Punch (drink)

Punch is a general term for any of a wide assortment of mixed drinks, either soft or alcoholic, often rum, generally containing fruit or fruit juice.The drink was brought from India to England in the early seventeenth century, and from there it was introduced into other countries.Punch is typically served at parties in large, wide bowls, known as punch bowls.

The word punch is a loanword from Hindi panch and the drink was made from five different ingredients: spirit, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. The original drink was named paantsch, which comes from the Parsi word panj for five. The word "five" ultimately from Sanskrit panchan-

Alternatively, it may have derived from the word puncheon, a cask that held 72 gallons, from which a punch bowl could be made.

The drink was brought back from India to England by the sailors and employees of the British East India Company in the early seventeenth century, and from there it was introduced into other European countries.

The term punch was first recorded in British documents dating back to 1632. At that time, most punches were of the Wassail type, or with a wine or brandy base, but by around 1655, when Jamaica came out with rum, the 'modern' punch was born and by 1671, there were references to punch houses.

Today, many soft drink manufacturers distribute varying types of "fruit punch" beverages. These are usually colored red and despite the name, most brands garner only a small fraction of their flavor from actual fruit, the majority coming from sugar or corn syrup, citric acid and artificial flavors.

Cups are another type of punch. An English tradition, served before the departure of a hunting party, but today are served at a variety of social events such as garden parties, cricket and tennis matches and at picnics. Cups are generally lower in alcohol to punches and usually have wine, cider, sloe gin, or other low alcohol liqueur as the base, and often include quantities of fruit juices and/or soft drinks. One well known cup is the Pimm's Cup, using Pimm's №1 and British-style lemonade at a ratio of 1:2, a squeeze of lemon juice, then add orange, lemon and apple slice, a couple of cucumber wedges and decorate with borage flowers.

Rum punches

There are several rum-based punches: Planter's Punch, Bajan Rum Punch, Caribbean Rum Punch, and others. The two most historical rum punches are the Planter's Punch and Bajan Rum Punch.

Bajan (Barbadian) Rum Punch is one of the oldest rum punches and has a simple recipe enshrined in a national rhyme: "One of Sour, Two of Sweet, Three of Strong, Four of Weak." That is, 1 part lime juice, 2 parts sweetener, 3 parts rum (preferably Barbados rum), and 4 parts water. It is served with a dash or two of Angostura Bitters and Nutmeg.

The recipe of Planter's Punch varies, containing some combination of rum, lemon juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, orange juice, grenadine, soda water, curaçao, Angostura bitters, and cayenne pepper.

The first known print reference to Planter's Punch was in the August 8, 1908 edition of The New York Times:

PLANTER'S PUNCH

This recipe I give to thee,
Dear brother in the heat.
Take two of sour (lime let it be)
To one and a half of sweet,
Of Old Jamaica pour three strong,
And add four parts of weak.
Then mix and drink. I do no wrong —
I know whereof I speak.

Around the world
Fruit punch

Fruit punches, such as Hawaiian Punch or certain flavors of Kool-Aid, contain no alcohol. These may be used as drink mixers in cocktails.

In the United States and Canada, punches are extremely common among parties for college and university students. These punches tend to be highly alcoholic and made with cheap ingredients. Some even exclude water altogether and have 30% ABV or more.

In a large number of Caribbean, Pacific or Indian Ocean countries, punch is drunk as an apéritif before meals.

In Korean culture, sujeonggwa is a traditional punch made from dried persimmons, cinnamon and ginger.

In Mexico, agua loca ("crazy water") is a very sweet punch usually made from fermented sugarcane, mezcal or tequila, and mixed with aguas frescas (usually agua de Jamaica) or horchata. Due to its sweetness, the drinker may not notice the taste of the alcohol and may become intoxicated more quickly than he or she had anticipated. This drink is popular on college campuses as a cheap way to get drunk.

In Germanic culture, punch (or Punsch in German) refers to a mixture of several fruit juices and spices, often with wine or liquor added. Punch is popular in Germany, as well as with many Germans who emigrated to America. The traditional German Christmas often includes a Feuerzangenbowle ("Burnt Punch" or, literally, "Fire Tongs Bowl"). This is a punch made from red wine and flaming rum, poured over a Zuckerhut ("sugar hat"), a large conical sugar cube placed on the "Feuerzange" which supports it above the bowl.

Cider

Cider (or cyder) is a drink made from fruit juice, most often from apples.

