Table of contents

Necessity of fruits and vegetables

Introduction
Objective
Requirements
Procedure
Observations
Result
References

Necessity of fruits and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables should be an important part of your daily diet. They are naturally
good and contain vitamins and minerals that can help to keep you healthy. They can
also
help
protect
against
some
diseases.

Vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables contain many vitamins and minerals that are good for our
health. These include vitamins A (beta-carotene), C and E, magnesium, zinc,
phosphorous and folic acid. Folic acid may reduce blood levels of homocysteine, a
substance that may be a risk factor for coronary heart disease.

Vegetables are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, fibre and potassium. Folate
helps the body form red blood cells. It is especially important for women of
childbearing age to consume folate-rich foods such as bell peppers, tomatoes
and spinach to prevent neural-tube defects in babies. Vitamin A-rich foods such
as sweet potatoes, carrots and butternut squash help keep your skin and eyes
healthy and protect against infections. The USDA recommends eating 2 1/2
cups of vegetables per day.

The USDA recommends consuming 2 cups of fruit per day. The healthiest
choices are fresh fruits or frozen without added sweeteners. Fruit is naturally
low in fat, sodium and calories, and rich in potassium, fibre, vitamin C and
folate. Some high-potassium fruits include peaches, cantaloupe, honeydew,
oranges and bananas. Fibre in fruit helps to protect against heart disease and
lower cholesterol. Vitamin C in foods like citrus and strawberries helps with
wound healing and keeps gums and teeth healthy.
Eating produce can cut your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2
diabetes and protect against various forms of cancer. The USDA states that
fruits and vegetables high in fiber can reduce chances of developing coronary
heart disease. Eating potassium-rich foods such as bananas and potatoes can
help reduce blood pressure, decrease bone loss and prevent development of
kidney stones. Produce also contains different phytochemicals, natural
chemical compounds in plants, which maintain proper cell health.

Introduction
Fruits and vegetable are always a part of balanced diet. That means fruits and
vegetables provide our body the essential nutrients, i.e. Carbohydrates,
proteins, vitamins and minerals. Again their presence in these is being
indicated by some of our general observations, like -freshly cut apples become
reddish black after some time. Explanation for it is that iron present in apple
gets oxidixed to iron oxide. So, we can conclude that fruits and vegetables
contain complex organic compounds, for e.g., anthocin, chlorophyll,
esters(flavouring compounds), carbohydrates, vitamins and can be tested in
any fruits or vegetable by extracting out its juice and then subtracting it to

various tests which are for detection of different classes of organic compounds.
Detection of minerals in vegetables or fruits means detection of elements other
than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
COMPONENTS OF FOOD
1. Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are poly-hydroxy-alcohols, which have an
aldehyde or ketone group. They have general formula CnH2nOn
.Carbohydrates are the main source of energy 1 gm. of carbohydrates yield18
KJ of energy. The mono-saccharides serve as building block. Glucose is also
used in formation of fats & amino acids.
2. Minerals: Minerals from 1-3% of the cell contents. Any marked change in the
concentration results in the malfunctioning of cell & finally death. Some mineral
present in the diet are:
i)

Calcium: It is the major component of bone & teeth. Calcium is required

for blood clotting, muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission
& heart functioning.
ii)
(ii) Iron: Haemoglobin in our body contains iron which is the universal
carrier of O2& Co2
efficiency of iron causes anaemia due to failure of haemoglobin
synthesis.

objective
to plan for the balanced diet, knowledge of various ingre