Figs- A Man's Fortune

A common fig or Ficus carica is an asian species of a flowering plant. It is grown in the Middle east and Western Asia and is now widely grown all over the world. The term fig is derived from Latin word "ficus" as well as "feg". Figs are sweet in taste in taste with the smoothness of its skin and the crunchiness of the seeds of fig which tastes delicious. It is recommended that fig must be eaten once a day as it is available throughout the year and grown everywhere in the world. Figs are the member of Mulberry family as it grows on the Ficus tree. The shape of fig is round with a hole in the centre which looks like an eye and is also brownish in color. Figs are usually dried either by exposure to sunlight or it maybe through an artificial process. There are even many varieties of figs like Black mission, Kadota, Calimyrna, Brown turkey and Adriatic. All of them have different kind of colors and different kind of skin or flesh. Although there are more than one hundred and fifty varieties of figs but these varieties are the most popular ones.

The common fig tree grows mostly in sunny and dry areas and also in rocky areas with deep and fresh soil. Fig plants can be propagateed by seed or by vegetative methods. The more quicker and reliable is the vegetative method as it does not yield the inedible figs. In moist conditions or climate seeds of figs germinate and once they are established, they grow rapidly. Talking about its usage, it is used in jam making. It can be eaten fresh or dried nut most commercial production is in dried forms. Fig newton or Fig roll is a biscuit which is widely produced. If figs are used in cooking then it should be soft and plump and without bruising or splits. If they smell sour then it means that the fig has become over ripe. But figs are most delicious if they are kept at room temperature.

In 2016, world production of figs were 1.05 million tonnes and Turkey, Egypt and Algeria were the largest producers which accounts for 58% of the world production. There are three types of edible figs- Persistent or common figs which have all female flowers and it do not needs pollination and its cultivars are Black mission, Brown Turkey, Brunswick and Caleste. Caducous or Smyrna figs that requires cross pollination and its cultivars are Marabout, Zidi and Inchario. The third type is Intermediate or San Pedro figs that needs pollination for the later main crop and its examples are Lampeira, King and San Pedro. Other than this, there are dozens of fig cultivars with many cropping varieties.

There are many health benefits of having figs such as- Figs contains minerals, vitamins, fibre, calcium, iron ,manganese, sodium, potassium and chlorine which is beneficial for our health. It prevents constipation as it contains high doses of fibre. The fibre in figs helps in reducing wight, thats why obese people are recommended to have figs daily. Figs contain pectin which helps in reducing the cholesterol levels. Figs also prevent from heart diseases as dried figs contain phenol, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The fibre in figs also prevents from breast cancer and even control diabetes as figs helps to reduce the amount of insulin needed by the diabetic patients. Figs are high in potassium and low in sodium so they help in preventing hypertension. As figs have high amount of calcium, so it helps in strengthening bones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis. But as we know that there are two sides of a coin so there are also some disadvantages of having figs such as- having too many figs can cause diarrhea. Dries figs can cause tooth decay as they are high in sugar. If too many figs are consumed in the first few weeks then it can lead to a surgery as they can cause bleeding in the digestive tract in sensitive people. So all these indicate that figs is a healthy food which should be eaten by the masses.