In Europe and Oceania it is an alcoholic drink that is made from apple juice, through a process called fermentation. In the United States and parts of Canada, cider containing alcohol is called hard cider or alcoholic cider, while cider or apple cider means less-sweet, usually unfiltered, apple juice.

Most people drink home-made cider when there are apples, that is in autumn.

In the United States and Canada people drink a special kind of cider around Halloween and Thanksgiving. This cider is usually unfiltered, rather thick, and it is often heated and spiced with cinnamon before drinking it. This is different from the cider in Europe, which usually is not heated.

How cider is made
American Cider

Usually to make cider, apples with a high concentration of tannins are chosen. The fermentation of the apples takes place at around 4-15° Celsius. The temperature influences the duration of the fermentation. The temperature at which the fermentation occurs also has an effect on the taste of the cider.

Shortly before all the sugar has been fermented away, the cider is put in a new barrel which is made air-tight. The rest of the sugar will then become carbonic acid. This will also add to the life-span of the cider (no pasteurisation is needed).

Cider is also the starting-point for distilling Calvados This alcoholic drink is famous and very expensive.

Where cider is made

Cider is made almost anywhere where there are cider-apple trees, most notably

* France, with its main cider-producing regions:
o Normandy, especially the AOC Pays d'Auge (since march 1996)
o Calvados, Normandy: Calvados the drink is made of cider through a process called double distillation. In the first pass, the result is a liquid containing 28% to 30% alcohol. In a second pass, the amount of alcohol is augmented to about 40%.
o Brittany, especially AOC of Fouesnant and of Cornouaille
o Pays de la Loire
o Nord-Pas-de-Calais
o Champagne (Pays d'Othe)
o Savoie
o Somme
o Thiérache
* Spain :
o Asturias
o the Basque country
o Galicia
* Germany, in particular around Frankfurt am Main
* Belgium, in the 'pays d'Herve; and in the east of the Province of Liège
* United Kingdom
* Channel Islands
* North America

In France, Normandy is the first region as to the production of cider-apples (300 000 tonnes), and the first in cider production (7000 kilolitres).

In France, some ciders can benefit from a protected naming. This is the cidre normand and the cidre breton.

France is the country in the world that produces the biggest quantity of cider.

The United Kingdom produces the most varieties, and along with Ireland holds the biggest market for cider.

Kinds of cider

Cider contains alcohol, which affects the taste of the cider. This can be influenced by choosing the right moment when to stop fermentation:

* With 3° of alcohol and below, the cider will be sweet, similar to apple juice. In France they call this cidre doux, and use it to go with desserts.
* Between 3° and 5° of alcohol, you get a cider that can accompany a meal of fish or meat. The French call this cider cidre demi-sec or cidre brut (classique).
* Traditional cider (hard cider) usually has 5° alcohol or more.
* Calvados is made of cider through a process called double distillation. In the first pass, the result is a liquid containing 28% to 30% alcohol. In a second pass, the amount of alcohol is augmented to about 40%.

In France, the most popular are the first, second and fourth categories. In the English-speaking countries, it is possible to find cider with up to 12° of alcohol.
[change] When to drink cider
"Pint of cider"

The French and Spanish cuisines have recipes where cider is needed to make them. The French and Spanish also often drink cider instead of wine made from grapes.

In Europe, many young people drink cider. Cider costs less than wine, and is often served in pubs and other places where young people go.

The effects of cider are the same as those of any alcoholic drink.

Mulberry

Mulberry (Morus) is a genus of 10–16 species of trees. They are native to warm regions of Asia, Africa and the Americas, with most of the species native to Asia.

Mulberries are fast-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely grow over 10-15 meters tall. The leaves are simple, often lobed, and ridged. The fruit grows in bunches, 2-3 centimeters long, is red to dark purple in color, edible, and sweet with a good flavor in several species.

The fruit is used in pies, tarts, and wines. The fruit of the Black Mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the Red Mulberry, native to eastern North America, have the strongest flavor. The fruit of the White Mulberry, an east Asian species, has a very weak flavor.

Mulberry leaves, particularly those of the White Mulberry, are also important as food of the silkworm, the cocoon of which is used to make silk.

Mulberries can be grown from seeds, and this is the best idea as seedling-grown trees are generally healthier. However, they are most often planted from large pieces cut from other Mulberry trees, which easily take root.

Legume

A legume is a type of dry fruit. Legumes can be a variety of fruits: peas and beans are types of legumes.

