Nutrition Guide
56 fruits with vitamins, minerals and expert dietary tips — curated by Dr. V Nandhini, Mylapore Chennai
Granny Smith, Royal Gala, Golden Delicious and Pink Lady are just a few of the thousands of different kinds of apple grown around the world! You can make dried apple rings at home — core, thinly slice and bake at a low heat.
Apricots can be eaten fresh or dried — both are packed with vitamins! Fresh apricots have a soft and slightly furry skin and make a great lunchbox snack. High in beta-carotene which helps keep eyes and skin healthy.
Sometimes called an avocado pear, it is often mistaken for a vegetable. Avocados are a good source of essential healthy fats — one of the few fruits that contain fat. Simply halve, remove stone and eat with salad dressing.
A great source of energy, rich in potassium which is important for cells, nerves and muscles. Helps lower blood pressure. Can be eaten raw, baked, dried or in a smoothie. Try mashing with yoghurt or on brown toast!
A native of Britain, North America and Africa, the blackberry is a member of the rose family. Not a true berry but a collection of drupelets. A climber plant high in Vitamin C.
First cultivated in Italy and named after the city of Cantalupo. Has a hard scaly rind and should be football-shaped or almost round. Excellent source of Vitamin A, high in Vitamin C and magnesium.
Cherries are stone fruits like apricots. A cherry tree can produce fruit for 100 years! Grow from stalks in pairs. Sweet varieties like Bing are nicest on their own or in fruit salad. Sour ones like Morello are tastier cooked.
The smallest of the tangerines. The skin peels easily and the segments contain no pips. Naturally sweet and aromatic. Often eaten at Christmas. Citrus fruits are an excellent source of Vitamin C.
Has thick scaly skin and a soft, smooth flesh with inedible seeds. Allow 4–5 days for firm fruit to ripen fully. Good source of Vitamin C, fibre, magnesium and potassium.
The fruit of the date palm tree, widely grown in Egypt and California. Dried dates make a super sweet natural snack. They can be chopped and sprinkled on cereal as a healthy substitute for sugar or honey.
Despite its strong smell, the ripe flesh is considered the most delicious of tropical fruits. Eaten fresh and chilled. The rich custardy flesh can also be used for ice cream, milkshakes, jam and cakes.
Small, almost black berries that grow on bushes in summer. Not good eaten raw but delicious cooked with other fruits in pies or used to make jam. ⚠️ Never eat the leaves — only cook berries after checking with an expert.
Soft, sweet fruits full of small seeds, often eaten dried. Fresh figs are delicious and excellent for jams and chutneys. The skin is very thin; ripe figs do not keep well, so in warm countries they are dried for preservation.
A member of the Saxifrage family, botanically a berry. Varieties range from green, white, yellow and red to almost black when ripe. All can be picked young and cooked when green. High in Vitamins A and C.
Grapes grow in bunches on vines, sweet, juicy and jelly-like inside. Green grapes are dried to make sultanas; purple/black grapes are dried to make raisins. Red grape juice is especially delicious and antioxidant-rich.
One of the largest citrus fruits — a cross between the pomelo and the shaddock. High in Vitamin C. Best eaten raw as a traditional breakfast fruit — cut in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
Widely grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Round to pear-shaped with thin skin that turns yellow when ripe. Flesh can be white or pink with edible seeds. Contains lots of beta-carotene (Vitamin A) and Vitamin C.
Honeydew melons grow on trailing vines along the ground. There are thousands of different kinds of melon — all with a hard outside you cannot eat and a juicy sweet inside. Very refreshing as a summer snack.
When unripe, both seeds and flesh are eaten as a vegetable. Ripe fruit may be eaten on its own or added to fruit salad. One of the largest tree fruits in the world, with a sweet, tropical flavour.
Hairy on the outside and soft in the middle. One of the only fruits to be green when ripe. One kiwi contains all the Vitamin C you need for a whole day — helping your body heal cuts, bruises and fight colds.
The name means "golden orange" in Chinese. Often preserved in sweet syrup and used for marmalade and garnishes. Fresh kumquats are delicious in fruit salads or eaten just as they are — skin and all!
Explorer Christopher Columbus carried lemons on his ships — Vitamin C prevented his sailors from getting scurvy. Squeeze the juice, mix with water and a little sugar for a zingy refreshing drink.
Limes are green because they are picked unripe — left to ripen they turn yellow. The juice is more acidic than lemon so usually less is needed. To make juice flow more easily, microwave for 2–3 seconds before squeezing.
Fresh lychees are best eaten raw as a refreshing end to a meal. Simply remove the shells, then nibble or suck the flesh off the stone. Rich in Vitamin C and makes a beautiful tropical dessert.
Mangoes come in different shapes and sizes. Peel off the skin to eat the soft, juicy flesh inside. They grow best in hot countries like India and Malaysia. There are more than 2,500 different kinds of mango in the world!
Named after the city of Tangier in Morocco. A citrus variety of orange. Always choose deep orange to orange-red fruits, heavy for size with bright lustre. Loose skin is normal. Avoid fruits with punctures or mould.
Despite its name, the mangosteen doesn't resemble or taste like the mango. It resembles an apple with a short stem and four thick leaf-like bracts forming a rosette around the brownish-purple fruit.
