HARDY KIWIFRUIT

• Common Name: Hardy Kiwifruit
• Vernacular Name: Baby kiwifruit, Kiwi berry
  
• Scientific Name: Actinidia arguta
  
• Specimens From: USA
  
• Specimens Weight: 6 gm (average weight per fruit)
  

Kiwifruit have been around since several centuries back, mostly growing wild in China but only in the early 20th century onwards, that New Zealand experimented it and began cultivating it on a large commercial scale.

Initially, they called it the "chinese gooseberry" because it came from China and it tastes similar to a gooseberry fruit (but it does not belongs to the gooseberry family). Once this fruit became popular, they renamed it to "kiwifruit". It is named after a type of bird, kiwi, which is ingenious to New Zealand.

Basically there are four common species. The 'emerald green' flesh, the 'golden yellow' flesh, the ' unusual red' flesh and this 'baby hardy' kiwi.

The name, 'hardy', applied to this vine fruits mainly because of its ability to withstand extreme, freezing temperature.

The hardy kiwifruit is the most expensive of the various types, due to its small sizes, but it is also the easiest to eat. Usually, it is about the size of a grape and it is green to purplish without the hairy fuzzy skin.

The whole fruit is edible, so don't bother peeling off its nutrient skin. The inside is exactly like the familiar, normal kiwifruit, just smaller in shape. It is sweeter than the normal kiwifruit and with virtually no traces of acidic taste.