Do you like blogs that talk about antioxidant fruit?  Below are 7 must-visit fruit blogs:

1. City Fruit blog – http://cityfruit.org/blog/

The City Fruit blog is about an organization based in Seattle, Washington area that was formed in 2008. The goal of City Fruit was to bring the community closer with a holistic model that centers on growing fruit, sharing the harvest and training.

2. The Fruit Blog – http://thefruitblog.blogspot.com/

This blog is about breeding fruits and other fruit-related topics. From news to personal experience, the Evil Fruit Lord gives his two cents on fruity topics and encourages its readers to do the same.

3. The Queen of Tarts – http://blog.oregonfruit.com/

This blog is sponsored by the Oregon Fruit Company.  It includes Healthy eating tips, How To Videos, recipes and more!

4. Fruit Species – http://fruitspecies.blogspot.com/

This blog focuses on fruit that is common and also rare and exotic fruit throughout the world.

5. Fresh Fruit Daily – http://www.fresh-fruit-daily.com/fresh-fruit-blog.html

Fresh Fruit Daily features a number of things fruit related: recipes, muffins, fondue, pie, pizza, salsa, and more!

6. The Fruit Company – http://blog.thefruitcompany.com/

This is the official blog of The Fruit Company, which is a company that does fresh fruit baskets and more.  These folks really know fruit!

7. Nuts About Fruit – http://www.nutsaboutfruit.blogspot.com/

This blog sponsored by Frieda’s Inc is all about exotic, specialty and tropical fruit.

What fruit blogs do you follow?

Elderberry

Just like other known herbal plants, elderberry is professed to have lots of elderberry benefits to humankind. However, some were not yet supported by scientists. Its flowers, leaves, stems and bark of its elder plant are already being widely used for medical reasons. This is because most of the people believed that elderberry has medicinal powers.

To provide an elderberry description, this plant is actually a large shrub which thrives in locations where there is much exposure to sunlight. It comes from an elder plant, and is known to be an indigenous to Europe, Asia and Africa. It is also grown in parts of United States. One can be able to identify its elder flower through its distinguishing five-ray flowers colored white, and is observed to have five to seven group of leaves which grows opposite from each other. Their berries begin to grow as color green, after which it develops to color red and lastly becomes black once they are ripe.

Benefits of elderberry are numerous. It helps in the alleviation of several health problems which are based on research since 1615 in France. Its users at that time reported of health problems and this plant is their topmost recommended healing expert plant. It is very effective in the treatment of colds, sinus infections and flu. According to a prominent Medical Center University in Maryland, elderberry’s extracts can eliminate, if not, kill strains of a certain virus called H1N1 or better known as swine flu.

Although it seems silly to talk about fruits for 2010, it is also appropriate as everyone seems to be covering what the top foods are for 2010.  As a fruit website, we thought we’d cover the top fruits for 2010!

Whether you are dieting or just trying to eat more healthy in 2010, then there is no doubt that you want to include a  number of different fruits in your diet.  Antioxidant fruits provide vitamins, minerals and fiber.  In addition to these essential nutrients, they also have disease fighting compounds. 

Disease Fighting Compounds in Fruit:

• Lycopene (a chemical that gives fruit a red color)
• Reservatrol (Found in red grapes)
• Anthocyanin (Found in blueberries, blackberries, kiwis and cherries)

When you choose fruits for 2010, you have a reduced risk of diabetes, chronic medical conditions, like diabetes, high cholestrol and high blood pressure.  Also, regular consumption of fruit reduces your risk for heart disease, strokes and certain types of cancer.

Fruits are easy to come by in your grocery store.  If they aren’t in season, sometimes you can find them in your freezer section.  Or you can always wait until they are in season and them freeze them so that you can have them when they are not in season.

Since fruit is easy to prepare, it shouldn’t be terribly difficult to incorporate it into your diet.  You can serve it raw, blended, baked or grilled.  It is the perfect compliment to a yogurt snack or for a topping on your favorite ice cream or cereal. 

