Natural dehydrated strawberries without added sugar

Dehydrated natural strawberries without added sugar

The sweetness of strawberries is famous, but we know these delicious and nutritious fruits don't stay fresh that long. For this reason, once their season has passed, the consumption of the dehydrated version of strawberries is widespread, which can be enjoyed natural, with no added sugar. Even their benefits for our well-being are maintained with drying, let's see what they are.

Dried strawberries without sugar: properties and benefits

These dehydrated fruits are excellent for a balanced diet, because they are foods with no added sugar, no cholesterol, with very little fat.
On the contrary, the natural dried strawberries allow you to take on various beneficial nutrients for the body, such as fibers and proteins, vitamins and minerals.
The fibers contained in dehydrated strawberries are excellent for digestion, and with the right doses they can be used for the laxative, diuretic and purifying (detoxifying) properties.
Inside natural strawberries without sugar, you will find an excellent supply of vitamin C, and a fair amount of calcium.
Vitamin C is an essential element for strengthening the immune system, and among the foods in which this vitamin is abundant, strawberries are a delicious as well as healthy choice.
In terms of well-being, in addition to vitamin C, l Dried strawberries contain substances such as ellagic acid and some natural antioxidants, flavonoids that help keep bad cholesterol low in the blood.
Antioxidants play a useful role in reducing inflammation in the body, and help keep cells protected from aging factors, with an improvement in the beauty of the skin.
The composition of strawberries can act in an anti-aging function, by stimulating the production of collagen, which gives elasticity to the skin.
Strawberry has a very high antioxidant power, in the first places in the special classification of the USDA (The United States Department of Agriculture) on foods that keep you young.
In the natural version, even dried, strawberries are also  a source of minerals such as manganese and potassium – elements with an essential role in regulating normal cellular function in the body, as well as for heart health.
Among the other components that strawberries are rich in, there are iron and magnesium, recommended in correct doses for those suffering from rheumatism and prone to colds.
The phosphorus content is also high, as is xylitol - which prevents the formation of dental plaque and kills the germs responsible for bad breath.
Remember that the health benefits of natural strawberries are not affected by the drying process. The nutrients are maintained, and many are useful for the well-being of our body.

Origins and History of cultivation

Strawberry is a succulent fruit that has been known for millennia, but in Europe strawberry plants always remained wild and uncultivated until the Renaissance period.
The wild strawberries were famous, much appreciated in ancient Rome, where they were considered aphrodisiac fruits, used for the celebration in honor of Adonis. Legend has it that the tears shed by Venus on his grave (he was killed out of jealousy by Mars), had been transformed into strawberries.
The shape and color of the strawberries, which resemble a heart, became the main characteristics. The wild strawberry was called "heart fruit", fruit of Venus capable of sweetening the passions of love. At the court of the French kings they were at the center of love games: the lady invited the knight to the nocturnal meeting, eating strawberries enriched with sugar and cream.
The cultivation of strawberries began right here in France, by the gardeners of Louis XIV. They took the wild varieties from the woods to replant them in the gardens of Versailles, using a method that was successful until some non-European species of strawberries arrived in the eighteenth century. It was Amédée Frézier, who during a mission took white strawberry plants in Chile.
In this period, full cycle cultivations began, and two wild American species crossed, the Chilean one and the Fragaria of Virginia. In this way the "large" strawberry (compared to wild strawberries) was born, the Fragaria Ananassa that we consume greedily today.
Always used in confectionery, since the 1980s the strawberry has been exalted through the Nouvelle Cuisine, which by modifying the conceptsthe traditional on the associations of flavors and aromas, has used strawberries in an unusual way. A fruit that has also been successful as an ingredient in risotto and in a sweet and sour sauce created to flavor roasts and meat dishes.

Plant and Fruit

The strawberry comes from the plant of the genus Fragaria, which is part of the rose family – Rosaceae. A shrub that produces succulent, red fruit and tiny white flowers.
There are over twenty species of strawberry, as well as numerous hybrid strawberries and cultivar varieties. The most cultivated species of strawberry plants is Fragaria x Ananassa, also called garden strawberry.
If you follow a careful cultivation, the plants can last even 5 years, but most of the farmers carry out an annual harvest, replanting them every year; also because the strawberry plants need fertile soil.
To develop, the crops require from 8 to 14 months of maturation, and the fruits in reality, from a botanical point of view, are only the seeds on the surface of the strawberry, the so-called achenes.
The part we eat is the aggregate fruit, or false fruit, which in the red part is the enlarged receptacle of the flower.
The strawberries commonly grown today are hybrids deriving from the crossing between European and american.

Nutritional values of natural dehydrated strawberries

Their caloric intake of 348 Kcal per 100 grams, also provides several useful micronutrients.
The natural dried strawberry without added sugar, gives many fibers (2.3%), very little fat (0.57%), a good amount of protein (1.7%) vitamin C (about 5 mg out of 100 g).
Strawberries are an energy food, which also has a good availability of minerals such as potassium (about 1600 mg per 100 g), iron (about 2 mg per 100 g), calcium (about 200 mg per 100 g), manganese and phosphorus.

How to consume natural dehydrated strawberries in the kitchen or as a snack

Dried strawberries can be used in various ways, also thanks to their less sweet taste than strawberries with added sugaro.
A an excellent way to include them in the daily diet is to add a portion to breakfast cereals, or as a snack of dried fruit to break hunger between meals.
Dehydrated strawberries are a healthy alternative to sweets, just as satisfying but with more properties healthy and sugar-free beyond the natural ones. They are excellent before and after sports training as an energy snack.
They are an appetizing ingredient for desserts, such as muffins, cakes, cupcakes or ice cream as a top decoration. Dehydrated strawberries have an excellent value for flavoring plain yogurt or some semifreddo. Until they become ingredients for sweet or savory dishes, cocktails and aperitifs.
When ground, they become strawberry powder to be added to smoothies, milk or vegetable drinks.

Dried strawberries: side effects and contraindications 

There are no particular warnings for taking natural strawberries, but it is necessary to examine whether there is a possible intolerance or allergy to the food, which is not so rare. Strawberries actually contain a certain amount of histamine, a substance that can cause nausea and itching.
Like many dried fruit, dehydrated strawberries have a sugar content which advises against excessive doses for those suffering from diabetes.
Although in the natural strawberry version with no added sugar, these glycemic values are minors.
For those who regularly take heart medications, the excessive potassium in strawberries could be harmful to the kidneys, so it is advisable not to exceed the minimum quantities.
It is a food rich in fibres, therefore, in large doses the strawberry could cause a laxative action on the intestine.