Iran and Turkey are the biggest dried fig producer with a share of 70 – 80%, and in world dried fig export with a share of 90%.

 The cultivated fig (Ficus carica) probably originated in southwestern Asia and became a very popular fruit throughout Iran, Turkey, Arabia, and the Mediterranean region when civilizations and empires were just being born. Egyptians depicted figs in pictographs and hieroglyphics, and the writings of the Greeks and Jews made many references to the plant. Figs are edible either fresh or dry, and, like dates, the dried fig became an important staple in the diets of people on the move or living in dry areas, where fresh fruits were unattainable. Figs are high in calories, but the milky latex in the plant is a laxative.

Cultivated figs grow on small trees with three-lobed, deciduous leaves. What is here called a fruit is actually a "multiple fruit," which is an entire inflorescence of flowers. The vase-shaped multiple fruit of a fig is sometimes called a syconium. The syconium evolved from a primitive form that looked like a flat plate crowded with small flowers. Through evolution the plate arched upward into a ball. Therefore, the flowers are located on the inside, and there is a small hole (ostiole) at the top that is hidden by some scales, but is important as the entrance for the pollinator. Most species of figs in the world (the genus Ficus has more than 600 species) are monoecious and have male and female flowers within a single syconium. This is the condition also of the "caprifig," the wild goat fig (also Ficus carica) of southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. The charming but puzzling feature of three other types of cultivated figs (Common, Smyrna, and San Pedro) is that no male flowers are ever produced.

Figs, whose story starts with Adam and Eve, are accepted as sacred fruit and commonly consumed during Christmas all over the world. San Pedro fig types have two crops of figs each year. The spring crop (breba crop) is parthenocarpic, but the second crop, like the Smyrna fig, requires clarification. Smyrna figs are considered to be the most desirable fig. They are judged better in flavor than the parthenocarpic fruits because the skin is more tender and the oil in the fertilized seeds give the fig extra flavor.

Speaking of extra flavor, it is true that the skeleton of a female wasp plus some dead larvae of the next generation fig wasps occur in Smyrna figs; however, the consumer hardly notices these inclusions. The "crunch" of the Smyrna fig is the oily seeds.

 

 

Nutrition Value

20 % of the energy requirement is met by consuming 200 grams (10 figs) while meeting about 14% of protein requirement and while also meeting 34 percent of Recommended Daily Allowances for Calcium, and 60 % of Iron, and 60 % of Magnesium minerals and also meeting 10.4 % of Vitamin B1 and 9 % of Vitamin B2, these are all required for cell reconstruction.

Smyrna dried figs contain every kind of dietary fibres in high ratios. These are pectins, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and polysaccharides.
Dried Figs are in the class of foods containing highest quantities of dietary fibre. 200 grams of dried figs contain about 13 grams of dietary fibres. The USA Dietetic Association recommends a daily fibre intake of 20 to 35 grams from a variety of sources combined with a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.

Figs contain Calcium as much as milk. 100 grams of milk meets 17% of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for Calcium.

Dried Figs contain the counterbalanced amount of Phosphorus together with Calcium.

 

Storage  

Just keep in the dry and places it has a shell life of 2 years if it is kept in 4 – 6 Celsius degree. Avoid direct sunlight, although it has no effect on quality but direct sunlight may warm the dried figs to make them more dry or activate microorganisms, if environment is humid.
Optimum relative humidity is 50-60 %. Avoid humid and stagnant environment.

Cartons should be stowed about 10 cm above the ground on pallets and cartons should be covered with cloth or plastic in high ceiling spaces. There must be at least slight natural ventilation to prevent possible moisture condensing on dried figs.

As water at the outer level of dried figs evaporate, natural sugars crystallize on the outer surface of dried figs. This is normal and natural.

Usage of Dried Figs

As Snack, Baking, In Breakfast Cereals and In Ice Cream

 

Available Times