Tell us how you will incorporate fruit in your diet for 2010 by leaving a comment below.

Post by Jenny Dean

If you are like me, then you love when it is pomegranate season.  However, it can be difficult sometimes to know how to get pomegranate seeds out of the pomegranate.

My father called me the other day and said that he had seen a special on TV about how to get pomegranate seeds out fast.  So I decided to look on YouTube and see what I can find.  Please check out the video below.  It shows you how to get pomegranate seeds out in less than 5 minutes. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

The instructions from the video are as follows:

1. Cut the pomegranate in half
2. Make 4-5 slits around the outside portion each half
3. Gently open the pomegranate at the slits.
4. Get out a clean bowl.
5. Cup the pomegranate in your hand (cut portion on your palm) with your fingers spread apart over the bowl.  With the other hand,  use something sturdy and hard, like the handle of a screwdriver or the handle of a knife) to hit the seeds out of the pomegranate.  It is best to sort of rotate the pomegranate in your hand, so that it is hit evenly.   Then the seeds will fall into the bowl that is under your hand.

The video offers some additional tips:

• Wear dark clothing when doing this as a pomegrante’s juice will stain your clothes
• You might want to place the bowl in a sink to reduce any mess.
• Wash your hands with a bit of lemon juice to prevent stains.

My usual approach with de-seeding a pomegranate has been to cut it in  half.  Put it in a bowl of cold water and then emerge my hands in the cold water.  Then I start to peel away all the flesh of the pomegranate and then just let the seeds drop to the bottom of the bowl and the little pieces of flesh float to the top.  That way it is easy to collect the little flesh pieces all at once.  You can see this method here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you have additional tips on how to seed a pomegranate?  Please leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Antioxidant Fruits:
Benefits, Uses & Availability

Antioxidant fruits seem to be all the rage these days.

As children, we were told to eat our fruit and vegetables. In fact, the USDA recommends 3-5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. However, most of us don’t get that in a day or even in a week! It is very important you for you consume your serving portion of antioxidant fruits every day.

Antioxidant-Fruits.com is for those who are looking to learn more about well-known as well as exotic and unusual fruits with antioxidants and for those of you that are looking for one or more of the following:

• Protects Cells
• Strengthens Memory
• Fights Cellular Mutation
• Inhibits Platelet Aggregation and Clotting
• Helps Digestion
• Combats Effects of Diabetes
• Strengthens Vision
• Increases Mental Clarity
• Help Prostate
• Strengthens the Heart
• Provides Essential Fatty Acids
• Stabilizes Proper Cholesterol
• Scavengers for Free Radicals
• Strengthens Cell Membrane
• Builds Proteins
• Restores Antioxidant Number
• Strengthens Nervous System
• Provides Essential Oils
• Fights Viruses
• Fights Bacteria
• Impedes NRS Free Radicals
• Relives Inflammation
• Helps Reduce Risk of Cancer
• Enhances Cellular Communication
• Strengthens Immune System

Antioxidant Fruits include:

• Beta-carotene
• Lutein
• Lycopene
• Selenium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E

People who eat fruit rich in polyphenols and anthocyanins have a lower risk of cancer, heart disease and some neurological diseases. Antioxidants inhibit oxidative damage. “Scientists now believe that free radicals are casual factors in nearly every known disease, from heart disease to arthritis to cancer to cataracts. In fact, free radicals are a major culprit in the aging process itself,” stated Lester Packer, Ph.D., in his article, “The Antioxidants Miracle”.

While the açaí berry is the gemstone of antioxidant fruits, this website also features other super fruits selected for their distinctive and beneficial properties. Recognizable fruits such as apricots, bananas, blueberries, cranberries, kiwi, pears, pomegranates, prunes, purple grapes, and white grapes, contain a unique blend of nutrients, minerals, and antioxidants.

