It is a fruit that brings a unique flavor to our meat and fish.

Blackberry:

Blackberry is a fruit that belongs to the berry group; it is perishable and rich in vitamin C.

In the kitchen, it serves to provide intense flavors, sweet, and acid nuances. It usually consumed in juices or smoothies, which in its most straightforward use in the kitchen. Although it is also widely used in the preparation of yogurts, desserts, cakes, ice cream, jellies, sauces, among others. Among the benefits we know about default are the following:

• It is used to treat diseases such as arthritis, thanks to its contribution of nutrients.
• Regular consumption of this fruit helps us to detoxify the body optimally and naturally.
• It helps us to treat anemia.
• It helps prevent cancer.
• Being an antioxidant food, this fruit attacks the bacterial bodies that cause viruses, so it can help reduce fever in a very remarkable way.
• It works as a laxative.
• It improves brain function.

Eating blackberry makes us feel full of energy and vitality.

Lulo:

It is a fruit similar to tomato, its shell is yellow or orange, covered with small thorns or hair.

In our kitchen, it is a pretty iconic fruit and appreciated, with a very delicious flavor, we used to prepare juices and sauces lulo, providing some acidity that like most people. The essential benefits of lulo are:

• It is an ideal fruit to lose weight, thanks to its diuretic properties.
• It makes digestion quite easy.
• It has a very positive effect on stress and people who have insomnia.
• Collaborates in the formation of healthy hair, nails, and bones because it contains phosphorus and vitamin A.
• It favors the production of red blood cells.

If the lulo prepared in the form of juice or sauce, it left with all its properties and benefits intact. It is thus favoring the excellent health of our bodies.

Soursop:

It is an armored fruit, green, and white flesh. Its flavor is sweet.

In our kitchen, it used to make juices and milkshakes, ice cream, desserts, to eat the traditional cholado naturally, and even to make soursop-based sauces. The most significant benefits that soursop gives us are:

• It contains a high nutritional value since it is a good source of vitamin C, B1, B2, sodium, protein, potassium, pectin, glucose, fructose, and dietary fiber.
• Increase the level of energy in the body.
• Maintains good bone health.
• It helps your digestion.
• It is very healthy for the heart.
• Avoid leg cramps.
• It improves sugar levels.
• It is rich in antioxidants.
• Help to relieve insomnia and relax the body.
• It helps control weight.

Orange:

It is an orange fruit that is edible. Its shape is round, thick, often sweet, often acidic, and very juicy.

In Colombian cuisine, this ingredient used to prepare individual salads, some citrus sauces for the accompaniment of meats, and even to cook the sausage and give it a sure citrus touch at the time of cooking. Its best-known benefits are:

• It helps us prevent cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension.
• It favors the elimination of toxins.
• It acts as a diuretic.
• Reduces cholesterol levels in the blood.
• Reduce sugar levels.

Papaya:

It is a papaya fruit. It is edible, its shape is elongated, orange in color, and with many small seeds inside.

In our kitchen, it used to make juices, smoothies, salads, and healthy skewers. Thus becoming a light food, ideal for breakfast, snacks, or quick dinners. The benefits that stand out the most from papaya are:

• It is an excellent diuretic.
• Increase natural effects.
• It favors the formation of collagen.
• Activates iron absorption.
• Improves skin health, as it contains vitamin A.
• Prevents cardiovascular diseases.
• Improves constipation, thanks to its high fiber content.
• It helps the digestion of proteins.

Other ingredients :

Cereals and vegetables.

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