Berry , from French baie, is a term used to name a fleshy fruit which has pulp , in which the seeds are found. Berries are usually edible, such as grapes and the cucumbers .
In the berries, the wall of ovary It becomes, when mature, a very fleshy pericarp. The seeds are distributed along the pulp and have one or more carpels.
There are different types of berries, such as polibayas (multiple berries) and peponides (berries of cucurbitaceae). Polibayas are sincarpos: fruits that fuse. A example of polibaya is the custard apple , which is the fruit of the Annona Cherimola.
He cucumber , the pumpkin , he cantaloupe and the watermelon , on the other hand, they are berries of the cucurbitaceae. In this case, the external mesocarp and the exocarp harden giving rise to a shell that allows storing the meat inside for a prolonged period of weather .
From the point of view of botany, many fruits of habitual consumption are berries. He lemon , the tangerine and the orange , to cite three cases, they are considered as modified berries. These are hesperidia, fruits with hardened pericarp (but not too much) and meat in the endocarp. This fleshy sector is constituted by carpels that swell between the walls of the ovary. It should be remembered, as mentioned above, that in traditional berries the fleshy part is formed by the pericarp (whose layers are the endocarp, the mesocarp and the epicarp).
Goji berries and their health benefits
Goji is known as a plant whose habitat is in Tibet, in the high altitude mountains, and belongs to the family from which the tomato also emerges. The fruit has an invaluable richness in fiber, vitamins, proteins, antioxidants, calcium and sugars, among other components, and this makes it very beneficial for the proper functioning of our body.
One of the effects of Goji berries that many pursue is the anti aging , which the Chinese already described in their old medical manuals. It is believed that the secret of this property It is found in its content in polyphenols, carotenes, trace elements and polysaccharides, all antioxidant that allow to delay the aging of cells.
Antioxidants are also useful against oxidative stress , a disorder that occurs as a result of an imbalance between the amount of free radicals and antioxidants, and that deteriorates the cells. Precisely, premature aging is one of its most obvious consequences, as well as the loss of elasticity and moisture of the skin.
The Vitamin A present in Goji berries, which is found as beta-carotene, it is able to reduce the time necessary for the eye to adapt to the absence of light, so that it can be used to treat or prevent Night blindness . Our eyes are constantly exposed to various threats, such as ultraviolet rays; Thanks to lutein and zeaxanthin, among other antioxidant flavonoids of these berries, it is possible to prevent the damage caused by macular degeneration and cataracts, in addition to stimulating visual acuity.
Since cardiovascular diseases cause a greater number of annual deaths than cancer, it is necessary to take all possible measures to prevent them. Currently, the stress It is almost impossible to avoid, as it arises as a result of sedentary lifestyle, poor diet and the demands of society, factors that often lead to high blood pressure. Goji berry is also recommended to avoid this deterioration of the cardiovascular system so common in this era.
