Kiwi Fruit (Actinidia deliciosa) Powdered Extract 4:1, 100 kg (220 lbs): RF
Actinidia deliciosa (syn. Actinidia chinensis deliciosa) or kiwifruit is native to southern China, where it is declared as the National fruit of China. Usually eaten fresh, but also used in beverages, desserts, and as a flavoring. The fruits are very high in vitamin C, along with containing vitamins A and E, plus considerable potassium. Cultivation spread from China in the early 20th century when seeds were introduced to New Zealand by Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls’ College, who had been visiting mission schools in China. The seeds were planted in 1906 by a Wanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, with the vines first fruiting in 1910. People who tasted the fruit then thought it had a gooseberry flavour and began to call it the Chinese Gooseberry, but being from the actinidia family it is not related to the Grossulariaceae (gooseberry) family. The familiar cultivar Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’ was developed by Hayward Wright in Avondale, New Zealand around 1924. This is the most widely grown cultivar in the world. Chinese Gooseberry was initially grown in domestic gardens, but commercial planting began in the 1940s. In 1959, Turners and Growers named it, Kiwifruit, after New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi – brown and furry. Italy is now the leading producer of kiwifruit in the world, followed by New Zealand, Chile, France, Greece, Japan and the United States. Kiwifruit is still produced in its birthplace China, but China has never made it to the top 10 list of kiwifruit producing countries.