Rambutan fruit – Health Benefits, Uses and Important Facts

The rambutan fruit has a variety of beneficial substances in it, like anthocyanins, methanolic compounds and phenolic compounds, which are all powerful antioxidants. It has a lot of soluble and insoluble fibre, which can help stop constipation and other bowel problems. Not only does it improve overall health and boost the immune system, but it is also sweet and tasty and easy to add to the diet. So, adding this exotic fruit to your daily diet may lead to better health in general.

Rambutan is a tropical fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. The word "rambutan" comes from the Malay word for "hair." This is because the fruit is about the size of a golf ball and has a hairy red and blue shell like a sea urchin. The white flesh of a rambutan has a light, sweet taste, and it has a seed in the middle.

What is rambutan fruit?

 The rambutan looks like a sea urchin because it has a bright red, bumpy skin and a sharp shell. It looks like an egg and has electric hairs coming out of it. Its name comes from the Malay word rambut, which means "hairy." This fruit is in the sapindaceae family. This fruit comes from southeast Asia and shouldn't be confused with the more common and seasonal lychee fruit. Under the fruit's tough skin is a creamy, sweet, nutrient-rich fruit pulp or flesh that is full of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.

Rambutan fruit appearance:

A rambutan tree can grow up to 80 feet tall. The base of the trunk has grown wider, making it strong and smooth. The tree has small flowers and groups of 4 to 11 leaves.

The word "hair" in the Malay language is where the name "rambutan" comes from. The name of the fruit comes from the many hair-like bumps on it.

Inside this hairy protuberance is flesh that is rose-colored, juicy, translucent, sweet, and tastes a little bit sour. It only has one seed, which is more or less long, round, or flat.

Taste of Rambutan fruit:

Rambutan fruit looks and feels like lychee, but it tastes different because it is sweeter and creamier and has a little bit of sourness in it. Rambutan fruit has a flavour that is a little bit sour. If the fruit is black rather than red or green, it has been picked too late.

Best way to consume rambutan fruit:

The best way to eat a fresh rambutan is to cut the shell apart with a sharp knife and then cut up the fruit to get the bitter seed out of the middle. The rambutan flesh can then be eaten right away, added to a fruit salad, or used to make a smoothie. With its naturally sweet taste, this fruit is also a great substitute for mango or pineapple in fruit sorbets. You could use rambutan instead of mango or pineapple.

Ways to use rambutan fruit:

• Most of the time, this fruit is eaten fresh.
• People often eat rambutans right out of hand because they are too tasty to resist or wait.
• You can also put it in curries, fruit salads, sorbets, and ice creams.
• If you puree rambutans, you can use them in smoothies and jams.
• Spices can be made less hot by adding rambutan fruit to curries.
• Raw rambutan fruits are often put in jars and eaten that way.

Health benefits of Rambutan fruit: 

1. The rambutan is full of potassium.

Potassium is found in most fruits and vegetables, but rambutan has more potassium than most. Potassium controls and keeps your blood pressure low. A high-potassium diet prevents strokes, eliminates toxic deposits in your arteries, and decreases your risk of getting kidney stones.

The fruit also has enough phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, zinc and copper for a healthy body. Zinc helps wounds heal faster and keeps colds away, and manganese helps your body use energy well. Magnesium makes bones strong and stops cramps in muscles. Phosphorus is good for the health of bones and helps kids grow and develop.

On the other hand, copper helps your body absorb iron, which makes red blood cells and keeps your bones strong. Manganese improves bone health by stopping bone loss caused by osteoporosis, and it also speeds up the healing of wounds.

2. It has a lot of fibre

Rambutan is not only tasty, but it is also very high in fibre. Fibre helps you feel full and keeps your bowels moving regularly, which are both important for losing weight.

Researchers have found that people who eat a lot of fibre-rich foods are more likely to have a lower BMI. Incorporating more fibre-rich foods  to your diet can assist with weight loss.  It will make you feel full without making you feel too full.

Since fibre is hard for the body to break down, it takes time for the body to process it all you eat, even if you don't eat a lot of calories. This makes you feel full longer and keeps you from eating too much later. Adding more fibre to your diet, along with exercise, can help you burn fat faster.

3. Antioxidants keep UV damage from hurting the skin.

Antioxidants are very important to keep UV damage from hurting your skin. Free radicals can damage the DNA in your skin through oxidative stress. This makes you more likely to get melanoma and other skin cancers. Free radicals can be stopped in their tracks by antioxidants. One study discovered that consuming rambutan 3 times a week cuts down on these free radicals. This cuts your risk of getting melanoma by 50%.

4. It has a lot of folate

Folate is a type of vitamin B that helps cells grow and divide. It's also important for women who are pregnant because it keeps birth defects like neural tube defects from happening (birth defects ).

If you aren't ready to have kids yet or don't have any, you might want to eat more folate-rich foods like rambutan to lower your risk of heart disease and colon cancer. This is because folate can also lower the amount of an amino acid in the blood called homocysteine, which is linked to heart disease and stroke. A study found that people with high levels of homocysteine were two and a half times more likely to get coronary artery disease compared to those with low levels.

5. Can keep heart disease from happening

Heart disease is a major cause of death in the United States. Each year, it kills more than 600,000 people. Heart disease can be prevented in a big way by eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, especially fruits like rambutan. With just one serving a day, blood pressure can go down by 13% and cholesterol by 26%. Also, it can keep arteries from getting clogged, which is good for a healthy heart.

6. Combats depression

Studies show that vitamin C helps fight depression by keeping the levels of serotonin and dopamine stable. Serotonin is the chemical that makes you feel happy, and dopamine is the chemical that makes you feel satisfied. And since rambutans have a lot of vitamin C and potassium, which are both linked to more serotonin production, it's no surprise that they're great for preventing depression.

In one study, after only four weeks, individuals who consumed 2 grams of vitamin C twice a day felt happier. Some other studies found that serotonin levels went up when people ate vitamin C-rich foods. So, eating rambutans often can help you meet your needs.