KNOW THE FRUITS BEFORE YOU EAT - A NUTRITIVE REVIEW ON PHALA VARGA

Dr. Mahesh Raju B.* and Sneha P.

ABSTRACT

Fruits are the integral part of healthy diet since the Vedic era. Ayurveda mentions fruits under the classification of Phala Varga. Explanation regarding Rasa Panchaka, Pathya, Apathya of the fruits has been mentioned in classics. This article gives the correlation of the Ayurvedic and modern aspects of the fruits. Every fruit differs from each other because of its different Rasa Panchaka, nutritional values etc. It is necessary to know which fruit is indicated in which condition, when to eat which type of fruit. As most of the time non communicable diseases like sthoulya, prameha, cancers are increasing every year, so as a part of improvement in public health it’s very important to concentrate on some of the factors like Poor diet, physical inactivity, tobacco and alcohol intake which are the major responsible epidemiological factors in causing some non communicable diseases. In this article it is focused on aspect of supplementary nutrition with fruits along with the regular diet which may be beneficial in fulfilling the lack of vitamins, minerals, fibres etc, if such type of fruits consumed regularly in sufficient quantities also helpful in maintaining their diet in a healthy way as well as helping in preventing various nutritional disorders and also non communicable, life style disorders.

Keywords: Rasa Panchaka, Pathya, Apathya.