Persimmon: the autumn fruit with the seven virtues
A typical autumn fruit, kaki, or persimmon, is a note of color in the November landscape, when the tree, having lost all its leaves, remains adorned with bright orange fruits, stubbornly clinging to the plant.
Sweet and tasty fruits which possess unsuspected nutritional properties.
The fruit should be eaten or used in various recipes only once it is perfectly ripe: if unripe it gives the classic taste that "allappa", due to the large amount of tannin.
It is possible to buy persimmons that are not yet perfectly ripe, however, because ripening is reached quickly: a little trick to speed up this process is to place the fruit next to apples.
Given the sweetness of ripe fruit, in the kitchen persimmon is meant to be a great dessert, already in purity.
Among numerous properties we mention that persimmons are:
> diuretics and remineralizersPersimmons contain a large amount of water (about 80%) and many mineral salts, in particular potassium. They contain fiber and are therefore an excellent natural laxative. The best time to consume them is in the morning for breakfast.
> hepatoprotective, that is, they protect the liver, but they are also excellent for keeping the stomach and intestines in good health, especially the bacterial flora.
Given the high sugar content, persimmons are not recommended for those suffering from diabetes and obesity.
Chestnuts: the caloric fruit that tastes of autumn
Chestnuts are a rather caloric fruit, in fact they bring 193 kcal per 100 g if we consider the roasted ones.
If you take into account the boiled ones, the calories drop to 130.
They have a nutritional value comparable to wholemeal bread, but are richer in phosphorus (important support for the nervous system) and potassium (essential for maintaining muscle tone) also represent the food that most of all contains vitamins B2 and PP (essential for tissue health), as well as a good percentage of fiber and above all, many complex carbohydrates (in the form of starch) that make it completely comparable to bread from an energy point of view.
The chestnuts they do not contain gluten and have a nutritional value similar to that of cereals; they can, therefore, completely cover the carbohydrate part of the meal and are very suitable in case of celiac disease.
They are very digestible (provided they are well cooked) and their richness in fibers makes them a particularly satiating fruit and useful for preserving or restoring intestinal regularity.
Pumpkin: the sweet autumn vegetable
Let's start by saying that despite the full and very sweet flavor, pumpkin is a food that can also be taken in low-calorie diets and in those of diabetic patients. In fact, despite having a high glycemic index, it has a very low carbohydrate content while it is rich in fiber and water.
Pumpkin is a source of minerals and vitamins.
Contains beta-carotene, precursor of vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B (B1, B2, B3, B5 and B6) and C.
It is precisely the carotenoids, represented by two types of pigments, xanthophylls and carotenes, to give it an orange-rooster color.
Pumpkin also contains mineral salts like all vegetables: from phosphorus to potassium to calcium to selenium, sodium, iron to magnesium.
The presence of this latter mineral, magnesium, makes pumpkin also interesting for muscle relaxation. There is also an amino acid such as tryptophan, which is important for the synthesis of serotonin, a hormone known as a good mood.
Interesting is the quantity of fibers present which make it effective in regulating the intestine and improving the intestinal bacterial flora, and not least for modulating the absorption of sugars and fats and for the sense of satiety (this makes it very interesting in diets). .