What legumes have in common

Legumes grow from the carpel, the female reproductive part of a plant. The fruit of a legume is found inside a pod that can be split on both sides. However, there are some foods that grow inside pods that are not legumes.

Healthy?

Legumes contain many healthy nutrients, such as protein. They are good source of protein for vegetarians and vegans, people who do not eat meat. They also contain fibre, which promotes a healthy digestive system. However, they contain some nutrients which humans struggle to digest. It is recommended that a legume is soaked in a weak acid for about 10 hours before cooking, to destroy these nutrients. Some amino acids, such as methionine, are not present in legumes but are needed to help the body use protein. For this reason, legumes are often eaten with grain, which does contain methionine.

Use

India imports (buys from other countries) the most legumes. This may be because a lot of Indians follow the religion of Hinduism, which does not approve of people eating meat. Legumes are a cheap and plentiful source of food in a country were around 22% of the population are in poverty. The top four producers and exporters (selling to other countries) of legumes are:

* Canada
* Myanmar
* Australia
* USA

The USA uses legumes for a variety of reasons, and is the highest producer. It uses soybeans to feed cattle and make vegetable oil. Peanuts are a popular snack food in the USA and these are also a type of legume.

Feijoa

The Feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana, synonym Acca sellowiana), also known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen, is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1-7 m in height. It comes from the highlands of southern Brazil, parts of Colombia, Uruguay and northern Argentina.


Description of fruit and plant

The fruit matures in autumn and is green, chicken-egg-sized, and ellipsoid-shaped. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour. The flesh is juicy. The fruit drops when ripe, but can be picked from the tree before to prevent bruising. Feijoa fruit have a distinctive smell. The ester methyl benzoate smells strongly of feijoas and the aroma of the fruit is caused mostly by this and other closely related esters.

Growing conditions

It is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that will also grow in the tropics but requires some winter chilling to fruit. In the northern hemisphere it has been cultivated as far north as western Scotland but does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures below about -9°C will kill the flower buds. Large quantities are grown in New Zealand, where the fruit is a popular garden tree and the fruit is commonly available in season.

Consumption and uses

The fruit is usually eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. The fruits have a juicy sweet seed pulp, and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin. The flavour is aromatic and sweet. If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not available, the feijoa can be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and consumed.
Cut overmature fruit

Fruit maturity is not always apparent from the outside as the fruits remain green until they are overmature or rotting. When the fruits are immature the seed pulp is white and opaque, becoming clear and jelly-like when ripe. Fruits are at their optimum maturity when the seed pulp has turned into a clear jelly with no hint of browning. Once the seed pulp and surrounding flesh start to brown, the fruit is over mature and should not be eaten.

Sugar-apple

Annona squamosa (also called sugar-apple, or sweetsop) is a species of Annona native to the tropical Americas, India and Pakistan. Its exact native range is unknown due to extensive cultivation, but thought to be in the Caribbean; the species was described from Jamaica.

It is a semi-evergreen shrub or small tree reaching 6–8 meters (20–26 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate, 5–17 cm (2.0–6.7 in) long and 2–5 centimeters (0.79–2.0 in) broad. The flowers are produced in clusters of 3-4, each flower 1.5–3 cm (0.59–1.2 in) across, with three large petals and three minute ones, yellow-green spotted purple at the base.

The fruit is usually round, slightly pine cone-like, 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) diameter and weighing 100–230 g (3.5–8.1 oz), with a scaly or lumpy skin. There are variations in shape and size. The fruit flesh is sweet, white to light yellow, and resembles and tastes like custard. The edible portion coats the seeds generously; a bit like the gooey portion of a tomato seed. Sugar-apple has a very distinct, sweet-smelling fragrance. The texture of the flesh that coats the seeds is a bit like the center of a very ripe guava (excluding the seeds). It is slightly grainy, a bit slippery, very sweet and very soft. The seeds are scattered through the fruit flesh; the seed coats are blackish-brown, 12–18 mm (0.47–0.71 in) long, and hard and shiny.

There are also new varieties being developed in Taiwan. There is a pineapple sugar-apple, which is similar in sweetness but has a very different taste. Like the name suggests, it tastes like pineapple. The arrangement of seeds is in spaced rows, with the fruit's flesh filling most of the fruit and making grooves for the seeds, instead of the flesh only occurring around the seeds.

