Pomegranate-Sweet Potato Salad!

Μια φωτογραφία που δημοσίευσε ο χρήστης Maria Ch4n (@nutriflavours) στις Νοέ 4, 2015, 9:52πμ PST

Sweet potato is a dicotyledonous species belonging to the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. It is a perennial crop which serves as one of the major sources of food, animal feed and industrial raw materials. It has a significant contribution as energy supplement and phytochemical source of nutrition. It is widely cultivated in the tropics, subtropics and even in some temperate zones of the developing world.
Contribution of sweet potato towards health is acknowledged due to high nutrient content and its anti-carcinogenic and cardiovascular disease preventing properties. Almost all cultivars of sweet potato are excellent source of vitamin C, B2, B6 and E, as well as dietary fibre, potassium, copper, manganese and iron, and are low in fat and cholesterol.
Sweet potato is the seventh most important crop in terms of global production. In developing countries, it ranks third in value of production and fifth in caloric contribution to the human diet. Based on the variability in flesh colour, white-fleshed to cream-fleshed sweet potato is widespread in the Pacific, whereas the yellow- to orange-fleshed sweet potato is predominantly found in the United States. (1)

Ingredients 

For Roasted Sweet potatoes
• ½ medium sweet potato
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Sweet smoked paprika
• Black pepper
• Salt

For Salad
 • 1 cup of lettuce
• 30 g Feta cheese
• ½ cup of pomegranate

For salad dressing
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Preparation 

 Preheat oven to 180oC.
1. Cut the ½ medium potato into thin strips. Drizzle the oil, salt, sweet smoked paprika and black pepper over the potatoes. Mix all the ingredients together and transfer the potatoes to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
 2. Cook for about 25-30 minutes and keep an eye on them because, you may have to turn them once or twice. When your fries are ready, take them out of the oven! Let them cool and after that transfer them into your salad bowl, which contains all the other ingredients. Drizzle with your dressing sauce and Bon appétit !

Nutrition facts: 332 kcal, 9g of proteins, 16 g of fats and 35 g carbohydrates.

 This plate is an excellent source of Vitamin A, C, K and Folic acid. Also, it contains calcium, iron, sodium and a great proportion of dietary fibers, which are beneficial to your digestive system!

*Tip of the day 

Combine your sweet potatoes with a bit of fat/ lean protein, for instance olive oil, avocado, yogurt, meat or fish, so to balance out the effect on blood glucose levels.

 Bibliography 

1. Comparative analysis of phytochemicals and nutrient availability in two contrasting cultivars of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.). Shubhendu Shekhara, b, Divya Mishraa, Alak Kumar Buragohainb, Subhra Chakrabortya, Niranjan Chakrabortya,. s.l. : Food Chemistry, 15 April 2015, Vol. 173. Pages 957–965.

Arbutus unedo-Strawberry Tree

Μια φωτογραφία που δημοσίευσε ο χρήστης Maria Ch4n (@nutriflavours) στις Νοέ 3, 2015, 9:12πμ PST

Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.; Ericaceae family) is an evergreen shrub, a native Mediterranean species that is also cultivated in other regions of Eastern Europe . Its fruits are spherical, about 2 cm in diameter, dark red, and tasty only when fully ripe in autumn. A. unedo berries are rarely eaten as fresh fruits, but have some importance in local agricultural communities where they are used for the production of alcoholic beverages, jams, jellies and marmalades . 
The fruits are also used in folk medicine as antiseptics, diuretics and laxatives, while the leaves have long been employed as an astringent, diuretic, urinary anti-septic agent and, more recently, in the therapy of hypertension and diabetes . Together with its traditional applications, the wide range of antioxidants in strawberry tree fruit, such as phenolic compounds (e.g. anthocyanins, gallic acid derivatives and tannins ), vitamin C, vitamin E and carotenoids , suggest a potentially high value as a “health promoting food”. (1)
As it is noted in another study, its carbohydrate-rich fruits have a high fructose content and provide 400 kcal per 100 g of dry weight. Total antioxidant activity of strawberry tree fruits was found to be one of the highest of 28 fruits analysed by García-Alonso et al. (2004). The preventive effect of these compounds in chronic health disorders, such as cancer and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, supports the promotion of their consumption as a healthy food.

Nevertheless, their short optimum period of consumption has probably hampered their commercialization as a fresh product, as well as this species’ cultivation by large-scale agriculturalists. Strawberry tree fruits only reach a really pleasant flavour if consumed slightly overripe, when their high tannin content decreases and sugar content increases. Therefore, they spoil easily and are delicate to transport. 

However, the fruits could be easily preserved by freezing or other processing techniques, extending fruit availability beyond harvest time. Although, it is stressed the fact that these fruits at an advanced stage of maturity are popularly said to cause signs of drunkenness, probably due to their high fermentable sugar content, but they haven’t found any scientific reference to their ethanol content. New potential uses of strawberry tree fruits in the food industry have recently been studied. Alarcão-E-Silva et al. (2001) suggested their possible application as fruit pieces in yoghurt, pie and pastry filling or cereal products. This last category could include energy bars or breakfast cereals. Ganhão et al. (2010) found that the addition of fruit extracts as a functional ingredient in processed meat products prevented protein oxidation. Strawberry tree fruits could also be used as a food colorant, considering their content of β-carotene and anthocyanins. (2)

 Bibliography 

1. Antioxidant Properties and Neuroprotective Capacity of Strawberry Tree Fruit (Arbutus unedo). Sofia Fortalezas, 1 Lucélia Tavares,1 Rui Pimpão,1 Meenu Tyagi,1 Vera Pontes,1 Paula M. Alves,2 Gordon McDougall,3 Derek Stewart,3 Ricardo B. Ferreira,1,4 and Cláudia N. Santos1,*. s.l. : Nutrients, 2010. 

2. Fruit production of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) in two Spanish forests. María Molina1, Manuel Pardo-De-Santayana2, Laura Aceituno1, Ramón Morales3 and Javier Tardío1,*. s.l. : Oxford Journals, 2011.