PETALING JAYA: When you hear the word 'kiwi', what comes to mind? The fruit, the cute bird, a New Zealander, or all three?
Putting the citizens of the sixth-largest island country in the world aside, the fruit and bird have similarities - cute, brown, round and fuzzy.
But is it true that the term "kiwifruit" is the original name of the fruit?
Verdict:
FALSE
While many people identify the kiwifruit by its name, its original Chinese name, mihoutao — or “macaque fruit” — referred to monkeys' fondness for the sweet fruit in China.
And yes, the fruit, which originated from China, was originally identified as the Chinese gooseberry. There were other colloquial names for the Chinese gooseberry: monkey peach, macaque pear, vine pear, sun peach and wood berry.
But to find out how the fruit went beyond China, we have to look back in history over a century ago, when its seeds were first brought to New Zealand in 1904 by Mary Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls' College, who had been visiting mission schools in China.
The vines first fruited in 1910, and the fruit was described to have a gooseberry flavour - hence the name "Chinese gooseberry".
At one point in time, the fruit was also given the name "melonette", as a way to market the fruit from New Zealand to the world.
However, when the time came to export the fruit to the United States in the 1950s, the names “Chinese gooseberry” and “melonette” were rejected because of the high import tariffs imposed on melons and berries.
Its Chinese roots were also erased because of the conflicts between the United States and China during the height of the Cold War.
The name was changed to kiwifruit in 1959 by Auckland fruit-packing company Turner & Growers, and kiwifruit has become the standard name in the international horticultural industry to this very day.
So, this is your trivia about the fruit today. But do you know the kiwifruit can help you with getting enough rest or your daily fibre intake?
Perhaps it is time to get a couple of them from the supermarket as you head home today.
REFERENCES:
https://time.com/4662293/kiwifruit-chinese-gooseberry-new-zealand-history-fruit/
https://www.zespri.com/en-UK/blogdetail/what-is-the-origin-of-kiwifruit
https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/dining-in/7-things-to-know-about-kiwi
