Health and nutrition: can tropical fruits become local specialties?

by Domenico Gangemi, Giuseppe Scarlata, Maria Chiara Rosace, Antonino Napoleone | December 20, 2020

Christmas is the most important time of the year for reuniting with family and loved ones. Italians are particularly devoted to traditions and good food, the time spent cooking and eating are also special moments of sharing, especially during holidays. Due to the ongoing pandemic, many families will be forced to celebrate Christmas at a distance this year. In order to shorten this distance, numerous food packages are shipped every day from every corner of Italy, with the aim of reaching distant relatives (for more information, see “Preparing and shipping home-made food packages:a consumer survey and useful tips”).

During holidays, dinners and lunches are well planned in advance in order to meet everyone’s needs and be able to cook increasingly elaborate and international recipes. This tendency to replicate dishes and get ingredients of different origins has led some Italian families to break away from the usual regional traditions and the use of local products, favoring the import of food produced and packaged thousands of kilometers away. Nevertheless, many Italian regions offer unique ingredients and typical products that, despite their uniqueness and beneficial effects on health, are not well known outside the regions where they are produced. Furthermore, for those people with particularly exotic preferences, who do not want to renounce to new fruit flavours, some areas of Southern Italy offer an ideal microclimate to produce characteristic tropical fruits that are widely cultivated and harvested, despite the lower winter temperatures. ScienceRely wants to let you explore more about these “exotically local” products, reporting on their curiosities, nutritional values and health benefits.

Cherimoya (common “Anona”)

Firstly, we would like to start our discussion talking about a characteristic exotic fruit cultivated only in some regions of Southern Italy: the cherimoya. The genus Annona includes about 60 species, and A. cherimola is the most famous one. This plant is native to South America and was imported to Calabria (a Southern Italian region) in 1797. Today, the cherimoya produced in the town of Reggio Calabria is a De.c.o. product (from the Italian “Denominazione comunale d’origine”, i.e. Municipal Denomination of Origin, an award granted by the local municipal administration to a product, usually closely linked to the territory and its community).

The area where it is possible to cultivate the cherimoya ranges from the area of Reggio Calabria to Bagnara Calabra, and also includes areas of eastern Sicily.The plant can reach a maximum of two meters in height, it flowers from May to August and the fruit is ready to be collected from the end of September to December.The fruit is green, it has a skin covered in scales and its flesh is light white, with black seeds. The flesh has a creamy, ice-cream-like consistency and can be eaten by cutting the fruit in half and collecting it with a teaspoon (the green skin remains and act as an ice-cream cup and can be considered a perfect dessert for Christmas dinner, see Figure 1).

The cherimoya provides 78 kcal/100 grams. It is rich in sugars, a small percentage of which is fiber, as well as vitamins and minerals, but it is low in fat. Vitamin C, vitamins B6 and B12 and a typical polyphenol, anonacin, provide the fruit with important antioxidant properties, which help to prevent cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the vitamins act as cofactors for an optimal functioning of the immune system. The balanced sodium-potassium ratio within the fruit helps facilitating a good control of heart rate and blood pressure. Thanks to these properties the fruit is also known as ‘sweet aspirin’. The sodium content also facilitates diuresis. The presence of calcium prevents bone decalcification and the development of osteoporosis. The phosphorus content improves concentration and attention levels. Fiber, which is also present in the fruits that will be mentioned later in this article, ensures physiological intestinal transit. Thanks to its nutrient’s contents, cherimoya also reduces nausea during pregnancy and facilitates weaning of lactating children.

Avocado

The avocado is native to a large area of Central America. In Italy, the first regions to cultivate avocado were Sicily and Sardinia.The fruit is pear-shaped, with a weight ranging from 100 to 1000 g. It has a large central seed reaching 3-5 cm in diameter. The flesh is yellow-green or pale yellow, the skin can be green or purplish, smooth or wrinkled (see Figure 2).

The avocado is not rich in sugars, but it is a high-calorie fruit (over 200 Kcal/100 grams) as it contains a high percentage of ‘good’ fats. Omega 3 protects the cardiovascular system and nervous system through its cholesterol-lowering effect.In addition to the antioxidant action of vitamins C and A, also vitamin K and vitamin E play a similar role. Particularly, vitamin E is one of the vitamins with the most powerful antioxidant effect, reducing free radicals and the risk of cancer. Vitamin B9 (folic acid) also prevents the development of neurological disorders in the fetus during pregnancy (spina bifida). The presence of vitamins C, A and E, which support the production of collagen (essential constituent of the dermis) provides protection from the sun. Avocados are also rich in fiber, facilitating intestinal transit and the feeling of fullness after meals. The potassium content, which is higher than that of bananas, together with magnesium and other minerals, helps to reduce dehydration. The high quantity of vegetable fats in avocados also makes them suitable for use in cosmetics. The oil is obtained by extraction and it is recommended for use in case of dry or rough skin. The distribution of fatty acids, characteristic of avocado oil, makes it capable of restoring the hydrolipidic film of the skin.

Bergamot

Bergamot, Citrus bergamia (Figure 3) belongs to the Rutaceae family, which is grown almost exclusively along the Calabria region coast. This citrus fruit is greenish yellow in color, round in shape and flattened at the poles, and grows in mild climates, as is the case in Calabria. Prolonged exposure to sunlight and sea winds during cultivation allows bergamot trees to grow up to four meters in height. Bergamot is made up of about 80% water, with an average intake of about 42 kcal/100 g. It is also rich in vitamins A, C, potassium, sodium, calcium and iron. The essential oil of bergamot extracted from its peel is composed of components that have been extensively analysed in in vitro studies from the neuroprotective, antiproliferative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumour points of view. Confident of the quality of this Calabrian citrus fruit, the Università degli Studi “Magna Graecia” of Catanzaro conducted a study on the antimicrobial action of distilled bergamot extract using in vitro and confocal microscopy assays. The data showed that the distilled extract of bergamot, compared to its essential oil, is more effective against Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria that are multi-resistant to pharmacological treatment (e.g. Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia) and responsible for hospital-acquired infections, making it a serious problem for public health worldwide. Similar studies highlight the various properties of this product made in Calabria, such as its ability to prevent microbial contamination.

Conclusions

In Southern Italy, climatic conditions are particularly favourable to the growth of tropical fruits.  At the same time, costumer’s desire to find and buy quality products with nutritional properties and, above all, a lower environmental impact, is growing. The production of quality, healthy and sustainable products must be the primary objective of modern agriculture, especially when it comes to tropical fruits.  

This is the case of the Italian farm Anoneto Bilardi, which has been passionately committed to the production, processing, and trade of these fruits in the province of Reggio Calabria for over 30 years. When it comes to food and sustainability, it is important to choose with awareness, and medical sciences, not the media, are always there to remind us: we can make a difference even with the food we eat.

The editorial staff of ScienceRely would like to thank the Bilardi brothers for their active collaboration with the project to promote research and scientific communication, and for their contributions to the finalisation of this extract.

References:

1. https://www.portaledelverde.it/enciclopedia/piante-da-frutto/frutti-tropicali-e-sub-tropicali/anona/#close
2. https://www.repubblica.it/sapori/2020/03/09/news/emporio_prodotto_annona_calabrese-250692985/
3. https://rivistafrutticoltura.edagricole.it/frutta/colture-tropicali-clima-mediterraneo-mango-made-italy/
4. https://www.humanitas.it/enciclopedia/alimenti/frutta/bergamotto/
5. Quirino A. et al., In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Natural Essence and Distilled Extract of Bergamot against Drug Resistance Clinical Isolates. Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, 01(s3). https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0412.s3-007