Among the list of rare fruit in the world, pepino fruit which is also well known as pepino melon is probably among the rarest. As the rare fruits in the world its benefits are not commonly known as well by people. The fact about this fruit is probably kept by the people where this fruit is originated because this fruit is difficult to be found outside South America. It is such a shame that the health benefits of pepino fruit are not getting proper recognition.
What Is Pepino Fruit?
As mentioned above pepino fruit or pepino melon is originated from South America region and this fruit is common fruit to be found in fruit market around Colombia, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador but not outsides those countries. Pepino fruit has scientific name Solanum muricatum from genus Solanum, so botanically this fruit is closer to tomato and eggplant instead of melon or cucumber, though the pepino in Spanish means cucumber in English.
Nutritional Value of Pepino Fruit
The unique thing about pepino fruit is probably the skin look of the fruit which is the combination of light yellow or green with purple streak. So, if somehow you are stumbled to this fruit, you would not be mistaken this fruit with any other fruit. This fruit is packed with certain vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B complex, protein, calcium, iron, potassium and copper which are essential for human body metabolism. To find out more about the health benefits of pepino fruit, below is the list.
- Natural Energy Booster
Pepino fruit contains certain compounds that could help you breaking down glucose in your body, so instead of stocked as fat, glucose will be optimally turned into energy. In other words, whenever you think you need extra energy immediately, just grab pepino fruit as a booster.
- Lowering Blood Pressure
Compared to other fruit from the same genus, pepino fruit is probably the one which is packed with great amount of potassium while at the same time is super low in sodium. It means this fruit is great for those who are currently suffering in managing their blood pressure level. The main benefits of potassium are to regulate your blood pressure to prevent conditions like heart diseases, hypertension and even stroke.
- Solution to Cholesterol
Just like any other fruit from the same genus, pepino fruit is also foods that lower cholesterol level because it is rich with fiber. Soluble fiber is compound that cannot be broken down but it has prominent function in body metabolism by binding LDL to be washed out and let the HDL to do the wonders to your body.
- Regulate Blood Sugar
The fiber content found in pepino fruit is also excellent to help regulating the blood sugar level in the blood stream. That’s why pepino fruit is excellent snack for those who have been diagnosed with a certain types of diabetes.
- Fight Cancer
The combinations of vitamin C, vitamin A and beta-carotene are why pepino fruit is a great source of antioxidants. It means, the antioxidants could be used to fight free radicals that could be the root of certain conditions like the development of cancerous cells.
- Great for Bones
When talking about foods that are great for bones, people may think milk or other dairy products because those foods are rich of benefits of calcium. Well, pepino fruit is also excellent source of calcium as well as vitamin K. It means this fruit is also great for bones especially during old ages when body is no longer able to absorb calcium but vitamin K will make sure the bone health no matter how old you are.
- Excellent Immunity Booster
The hardest part after serious illness is the recovery process. Pepino fruit contains vitamin C in quite high amount along with other antioxidants that will help in accelerating the healing process because this fruit could be an excellent immunity booster as well to protect body from further infection.
- Digestive Benefits
As rich of fiber, surely pepino fruit is also great for digestive system. It could help improving the bowel movement while vitamin C benefits will make sure the optimal absorption of other nutrients while at the same time preventing your stomach from constipation and other stomach conditions.
- Healthy Breakfast
There must be a time when you don’t have time to have breakfast but you know well that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, just grab pepino fruit to make sure your body gets enough energy boosters in the morning until you have time to eat proper breakfast. Furthermore, pepino fruit is safe to be consumed when your stomach is still empty because it doesn’t contain certain acidic compounds that could upset the digestion.
Cautions of Pepino Fruit
You should be a wise consumer if you want to enjoy all the health benefits of pepino fruit and avoid all the cautions. Below is the list of cautions you should know about pepino fruit before you decided to add it to your daily diet.
- If you have been diagnosed with certain allergic conditions, you should be careful when eating pepino fruit for the first time, especially when you are diagnosed to be allergic to some fruits related to nightshades variety such as eggplant and tomato.
- As mentioned above, pepino fruit is a great energy booster and could be eaten for breakfast but still don’t depend on this fruit just because you don’t want to gain weight by skipping breakfast.
There are a lot of exotic fruits in this world and pepino fruit is just one of them. If somehow you got a chance to taste this fruit don’t back off just because of its strange look because you must be surprised with the sweet and unique flavor of pepino fruit while at the same time you could enjoy all the health benefits of pepino fruit as well.