Different cultures have many names for the species. In English it is most widely known as sugar-apple or sweetsop, also sometimes custard-apple (especially in India) though technically incorrectly, as this name usually refers to Annona reticulata, another closely related species. In Latin America regional names include anón, anón de azucar, anona blanca, fruta do conde, cachiman, saramuyo, and many others. In India it is known as Ata, aarticum, shareefa, sitaphal or seethaphal (सीता फळ literally meaning "sita fruit" as the fruit has too many seeds and monkeys don't eat them – monkeys are believed to be friends of Rama, Sita's husband), and in Indonesia, srimatikiya or mostly people call it as "srikaya". The Taiwanese call it Sakya (traditional Chinese: 釋迦; pinyin: shìjiā; Taiwanese: sek-khia, sek-kia) because one cultivar resembles the top part of Sakyamuni's (釋迦牟尼) head. Its name in Burmese is aajaa thee. In Indonesia, it is called srikaya. In the Philippines it is called atis. In Thailand it is called noi-na (น้อยหน่า) which is also the common name for a hand-grenade because of its appearance. In Vietnam, it is called mãng cầu ta or na. In Brazil, it is called fruta do conde, pinha or ata. In the Middle East region, it is called "achta".

Cultivation and uses

Sugar-apple fruit is high in calories and is a good source of iron. It is the most widely cultivated of all the species of Annona, being grown widely throughout the tropics and warmer subtropics such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Taiwan; it was introduced to southern Asia before 1590. It is naturalized north to southern Florida in the United States and south to Bahia in Brazil, and is an invasive species in some areas.

Like most species of Annona, it requires a tropical or subtropical climate with summer temperatures from 25 °C (77 °F) to 41 °C (106 °F), and mean winter temperatures above 15 °C (59 °F). It is sensitive to cold and frost, being defoliated below 10 °C and killed by temperatures of a few degrees below freezing. It is only moderately drought-tolerant, requiring rainfall above 700 mm, and not producing fruit well during droughts.

It is quite a prolific bearer and will produce fruit in as little as two to three years. A tree five years old may produce as many as 50 sugar-apples. Poor fruit production has been reported in Florida because there are few natural pollinators (honeybees have a difficult time penetrating the tightly closed female flowers); however hand pollination with a natural fiber brush is effective in increasing yield.

In the Philippines, the fruit is commonly eaten by the Philippine Fruit Bat (Kabag or Kabog) which then spreads the seeds from island to island. In the Philippines there is a company that produces Sugar apple wine.

It is a host plant for larvae of the butterfly Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay).

It is used by some societies in India to prepare a hair tonic. The seeds are also ground and applied to hair to get rid of lice, however, it must be kept away from the eyes as it is highly irritant and can cause blindness.

Kumquat

The kumquats or cumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees.[1] The edible fruit (which is also called kumquat) is similar to other Citrus but is smaller.

Kumquats are slow-growing, evergreen shrubs or small trees, from 2.5–4.5 m tall, with dense branches. Sometimes they have small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers pure white, similar to citrus flowers.

Kumquats came from China (they are known in literature of the 12th century), and have long been cultivated there and in Japan. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune, who was collector for the London Horticultural Society, and a short time later into North America.

They are much hardier than citrus plants as oranges. The 'Nagami' kumquat needs a hot summer, ranging from 25 ºC(77ºF) to 38º C(100.4ºF), but can withstand frost down to about −10 °C(14ºF). It grows in the tea regions of China where the climate is too cold for other citrus fruits, even the Mikan (also known as the Satsuma) orange.

Etymology

The English name "kumquat" derives from the Cantonese pronunciation gam1 gwat1 (given in Jyutping romanization). The alternate name 柑橘, also pronounced gam1 gwat1 in Cantonese (gān jú in Mandarin, literally "large tangerine orange") is now more commonly written by Cantonese speakers.

Names in other Asian languages include:

* Japanese: kinkan (金柑)
* Korean: geumgyul (금귤)
* Mandarin: jīnjú (金橘)
* Thai: somchíd (ส้มจี๊ด)
* Vietnamese: cam quất (from the Cantonese) or, less commonly, (quả) kim quất (if transliterated from the characters 金橘 into Sino-Vietnamese; "quả" (果) is the Sino-Vietnamese prefix for "fruit")

Otaheite gooseberry

he Otaheite gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus), also called Malay gooseberry, Tahitian gooseberry, country gooseberry, star gooseberry, West India gooseberry, simply gooseberry tree, Mayom in Thai or chùm ruột in Vietnamese, is one of the trees with edible fruit in the Phyllanthaceae family. Despite its name, the plant does not resemble the gooseberry, except for the acidity of its fruits. It is called Nela Usiri in Telugu and Chinna Nellikkai (small gooseberry) in Tamil. It is mostly cultivated for ornamentation.

