Lucuma: ancient curative fruit from South America

Lucuma (Pouteria lucuma) is a subtropical fruit native to Peru, Chile and Ecuador. It is especially popular in Peru and was closely associated with the culture of the nation. For example, lucuma is commonly found in the tombs of local people and often included in the artwork of the ancient Moche people. Even today, lucuma is the most popular flavor for ice cream in Peru preferred to vanilla and chocolate.

Lucuma is not well known outside South America, although lucuma tree can grow in any subtropical region of the world. These exotic fruits are gaining popularity worldwide. Talk about their significant medicinal value and a pleasant sweet taste which is often compared with that of caramel.

Health Benefits:
- Natural healing abilities - According to researchers from the State University of New Jersey, extracts from lucuma can support wound healing, improve tissue regeneration and induce cell migration. Researchers have also discovered that the fruit can provide a "tool, which is useful for therapeutic or cosmetic care of the skin and scalp." These results should not be too surprising for indigenous people of Peru, who have benefited from lucuma as inflammatory tool (and an antifungal agent, antibiotic and improve the skin) for centuries, eventually crowned her as the "Gold of the Incas", because of its effectiveness.
- A healthy sugar substitute - lucuma powder is an excellent substitute for sugar gluten free and can help to satisfy the desire for sweet foods without damaging the body (unlike sugar or artificial sweeteners). Many people like to add the powder to smoothies with superfoods as its attractive taste helps to conceal unattractive flavors of certain vegetables and superzelenini. Despite its sweetness, however, lukuma powder contains only 2 grams of natural fruit sugar every 11 grams of carbohydrates, which makes the food with a low glycemic index, which can help to stabilize blood sugar levels.
- Rich in minerals - Chinese report entitled Analysis of trace elements in lucuma nervosa shows that lucuma contains 14 minerals and is particularly high in potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Due to the ongoing soil erosion, deficiencies of these essential minerals are becoming increasingly common in the West, so that getting more of them - ideally from whole foods such as lucuma - is an important first step to regaining our health. Important, the report also notes that lucuma products imported from South America have been very low levels of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.
- Adjusts the digestive tract - Like many fruits, lucuma is high in dietary fiber. We all know that fiber helps cleanse the colon of accumulated waste and normalize bowel movements, but also give us other advantages. For example, the fibers help us to absorb sugar, thus reducing the risk of our type 2 diabetes Fiber also help us reduce total cholesterol levels by encouraging the liver to produce more bile salts, which in turn increases production LDL receptors.

Purchase of lucuma
As fresh lucuma ripen quickly and are delicate, their transportation from South America to the rest of the world is a challenge that not many suppliers are willing to comprehend. As a result, outside their home countries, lucuma usually bought in powder or dried form. Lucuma powder is the most popular form and is sometimes used in the production of ice cream and baked goods. Please note, however, that heating products lucuma will compromise their nutritional value.

Source: http://biopogled.com/