Kiwifruit History

Kiwi fruits fascinating history express this fruit discovery, naming and spread through the time.The scientific name of Kiwifruit is “Actinidia deliciosa” or “ Actinidia chinensis” was formerly known as the Chinese gooseberry , is originated from southern China , known as Yang Tao (sunny peach) or Mihou Tao (macaque peach). Kiwi fruit is claimed as the "National Fruit" of china. In fact, for Chinese people, kiwifruit is still declared as the national fruit! Other species of Actinidia are originally from India and southeastern Siberia and Japan. Growing kiwifruit expanded from China to New Zealand in the early 20th century after introducing seeds by Mary Isabel Fraser (Wanganui Girls' College principal). Wanganui nurseryman planted The planted in 1906 by a, and the first fruits were gathered in 1910.
The Chinese using of kiwifruit was as a tonic for women and children after childbirth because of its superior nutritional value, but never really enjoyed kiwi as a fruit. The kiwifruit arrived first in 1904 in the United States. After understanding the kiwifruit potential, cultivating of this juicy fruit started commercially. The most common kiwifruit variety is the "Hayward," which developed by Hayward Wright.
At first Hayward Kiwifruit grown in local gardens, but cultivating commercially began in the 1940s. After World War II, kiwi fruits export markets opened up because of the initial fruit transportability research by John Pilkington Hudson and others at the agriculture department in Wellington. The first kiwifruits export loading was about 13 tones by Jim MacLoughlin and Grahame Bayliss, which exported to England. The first cargo of kiwifruit was exported to California and the first kiwifruit product of Californian was harvested in 1970 successfully. A new type of yellow, golden kiwifruit was developed by HortResearch in Te Puke In 1991. Some type of kiwi fruits known as "Chinese Gooseberries", because of their similarity to gooseberries. The leading growers and exporters of kiwifruit are: Italy, New Zealand, Iran, Chile, France, Greece, Japan and the USA. In China, kiwifruit is traditionally gathering from the wild regions, but China is not a leading kiwifruit producing country up to now. Fortunately, the opposite cultivating season of New Zealand and Iran makes kiwifruit available during the year.

Kiwifruit Naming

The kiwi is a small flightless bird originated in New Zealand. In 1960 the name kiwifruit chose for the Chinese gooseberry.kiwifruit translates to “souris vegetales” in France, signifying vegetable mouse. It seems that the kiwifruit name is because of its similarity to kiwi bird.