The plant is a curious intermediary between shrubs and tree, reaching 2 to 9 m in height. The tree's dense and bushy crown is composed of thickish, tough main branches, at the end of which are clusters of deciduous, greenish, 15-to-30-cm long branchlets. The branchlets bear alternate leaves that are ovate or lanceolate in form, with short petioles and pointed ends. The leaves are 2-7.5 cm long and thin, they are green and smooth on the upperside and blue-green on the underside. In general, the Otaheite gooseberry very much looks like the bilimbi tree.
Leaves

The flowers can be male, female or hermaphrodite. They are small and pinkish and appear in clusters in 5-to-12.5-cm long panicles. Flowers are formed at leafless parts of the main branches, at the upper part of the tree. The fruits are numerous, oblate, with 6 to 8 ribs, develop so densely that they actually form spectacular masses. They are pale yellow or white, waxy, crisp and juicy, and very sour. It has only one seed in each fruit.

Origin and distribution

This tropical or subtropical species is thought to originate in Madagascar, then carried to the East Indies. Now it is generally found in South India, and Southeast Asian countries, such as Southern Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Northern Malaya. It also occurs in the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues and also in Guam, Hawaii and several other Pacific islands. In 1793, the plant was introduced to Jamaica (where it is commonly referred to as "Jumbilin" or "Jimbilin") from Timor. From there, it progressively spread to the whole Caribbean region, as far as the Bahamas or Bermuda and Nevis. It is now naturalized in Central and South America.

In the United States, the tree is occasionally found as a curiosity in Florida. For instance, it is resistant enough to fruit in Tampa.

Cultivation and culinary interest

The Otaheite gooseberry prefers moist soil. Although it usually grows from seeds, the tree can also be multiplied from budding, greenwood cuttings or air-layers. It bears two crops per year in South India: one in April-May and the other in August-September. Elsewhere, it is mainly harvested in January.

The juice can be used in beverage, or the fruit pickled in sugar. When cooked with plenty of sugar, the fruit turns ruby red and produces a kind of jelly, which is called mứt chùm ruột in Vietnamese. It can also be salted.

The fruit is called "Grosella" in Puerto Rico. Since the fruit is tart, it is often eaten in "Dulce de Grosellas". The preparation of this dessert consist in simmering the berries with sugar until they are soft and turn red in color. The liquid from the cooking is also used as a beverage.

Green Marula fruits

The Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) (Greek σκληρός skleros hard, καρυά karya walnut in reference to the stone inside the fleshy drupe) is a medium-sized dioecious tree, indigenous to the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa and the Sudano-Sahelian range of West Africa. The tree is a single stemmed tree with a wide spreading crown. It is characterised by a grey mottled bark. The tree grows up to 18m tall mostly in low altitudes and open woodlands. The fruits are used in the liqueur Amarula. The distribution of this species throughout Africa has followed the Bantu in their migrations, as it has been an important item in their diet since time immemorial.

When ripe, the fruits have a light yellow skin, with white flesh, rich in vitamin C - about 8 times the amount found in an orange - are succulent, tart with a strong and distinctive flavour.[1] Inside is a walnut-sized, thick-walled stone. These stones, when dry, expose the seeds by shedding 2 (sometimes 3) small circular plugs at one end. The seeds have a delicate nutty flavour and are much sought after, especially by small rodents who know to gnaw exactly where the plugs are located.

Common names: maroela (Afrikaans), Boran (Kenya) - didissa ; English - jelly plum, cat thorn, morula, cider tree, marula, maroola nut/plum; Hausa - dania; Kamba (Kenya) - muua; Kwangali - ufuongo; Lovedu - marula; Maasai (Kenya) - ol-mangwai; Meru (Kenya) - mura; Ndebele - iganu, ikanyi, umganu, umkano; Pedi [fruits] - lerula, marula; Pedi [tree] - morula, merula; Pokot (Kenya) - oruluo; Portuguese (Mozambique) - canhoeiro; Ronga (Mozambique) - ncanhi; Sebei (Kenya) - katetalum; Shangaan - nkanyi, inkanyi; Shona - mutsomo, mukwakwa, mushomo, muganu, mupfura; Shona [fruits] - pfura; Shona [tree] - mufura, mafuna, marula; Swahili, Diga (Kenya) - mngongo; SiSwati - [fruits]- emaganu,[tree]umganu; Swazi - umganu; Tonga - tsua, tsula, umganu; Tswana - morula; Tugen (Kenya) - tololokwo; Zulu [fruits]- amaganu, [seeds] - umganu, [tree] - umganu.