There are, of course, more exotic and less known fruits that accentuate the power of the açaí berry: acerola cherries, aronia berries, bilberries, camu camus, lychees, nashi pears, passion fruit, and wolfberries (Goji).

The Acerola Cherry from Brazil is used for its high content of vitamin C. There are other great forms of cherry, like Tart Cherry Juice.

The Aronia Berry, a native American bush, has been reported to contain antioxidants, polyphenols, minerals and vitamins and very high levels (over five times greater than those found in cranberries) of anthocyanins and flavonoids.

The Bilberry’s strong antioxidant fruits composition makes it an excellent free radical scavenger, which helps counteract cell damage that leads to premature aging and disease. Bilberries have been used in the treatment of menstrual cramps, alleviating ulcers, varicose veins and angina. The flavonoids found in bilberries thin the blood and prevent fragility of the capillaries.

The Camu camu is an antioxidant fruits found throughout the Amazon has the highest recorded amount of natural vitamin C known on the planet. It is a significant source of potassium and has a full complement of minerals and amino acids that can aid in the absorption of vitamin C.

The Lychee, originating in South China, is a very good source of Vitamin C, riboflavin, potassium and copper.

The Nashi Pear, originating in East Asia, is a great source of dietary fiber, and also are very high in potassium and other essential minerals.

Native to Brazil, the Passion Fruit is an antioxidant fruits that is a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as potassium and iron.

Lastly, the Wolfberry, native of China, contains 19 types of amino acids and 21 trace minerals. It has more beta-carotene than carrots and nearly as much Vitamin C as oranges and protein as bee pollen.

These fruits are extremely rich in antioxidants among other essential elements. These strong antioxidants go to battle against free-radical molecules that invade the body, helping to combat premature aging and even help prevent many serious diseases.

This website looks at the benefits, uses and availability of these fruits. It not only examines individual fruits, where to get them, where to travel to find them, but also a number of recipes and various ideas on how to add them to your diet. Should you have another suggestion for this website, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Ah, the ever popular purple grapes.  Surely, they has had a long reputation for improving health.  All grapes contain resveratrol, an antioxidant that is found in red wine and other grape products.  The juice contains a high flavonoid content which can help protect the body from cardiovascular disease.

Some nutritional benefits are:

• Resveratrol
• Proanthocyanins
• Flavonoids

They can help with:

• Aging
• Cardiovascular Problems
• Eye Problems

A study done in Greece found that grapes still uphold their reputation for protective power through antioxidants. The study showed how the formation of cancer cells was inhibited by the extracts from grapes. Those extracts limit the activity of certain types of free radicals.

How Purple Grapes fight cancer

Oregon Grapes by Alex Skelly

ANTIOXIDANT FRUITS

• Antioxidant Fruits
• Acai Berry and Cancer
• Acai Berry and Sex
• Acai Berry
• Acai Fruit
• Acai Links
• Acai Recipes
• History of Acai
• Acerola Cherry
• Anti-Aging
• Antioxidants in Tart Cherries
• Apple
• Apricot
• Aronia Berry and Cancer
• Aronia Berry Recipes
• Aronia Berry Uses
• Aronia Berry
• Aronia Plant Description
• Banana
• Moist Banana Bread Recipe
• Banana Nutrition Facts
• Bilberry
• Blackberry
• Blood Pressure Control
• Benefits of Antioxidants
• Blueberry Tart
• Blueberry
• Camu Camu
• Cherry
• Concord Grape
• Cranberry
• Dried Fruit
• Exercise and Fruit
• Freeze Dried Fruit
• Kiwi Fruit
• Lychee
• Nashi Pear (Asian Pear)
• ORAC Value
• Order Antioxidant Juice
• Passion Fruit Names
• Passion Fruit
• Pear
• Pick Pears
• Phytonutrients
• Pomagranite
• Pomegranate
• Prunes
• White Grapes
• Wolfberry