VEGETABLES
Vegetables and fruit are the most eloquent ambassadors of Sicilian agriculture. They have, with their exciting odours and colour brilliance, vanquished the markets of the whole national and European territory. In the choice of food, actually, even the senses play a basic role. Recent studies have shown, besides, that the pigments tinting fruit and vegetables not only have a visual function but also cause beneficial effects to the whole body. These pigments (flavonoids, phenols, terpenes, phytates, isothiocyanates, indoles) perform important functions for body health and perform on the basis to their colour several beneficial actions. The tomato, for example, contains Lycopene, a phytonutrient and strong antioxidant which can keep the cells healthy, prevent some forms of cancer, reduce the vascular inflammations and protect the heart. But a rich alimentation with the season’s fruit and vegetables also guarantees the required intake of water the body needs. The water content in all fruit nearly varies from a minimum of 80% to a maximum of 95% with only a little lower percentages in vegetables.
The advantages are remarkable: the intake of very pure water, very few calories, many mineral salts and vitamins, simple sugars, beneficial substances for the body like antioxidants.
THE CHERRY TOMATO
The renowned cherry tomato owes its name to its characteristic aspect of being a tomato like a "cherry" on a fish-bone bunch with round, small fruit, and a high degree Brix. (Brix: a unit of measurement indicating the quantity of simple sugars present in fruit and vegetables).
Characteristics
This vegetable so enjoys many beneficial properties: it is short of calories yet rich in protective substances, taste and mineral salts, with a balancing and disintoxicating function, the cherry tomato contains a good dose of vitamin C, is rich in lycopene and carotenes, being substances which make it easier for the body to function properly and defend it from free radicals.
Consumption
Refreshing and thirst quenching, the cherry tomato also has diuretic effects. Having a deep red colour, it has a most fragrant smell and an extremely sweet and juicy taste. It could be consumed raw or slightly cooked and is advised by several experts as a food product having specific health and nutritional value. Used with a cook’s magic touch, it flavours, elates and decorates Mediterranean cuisine dishes. At the times when the product expresses its goodness at its best, it is desiccated at source.
Production area: Provinces of Ragusa and Syracuse
Varieties: Genio - Shiren