Relationships: Belongs to the same family Anacardiaceae as the mango, cashew nut, pistachio and Rhus, and is closely related to the genus Poupartia from Madagascar.

A traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known fruit has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.[2]

* The seed kernels are high in protein and fat with a subtle nutty flavour and constitute an important emergency food.

* Fruits are commonly eaten fresh or used to prepare juice, jelly and alcoholic drink. The alcoholic distilled beverage (maroela mampoer) made from the fruit is referenced in the stories of the South African writer Herman Charles Bosman.

* Marula oil, made from the seed kernel, is a delicious additive to meals in Africa, and can be used as a type of skin care oil. It contains antioxidants and oleic acid.

* The bark is used both as treatment and a prophylaxis for malaria.

* Gums exudates from the stem are mixed with water and soot to make ink by certain tribes in the region.

* The bark also yields a red-brown dye used in colouring traditional craft ware.

* The leaves are chewed upon to help indigestion and to treat heartburn.

* The fruit infusion is used to bathe tick-infested livestock. The fruit is regarded as a potent insecticide.

* The marula fruit is also eaten by various animals in Southern Africa. In the movie Animals Are Beautiful People by Jamie Uys, released in 1974, some scenes portray elephants, warthogs and monkeys becoming intoxicated from eating fermented marula fruit. Later research showed that these scenes were improbable and, in all probability, staged. Elephants would need a huge amount of fermented marulas to have any effect on them, and other animals prefer the ripe fruit. The amount of water drunk by elephants each day would also dilute the effect of the fruit to such an extent that they would not be affected by it.[3]

* An infusion of the inner bark of the marula tree may be applied to scorpion stings and snake bites to alleviate pain.

Apple juice

Apple juice is a fruit juice manufactured by the maceration and pressing of apples. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspension, and then pasteurised for packaging in glass, metal or aseptic processing system containers, or further treated by dehydration processes to a concentrate. Apple juice may also be sold in an untreated state.

Due to the complex and costly equipment required to extract and clarify juice from apples in large volume, apple juice is normally commercially produced. In the United States, unfiltered fresh apple juice is produced by smaller operations in areas of high apple production, in the form of unclarified apple cider. Apple juice is one of the most common fruit juices in the world, with world production led by China, followed by Poland, Germany and the United States.

Uses

Apple juice is a common beverage for both children and adults, but in North America, it is often marketed specifically to children, who are informally considered its major consumers. Apple juice is also a component of several cocktails, and is a filler in some other fruit drinks, because it is less expensive and more widely available than other juices. It may also be produced and consumed in a carbonated form, referred to as sparkling apple juice.

Health benefits

Vitamin C is sometimes added by fortification, because content is variable, and much of that is lost in processing. Other vitamin concentrations are low, but apple juice does contain various mineral nutrients, including boron, which may promote healthy bones.Apple juice has a significant concentration of polyphenols that may protect from diseases associated with ageing due to the antioxidant effects which help reduce the likeliness of developing cancer. Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) suggests that apple juice increases acetylcholine in the brain, resulting in increased memory

Apple cider

While "apple juice" generally refers to the filtered, pasteurised product of apple pressing, an unfiltered and sometimes unpasteurised, product commonly known as apple cider in the United States and parts of Canada, may be packaged and sold as "apple juice". In the U.S., there is an unclear distinction between filtered apple juice and "natural" apple cider.In other places, such as New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, "apple cider" is an alcoholic beverage. The alcoholic beverage referred to as "cider" in these areas, is usually referred to as "hard cider" in the United States.

Mango juices

Ingredients:
2 ripe mangos
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup boiling water

Method:
Preparing the syrup by dissolving ½ cup of water with ½ cup of sugar. Boil until dissolved well. Peel the mangoes and cut into small pieces -- It should be about ½ cup of mangoes. Put it in the blender. Add boiling water, syrup and salt. Blend thoroughly. It should give a strong sweet taste since ice will be added when serving.