Fig Tree

Description:

The fig tree is the symbol of abundance, fertility, and sweetness. Figs made their first commercial product appearance in the 1892 introduction of Fig Newtons® Cookies. (See http://www.nabiscoworld.com/newtons/.) For many years the fig has been used as a coffee substitute. The fruit contains a proteolytic enzyme that is considered an aid to digestion and is used by the pharmaceutical industry. And, because of its high alkalinity it has been mentioned as being beneficial to persons wishing to quit smoking. Figs contain a natural humectant -- a chemical that will extend freshness and moistness in baked products. A chemical found in figs, Psoralen, has been used for thousands of years to treat skin pigmentation diseases. Psoralen, which occurs naturally in figs, some other plants and fungi, is a skin sensitizer that promotes tanning in the sun. Figs provide more fiber than any other common fruit or vegetable. The fiber in figs is both soluble and insoluble. Both types of fiber are important for good health. Figs have nutrients especially important for today's busy lifestyles. One quarter-cup serving of dried figs provides 5 grams of fiber -- 20% of the recommended Daily Value. That serving also adds 6% of iron, 6% of calcium, and 7% of the Daily Value for potassium. And, they have no fat, no sodium, and no cholesterol. Recent research has shown that California Figs also have a high quantity of polyphenol antioxidants. Although considered a fruit, the fig is actually a flower that is inverted into itself. The seeds are drupes or the real fruit. http://californiafigs.com/about_figs.php...

Notes:

Along with the rush for gold, American settlers brought a wide variety of figs to California, and by 1867 there were over 1,000 acres of fig trees in the Sacramento Valley and 35 acres in the San Joaquin Valley. The most popular variety, the White Adriatic fig, was planted in a 27-acre orchard in Fresno as early as 1885, and produced the first carload of dried figs shipped by rail to the east in 1889.