|
Pecans |
Background:
Pecan trees have been growing for
thousands of years in the humid American south, as well as in the
north of Mexico.
Upon arrival along the southern riverbanks, the Indians adopted this
new food source, as did the French colonists who, much later, arrived
in Louisana.
The majestic trees, which
grow to a height of 30 to 50 meters, may live up to 300
years. Fruit-bearing from the age of 8 to 12 years, pecan
trees group their nuts in clusters of 2 to 20. |
|
A particularly healthy food. Pecans have
a sweet, distinctive flavor. A treasurehouse of vitamins (B group and E) d minerals (potassium,magnesium and iron), pecans also contain a photochemical called ellagic acid. (See article in TIME magazine, January 21, 2002. " 10 Foods that pack a Wallop," page 50). This discovery indicates that ellagic acid initiates a process called apoptosis in which cancer cells destroy themselves. |