Fruit consumption done 30 minutes before the main meal has been identified as a major boost to better quality of health, solution to many chronic diseases ailing mankind and ultimately promotion of longevity.
This was the submission of Isaac Oluwalana, a professor, while delivering the 103rd Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Akure.
Mr. Oluwalana, who said Nigerians are not taking enough fruits, recommended a daily intake of 400g of fresh fruits which should constitute at least 20 per cent of the daily food intake for a healthy life style, as many nutritionists and medical personnel now consider fruits and vegetable consumption as a solution to many diseases of civilization and various age related ailments.
The professor of Post-Harvest Technology who spoke on the topic: “Give us this day our daily fruit: A Panacea to Wastage, Ageing and Micronutrients Deficiency Diseases”, pointed out that fruits in the daily diet are strongly correlated with overall good health, improved gastro intestinal health, vision enhancement, reduced symptoms of diabetes, anaemia, gastric ulcer, rheumatoid arthritis and many other chronic diseases.
The professor said the exact mechanics by which fruit consumption reduces human diseases has yet to be fully understood but that the general consensus among physicians and nutritionists is that phytonutriceuticals in fruits are responsible for mitigating some of these diseases.
Mr. Oluwalana highlighted common tropical fruits in diseases management to include citrus fruits, bananas, plantains, pawpaw, water melon, cucumber, and pine apple.
He said these fruits contain Vitamin C, Vitamin B complex, dietary fibre, phytonutrients and minerals which have anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
Mr. Oluwalana however lamented that despite the enormous nutritional and health benefits of fruits, nearly 40 per cent of fruits produced are wasted globally every year due to improper handling practices leading to physical and microbiological damages, lack of storage facilities, non-adoption of recommended appropriate technologies and lack of integrated approach to production and marketing of the commodities.
Professor Oluwalana, who is the head of department, Food and Science Technology, recommended that intensive public enlightenment on the nutritional and health benefits of fruits be made by appropriate government and non-governmental agencies to the Nigerian populace.
He also proposed that government in the short term should adequately fund research of storage technologies that is less dependent on electricity and upscale the available ones.
He said government should, on medium to long term basis, provide stable electricity that would enable Nigeria to tap the existing electricity dependent technologies, that can extend storage life of fruits and vegetables for several months.
The lecturer said government should formulate policies that would make access to loan and financial assistance easy.
This, according to him, will to a large extent encourage the farming youth population to take fruit cultivation which will also in return make agro-processors and marketers get interested in the fruit businesses, thereby making the fruits and its products available to consumers
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