A produce reference guide to fruits and vegetables from around the world - Donald D Heaton

A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World: Nature?s Harvest answers the many questions consumers have about various fruits and vegetables. Providing basic, clear, and understandable information for each produce item, this reference guide gives you a synopsis of the fruit or vegetable, a short history of the item, the common and uncommon name, what it looks and tastes like, how it is used, and the time of year it is available. Information on nutrition, serving sizes, yields, and optimal storage conditions is also provided. From potatoes to shepherd?s purse and from grapes to the Clementine tangor, A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World covers both the familiar and the exotic. Other than the obvious fruits and vegetables (such as 12 varieties of cherries and 10 different kinds of squash) you?ll also read about herbs, mushrooms, sprouts, and nuts.

A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World is packed with useful information. From practical advice to interesting trivia, some of the things you?ll learn include:

• You should not eat any green parts of potatoes--it will make you sick.
• How to classify a peach--clingstone vs. freestone and white vs. yellow.
• The Texas 1015 Supersweet onion is named after its recommended planting date, October 15.
• Kiwis (originally from China, not Australia) contain an enzyme that tenderizes meat.
• Women in China once made a dye from the skin of eggplants to stain their teeth black.
• The famous mutiny by Captain Bligh?s crew was caused by breadfruit.
• Gourds may have spread between continents by floating in the ocean, as they can float in sea water for 220 days without losing seed viability.
• The two nuts mentioned in the Bible--almonds and pistachios.
  
  As new methods in farming, storing, and shipping are allowing exotic fruits and vegetables unheard of a few years ago to becom