Slices full of fiber, vitamins A and C
Mandarins are popular: the Dutch eat an average of 4 kilograms of this citrus fruit every year. Logical, because they are nice and sweet and also a healthy and slim snack.
Mandarins are available from October to February. They need a lot of sun and so grow in warm areas. Originally, the mandarin tree comes from China, today our mandarin oranges come from Spain and Morocco, for example. In some varieties, such as the well-known Clementine, there are few or no seeds.
Two pieces of fruit
The Nutrition Center recommends eating two ounces of vegetables and two pieces of fruit every day. A tangerine is of course not as big as an orange. Therefore, two large or three small mandarin oranges count as one piece of fruit.
There’s a little less vitamin C than in oranges, about 40 milligrams per 100 grams. When canning, the amount of vitamin C decreases rapidly, per 100 grams there is only about 15 milligrams of vitamin C left.
Mandarins do contain more fiber than oranges. In addition, it contains beta-carotene. This gives mandarins, just like carrots and mangoes, their characteristic orange color. Your body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A. This vitamin is important for healthy eyes, bones and skin, but also for your resistance.
Negative calories
Mandarins are thought to have so-called negative calories to deliver. They are said to have so few calories that digesting them takes more energy than they contain. Unfortunately, the whole negative calorie phenomenon is a myth.
The digestion of food does cost some calories, but really not so much that you immediately burn your whole mandarin orange. Yet a mandarin is a very slim snack, one fruit of 55 grams contains only 25 kilocalories.
Watch out for mold
Mandarins are sensitive to mold, so they are usually treated with an anti-fungal agent after harvest. If you want to grate the peel, wash it thoroughly first, then there is no danger to health.
When purchasing, make sure that no moldy or damaged copy is hidden in the net. Fungi spread quickly in fruit, so discard any mandarin with a spot right away. The skin should have a nice shine and not be wrinkly and can vary from greenish yellow to bright orange. Keep mandarins out of the refrigerator, but in a cool, dark place. Then they stay good for five to ten days.
You can easily peel mandarins by hand and eat them out of hand. The sweet wedges also taste good in a (fruit) salad, in yogurt or cottage cheese and squeezed into smoothies and juices. Or make this quick tangerine dessert.
