In the late 18th century the first garden of strawberry was grown in Brittany, France. Less it was identified as an edible food more it was considered to be medicinal by the ancient Romans. Their poets also considered it as ornaments but never as a food to eat. By the 1300’s around, the red fruit was in cultivation in Europe but the wild variant surplus the inland cultivation. Besides, the strawberries had lacking being hardy and small in size with lower quantities of fruit. This scenario of fruit continued until a French spy brought Chilean strawberry from Chile to France and gave birth to modern strawberry, Fragaria ananassa. Most likely the word strawberry comes from the Old English streawberige because the plant sends out runners which could be likened to pieces of straw. It was the French who first accidentally pollinated the Chilean strawberry with the Virginia strawberry when pistillate Chilean plants were inter-planted with staminate Virginian plants and natural hybrids were made. The rest is the history of slow but influential growth of strawberry turning itself to one of the most attractive, passionate, and delicious fruits of all time.
With its qualities of taste and wonder it also holds a competent list of health benefits. Strawberries mainly consist of water (91%) and carbohydrates (7.7%). They contain only minor amounts of fat (0.3%) and protein (0.7%). It contains high levels of Nitrate, Vitamin C, malic acid which increase oxygenated blood supply, growth of healthy skin and white teeth respectively. The red fruit is not an option anymore rather it’s a part of regular diet.
