Should We Love Strawberry?

by Anisa Agustin

The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear “strawberry” is the word delicious. Then, I will imagine the red color that looks very fresh. Beside that, strawberry is very interesting because although it is small but it can give great taste for our food and drink. Then, it can also make us healthier. In this article, I will tell you some interesting facts about strawberry, types of strawberry, the health benefits, and about hydroponics strawberry.
Strawberry comes from class Magnoliopsida under division Magnoliphyta, Rosaceae family, and genus Fragaria. (Interesting Fact about Strawberry Origins, paragraph 1). “Fragaria comes from the term “fragans” indicating the perfumed nature of the flesh strawberry.” (Interesting Fact about Strawberry Origins, paragraph 4). The scientific name for strawberry are Fragaria Virginiana and Fragaria Chilioensis. (Strawberries, paragraph 12). Some people do not know that actually strawberry is not the real fruit. Something that we consider as the fruit is the aggregate fruit. The real fruit is the seeds. Other interesting fact of strawberry is that there are about 200 seeds in a single strawberry. About the history of the name, people in the past gave the name straw-berry because they used straw when they planted the crops. The strawberry that we consume now is the result of crossing the female strawberry from South America and male strawberry from North America. The scientists who do this crossing are from Europe. (Interesting Fact about Strawberries, paragraph 5).
There are three main types of strawberry that are June bearing, Day neutral and Everbearing. If we want to plant strawberry in the fall, we should choose the June bearing. It is the appropriate type for fall season. Then, you will get the best crop in the following year. If you want to spend your spring holiday to plant strawberry, you can choose the Day neutral because it is spring planted. You do not need to wait for a long time because it will produce the fruit in the first year. The last type, Everbearing strawberry, can be planted at various time. It will produce two crops on late June and late August. These crops are usually smaller than other crops.(Gush 2002, paragraph 12).
The next thing that makes strawberry very special is that it is very useful for our health. Strawberry contains a lot of vitamin and nutrients that is needed by our body. So, we do not need to worry about how to be healthy because strawberry can help us. According to some researchers we can get a lot of health benefits only by eating 8 strawberry everyday. (Strawberries, paragraph 6). Of course, it is a very simple way to keep our body health.
The first health benefit of strawberry is that it can prevent heart disease. For example, Vitamin B, which is found in strawberry can, helps better functioning of the heart. It can also strengthen our cardiac muscles. Then, the Vitamin C can also lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and reduce the risk of angina. (Health Benefit of Strawberry, paragraph 9)
The second health benefit of strawberry is that it can prevent cancer. Phenols, which is found in strawberry, can heighten body’s cancer fighting. (Parveen, paragraph 5). Now, we can find the cause of cancer around us such as smoke and other free radicals. Cancer also become the first cause of death.
The third health benefit of strawberry is that it is very useful for eye care. Our eyes may experience some damages like drying up of eyes, degeneration of optical nerves, and vision defects. However, may not be afraid of those damages if we consume strawberry because strawberry is rich in antioxidant that can avoid the damages. Besides that, strawberry also contains potassium, which can maintain the right pressure in our eyes. (Health Benefit of Strawberry, paragraph 4).
The fourth health benefit of strawberry is that it can reduce cholesterol in our body. As we know, there is a lot of food which contains high amount of cholesterol. People also like consuming that food because it tastes very delicious. Strawberry may be the way out because strawberry is rich in Vitamin C, fiber, folate, and it is low in fat. (strawberries, paragraph 2). We can also consume strawberry to maintain our weight because it contains fiber. The fiber can help our digestion system to function properly.
The fifth health benefit is that strawberry can lower the blood pressure. Some people often have problem with their blood pressure because there are too much sodium in their body. In the contrary, strawberry has potassium and magnesium which can lower the blood pressure. (Health Benefit of Strawberry, paragraph 8).
Then, the last health benefit that I want to share to you is that strawberry can help our brain system. Of course, we do not want something goes wrong in our brain. Strawberry can help us to neutralize the effects of free radical which is very harmful. It can also rejuvenate the system in our brain because strawberry contains Vitamin C and phytochemicals. Then, the iodine can make proper functioning of our brain and nerves system. (Health Benefits of Strawberry, paragraph 7)
After we know that strawberry has many health benefits, we can start grow strawberry by ourselves. There is a way to grow strawberry without thinking about the large place needed. We can grow hydroponics strawberry in our garden. Hydroponics strawberry is a productive and efficient form of growing. We do not need soil, which is the sort of pest, mites, and parasites, to grow the strawberry. We can also reduce the use of methyl bromide which can kill the evil doer, but can also be a toxic to human. (Article 6-1 Strawberry). So, we can start growing strawberry in our small garden and we can harvest our own strawberries crop.
By growing hydroponics strawberry, we can get many advantages. The first is that it can be set up indoor or outdoor. So, people who has no garden can grow the strawberry indoor. If they choose to grow the strawberry outdoor, they can also grow it at elevated height. The second advantage is that the cultivation is easier in hydroponics strawberry. The last advantage of hydroponics strawberry is about the picking rate. If we grow strawberry, we want to get high yield per plant and hydroponics strawberry is higher in yield per plant than other form of growing. The picking rate is also much easier and less fatiguing. So, hydroponics strawberry is a good way out for us. (Advantages and Disadvantages of Strawberry Hydroponics, paragraph 2).
On the other hand, hydroponics strawberry also has the disadvantages. The first is that hydroponics strawberry requires a lot of attention. We should really care about the crops and we cannot just leave it. We should take a look at it to check whether the crops experience problem or not. Although we have solved the problem about soil, we still have problem with the foliage pests. We will deal with spiders, insects, and mildew that can damage our crops. (Advantages and Disadvantages of Strawberry Hydroponics, paragraph 5).
As the conclusion, strawberry is not only delicious but also very useful for our health. It can help us to keep our body healthy. Then, we can grow strawberry by ourselves using hydroponics strawberry technique. This technique will give us some advantages in growing strawberry. On the other hand, we should consider some problems that still exist when we grow hydroponics strawberry. Finally, there is no reason not to love strawberry.











References:
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Article 6-1 Strawberry. Retrieved March 19, 2010, from Simply Hydroponics and Organics website: http://www.simplyhydro.com/strawberries.htm.
Gush, Rick. Strawberries can be an excellent fruit crop choice for small farmers. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from the Hobbyfarms website: http://www.hobbyfarms.com/crops-and-gardening/fruit-crops-strawberries-14782.aspx.
Mukherjee, Aparup. Health Benefit of Strawberry. Retrieved February 15, 2010, from the Organic Facts website: http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/health-benefits-of-strawberry.html.
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(February 22, 2010). Strawberries – What are Health Benefits Of Strawberries? | Heart Benefits and Nutrition Values Of Strawberries | Vitamin C in Strawberry Fruit. Retrieved April 9, 2010, from ehealthyland.com: http://www.ehealthyland.com/health/fruits-and-fruit-juices/strawberries-what-are-health-benefits-of-strawberries-heart-benefits-and-nutrition-values-of-strawberries-vitamin-c-in-strawberry-fruit.html.

(February 26, 2008). Interesting Fact about Strawberries. Retrieved may 25, 2010, from Growing Strawberry website: http://www.growing-strawberry.com/interesting-facts-about-strawberries/.