Happy Birthday Chocolate Strawberries

The strawberry you eat is not really a fruit or a berry but is the enlarged receptacle of the flower.

Strawberries are grown in every state in the U.S. and every province in Canada. California produces 80% of the nation’s strawberries, providing almost a year-round supply. California strawberry growers and researchers, along with help from the most ideal growing conditions, work together to produce the highest quality strawberries you can buy.

There are approximately 700 strawberry growers in California producing fruit on over 20,000 acres annually. The strawberry shipping season begins in January in the southern part of the state and moves north with the warming springtime temperatures. Volume peaks in April and May when all production areas overlap. During this time, weekly volume can approach 5 million trays or just over 9 million pounds a day.

Strawberries were cultivated in ancient Rome and were used as a medicinal herb in the 13th Century. They are a member of the Rose family. A museum dedicated to them in Belgium. During the 1700’s, a hybrid variety was developed in France by breeding wild strawberries brought from North America with others from Chile. The first important American variety, the Hovey, was grown in 1834 in Massachusetts.

Nutrition and Consumption:

One serving of strawberries contains 20% RDA of folic acid. That’s more per comparable serving than any other fruit. Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin which has been proven to reduce birth defects involving brain and nerve disorders. Strawberries are one of the most delicious and nutritious fruits. According to FDA regulations, strawberries are a sodium-free, fat-free food. They are not only cholesterol free but low in calories as well. One serving of eight medium sized strawberries contains: · 140% of the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin C, which is more than one orange.

Nutritional Facts:

• 20% of the daily value for folic acid
• Only 50 calories
• No fat grams
• Recognized source of potassium, folacin and dietary fiber
• Approximately 50% of this total dietary fiber is a water soluble pectin
• Clinical studies that soluble fibers help reduce serum cholesterol levels

Scientific classification:

The strawberry belongs to the genus Fragaria in the rose family, Rosaceae. The scientific names for some common American species are F. chiloensis, F. vesca, and F. virginiana.