Essay On Citrus Fruits

Although they were first originated in Southern Asia and the far land Australia, citrus fruits are now grown worldwide. Currently only orange production is about 70 million metric tons a year! We all see orange colored citrus fruits during this season of the year, especially in the months when most of us experience common cold and flu. I am sure most of you consume these fruits for their vitamin C content, but there is more and less than that.

Oranges, tangerines, pomelos, grapefruits, lemons, and limes are the members of citrus fruit family. They are cultivated in great amounts all around the world for not just only being sweet and juicy but also for their health benefits. When it comes to health citrus fruits do actually give us more than Vitamin C. They are rich in flavonoids which has been shown to inhibit cancer growth, phytochemicals, and wide variety of vitamins. If we take orange as the major example for this family you can see that beneficial numbers are surprising.

Researchers recently have associated healing powers of oranges with their phytochemical compounds that we were not aware earlier. These special compunds include the flavonoids such as hesperetin, naringenin, anthocyanins, and hydroxycinnamic acids. When these compunds were studied, significant antioxidant properties and health benefits were found. Especially hesperentin and naringenin were found to be the most important ones. Resaerch has shown that hesperentin and naringenin helped to reduce high blood pressure and lower bad cholesterol LDL. In addition to these effects, they also showed strong anti-inflammatory properties. But surprisingly research has shown that these compound are found in the white pulp and the peel of this fruit instead of the liquid center. Now, you know eating oranges would be more beneficial than drinking it juice! Get the fiber and phytonutrients by eating them with its peel and