Many types — honeydew, cantaloupe and galia. Flesh comes in different colours: orange (cantaloupe, high in beta-carotene), pale-green (honeydew) and deeper green (galia). Very refreshing as a snack in summer!
Although a type of fungus (not a fruit or vegetable), mushrooms still count as one of your 5 A DAY. Tasty on toast with scrambled egg and grilled tomato. ⚠️ Only buy from shops — picking wild mushrooms can be dangerous.
A type of peach with a thin smooth skin and firm flesh. The peach has a furrier skin but tastes almost exactly the same. Handle gently — they can bruise easily and the fruit will spoil where the bruise is.
A nut is actually a fruit or seed of a fruit. All have a hard dry shell around a kernel. The brain needs protein to grow — nuts are excellent! A Brazil nut tree can live for 500 years! ⚠️ Avoid if allergic; not suitable for children under 5.
Olives are fruits that grow on trees. If green olives are left on the tree, they turn black. They come in many sizes and flavours — try lots of different ones to find your favourite. Wonderful on pizza or in salads.
One of the most popular fruits in the world! Oranges grow best in Spain and Italy. A glass of pure orange juice counts as one of your 5 A DAY. Try cutting into quarters and freezing for a healthy icy treat!
Also called pawpaw. The ripe flesh can be juicy, creamy, orange-red or yellow. Large peppery black seeds are edible and sometimes used as a spice. Excellent as a breakfast fruit or dessert. Good for digestion.
The most popular variety is the purple passionfruit, about the size of a chicken egg. Highly fragrant, sweet but slightly tart. Spoon out fresh, add to fruit salad, pavlova, ice cream, sorbets or desserts.
Usually sold by flesh colour — yellow or white. White peaches are believed by many to have the finer flavour. Delicious eaten on their own or in fruit salad. They are from the same family as cherries and plums.
From the same family as apples but softer. Can be yellow, green, reddish or brown on the outside — all have white, juicy flesh inside. One of the best-loved English pears is called Conference.
Originally from Japan, now widely grown worldwide. Resembles a tomato — round and smooth, changing from yellow to red when ripe. Eat as a dessert in fruit salads, in baking or in preserves.
It can take two years to grow a pineapple! This rough, spiky fruit is made up of lots of smaller fruits joined together. Named by early explorers who thought it looked like a pine cone. Excellent source of Vitamin C and manganese.
An exotic-looking fruit about the size of a large apple, with thin tough golden to deep red skin filled with edible seeds in crimson pulp. Cut in half, scoop out seeds and eat fresh or use as a garnish on sweet and savoury dishes.
A small citrus tree native to tropical Asia. Similar to grapefruit but larger with a very thick rind that comes off readily. The flesh varies from yellow to pink and is generally sweeter and less tart than grapefruit.
From the same family as the pear, but cannot be eaten raw. Slices taste lovely in an apple crumble. Quince smells of perfume when cooked, which is why some people also use it as an air freshener for their home!
Nearly half of all the world's raisins come from California. Made by drying black grapes in the sun. Sultanas are made the same way but with green grapes. Mini boxes of raisins are perfect for packed lunches.
Grows in clusters with deep crimson outer skin. The translucent flesh surrounds a pale edible seed when young. Related to lychees and sometimes called "hairy lychees". Best eaten on their own or added to salads.
Used in Asia long before it was eaten in Britain. Can be mixed with sweeter fruit like apple for lovely pies and crumbles. ⚠️ Do not eat the leaves — they are poisonous! Only the stalks are edible.
A tropical fruit with rough, brown skin but sweet and luscious inside — like vanilla-flavoured banana custard. Make sure the fruit is soft and thoroughly ripe as unripe flesh can be quite bitter.
Satsumas, clementines and mandarins are all different names for types of tangerine. Grow on trees in warm weather. The juiciest ones are the heaviest ones. Try to take the peel off in one piece!
Green to purple with smooth skin. When sliced horizontally, the translucent white flesh shows seeds forming a star shape. Best eaten ripe, scooped straight from the skin. Refrigerate for a few days once ripe.
Around 25,000 kg of strawberries are eaten at Wimbledon each year! Members of the rose family. The only fruits to have their seeds on the outside — one strawberry can have as many as 200 seeds.
Related to tomatoes, sometimes called "tree tomatoes". Size of an egg tomato with dark red skin and a strong sweet flavour suitable for both sweet and savoury dishes. Used in jams, chutneys and sorbets.
A cross between a grapefruit and a mandarin! About the size of a grapefruit but sweeter, with wrinkly skin that peels easily. Comes from Jamaica. Its yellowy-green skin is thick, rough and puffy — and it's not that ugly!
Plums come in all sorts of colours but Victoria plums are dark red and grown in England. Super sweet eaten raw or cooked in tarts and crumbles. Plums have a stone inside — like cherries, apricots and peaches.
Watermelons grow along the ground and can be enormous. They contain lots of water and are really refreshing. In China, children love drinking watermelon juice in summer. The Chinese name for a watermelon is xigua.
Dr. V Nandhini creates custom diet plans incorporating the right fruits for your health goals — weight loss, diabetes, PCOS and more.