Page 14 - ARUBA TODAY

A14 LOCAL
Friday 18 august 2017
Fruit Loose & Veggie Boost

ORANJESTAD - Fresh fruits spending your vacation on
make a tropical holiday’s Aruba. The sea grape plant Shimaruku
picture complete. Whether is often used in ocean-side Maybe Aruba’s most popu-
you see the mango’s hang- landscaping in sandy soil lar wild fruit tree. You may
ing on the trees or the fresh right on the beach and it have noticed cars at the
fruit cocktail on the side produces clusters of fruit side of the road and peo-
table of your pool bed, the that resemble grapes. Are ple picking those red ber-
link is made: you are in the sea grapes edible? Yes, ries. Well, that’s Shimaruku.
tropics. Aruba grows her they are. Animals enjoy sea The local habit to stop for
own fruits and veggies and grapes and humans can these delicious fruits goes
there are some pretty out- eat them as well, and they from generation to genera-
of-space local species you are used to make jam. They tion. Its fruit’s degree of sour
may never had heard of, contain very low calories depends on the amount
but really healthy and deli- and sugar, enabling good of rain it gets. Red Shima-
cious. bacterium to digest food rukus tend to taste better
and excrete waste quickly than orange. The fruit has
Mispel which is effective in pre- super power: a true vi-
This is a fruit with a charac- venting constipation. Sea- tamin bomb. Adults only
ter (5-10 cm/2-4 inches). son: Sep-Oct. need to eat 3-4 of these
It does not ripe until it is berries to meet their daily
picked or falls off the tree. recommended amount of
Mispel is hard with a sand- Vitamin C. Season: Rainy
paper like texture when months (Oct-Jan).
immature, soft and juicy
when ripe. It’s technically When it comes to veggies
a berry, but contains a skin the island certainly offers
similar to that of a kiwi. It’s a home-grown selection.
grainy and sweet, with a They taste delicious and
light, musky flavor. The sap have their specific talents
or gum from the tree is also to boost your immune sys-
a source of ‘chicle’ the tem. Start the day with a
original ingredient used to ‘batida’ (smoothie) en-
make chewing gum. Rich in riched with a local veggie
tannins, antioxidants shown touch or select your restau-
to contain anti-inflamma- rant that offers local vege-
tory compounds, and vita- table dishes to get the real
min C, essential for healthy pure taste of it.
immune function. Season:
year- round. Konkomberchiquito
This is a sort of local squash,
Druif but looks like a cucumber
There is no chance you with prickly skin. The taste
did not bump into one of however is bitterer than the
the sea grape trees while cucumber and the vegeta-
ble is smaller in size but big-
ger in width. Inside is a soft,
fleshy pulp and seeds, just
like the cucumber. Konk-
omber chiquito is grown in
the island and used in sal-
ads and ‘stoba’ (stew) or
on its own in vinegar. The
veggie contains multiple B
vitamins, including vitamin
B1, vitamin B5, and vitamin
B7 (biotin). B vitamins are
known to help ease feel-
ings of anxiety and buffer
some of the damaging ef-
fects of stress. Additionally
this veggie is rich in two of
the most basic elements
needed for healthy diges-
tion: water and fiber. Sea-
son: year- round.

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