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Common fig

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The Common fig (Ficus carica) is a large, deciduous, shrub or small tree native to southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region (Greece east to Afghanistan).

It grows to a height of 3–10 m tall, with smooth grey bark.

The leaves are 12–25 cm long and 10–18 cm across, and deeply lobed with three or five lobes.

The fruit is 3–5 cm long, with a green skin sometimes ripening towards purple. The sap of the tree's green parts is an irritant to human skin.

Cultivation and uses

The Common Fig is widely grown for its edible fruit throughout its natural range Iran and also in the rest of the Mediterranean region and other areas of the world with a similar climate, including Australia, Chile, South Africa, and California, Oregon, Texas, and Washington in the United States. Thousands of cultivars, most unnamed, have been developed or come into existence as human migration brought the fig to many places outside its natural range. It has been an important food crop for thousands of years, and was also thought to be highly beneficial in the diet.

The edible fig is one of the first plants that were cultivated by humans. Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic type dating to about 9400–9200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho). The find predates the domestication of wheat, barley and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture. It is proposed that they may have been planted and cultivated intentionally, one thousand years before the next crops were domesticated (wheat and rye).

Figs were also a common foodsource for the Romans. Cato the Elder, in his De Agri Cultura, lists several strains of figs grown at the time he wrote his handbook: the Mariscan, African, Herculanean, Saguntine, and the black Tellanian (De agri cultura, ch. 8). The fruits were used, among other things, to fatten geese for the production of a precursor of foie gras.

Figs can be eaten fresh or dried, and used in jam-making. Most commercial production is in dried or otherwise processed forms, since the ripe fruit does not transport well, and once picked does not keep well. In Bengal, the fruit is called Dumur. It is cooked as a vegetable and is believed to be good for heart ailments. Superscript text

Production statistics

FAO reports the 2005 fig-production was 1,057,000 tonnes; Turkey was the top fig-producer (285,000 tonnes), followed by Egypt (170,000 tonnes) and other Mediterranean countries.

Aydın, İzmir and Muğla region, which used to be called antique Caria region, are the top fig-producers in Turkey.

Cultivars

  • Alma
  • Brown Turkey
  • Celeste
  • Italian black
  • Italian white
  • Kadota: used in Fig Newtons, dries well
  • Lemon Fig: also known as Blanch, or Marseilles
  • Mission: black, sweet, commonly dried.

Figs and health

Figs are one of the highest plant sources of calcium. Figs have phosphorus, potassium, beta-carotene, vitamin C. Figs are a laxative and contain antioxidants. Figs are good source of flavonoids and polyphenols. In one study, a 40 gram portion of dried figs (two medium size figs) produced significant increase in plasma antioxidant capacity. Figs also have higher quantities of fiber than any other dried or fresh fruit.

Propagation

The flower is invisible, as it blooms inside the fruit. The small orifice visible on the middle fruit is a narrow passage, which allows a very specialised wasp, the fig wasp, to enter the fruit and pollinate the flower, whereafter the fruit grows seeds.

Cultural aspects

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, Adam and Eve clad themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) after eating the "forbidden fruit" from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Likewise, fig leaves, or depictions of fig leaves, have long been used to cover the genitals of nude figures in painting and sculpture. Often these fig leaves were added by art collectors or exhibitors long after the original work was completed. The use of the fig leaf as a protector of modesty or shield of some kind has entered the language.

The biblical quote "each man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25) has been used to denote peace and prosperity. It was commonly quoted to refer to the life that would be led by settlers in the American West, and was used by Theodor Herzl in his depiction of the future Jewish Homeland.

There is a chapter in the Quran named after the fig tree, and the fruit is also mentioned in Qur'an in many places. The Prophet Muhammad mentioned figs and then stated, "If I had to mention a fruit that descended from paradise I would say this is it because the paradisiacal fruits do not have pits...eat from these fruits for they prevent hemorrhoids, prevent piles and help gout." (Bukhari)

Since the flower is invisible, there is a Bengali proverb: tumi jeno dumurer phool hoe gele, you have become (invisible like) the dumur flower. The derisive English idiom I don't care a fig probably originates from the abundance of this fruit.

In Greek mythology the god Apollo sends a crow to collect water from a stream for him. the crow sees a fig tree and waits for the figs to ripen, tempted by the fruit. He knows that he is late and that his tardiness will be punished so he gets a snake from the stream and collects the water. He presents Apollo with the water and uses the snake as an excuse. Apollo sees through the crow's lie and throws the crow, goblet, and snake into the sky where they form the constellations Hydra, Crater and Corvus.

The word "sycophant" actually meaning 'showing the figs' (derived by the Greek words σῦκον sukon, "fig", and φαίνω faino, "to show") was used in ancient Greece for those who informed against another for exporting figs (which was forbidden by law) or for stealing the fruit of the sacred fig-trees, whether in time of famine or on any other occasion (Plutarch, Life of Solon, 24, 2.).

The phallic shape of the young fig is referred to in Psalms of Psalms chapter 2 verse 13. The figrid tree is sacred to Dionysus Sukites (Συκίτης).

Picture gallery

Footnotes

References

External links



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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 02:17:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
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