I was away for a week - I was attending a Seminar with Dr. Vasant Lad,
Ayurvedic Physician. It was wonderful, but not much raw food discussion
there. (I will post a few things from my notes at a later date.)

Anyway, wanted to post a few things of possible interest to some raw-food
and veg-raw list members:

The latest (May 1997) issue of "Tropical Fruit News" magazine (published
by the Rare Fruit Council International, Miami, Florida), has some
interesting things in it.

Pages 8-9, article "Fairchild Garden Tropical Fruit Program, March 1997",
by Richard J. Campbell. The article includes a trip report by Dr. Campbell,
who visited Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. He reports that papaya ringspot virus
is becoming a serious problem there, and the growers are responding with
intense use of pesticides. Scarring of the fruits was common, and in some
cases may be due to chemical (pesticide) "burn". The growers were planting
plant barriers around the papayas, and drenching the barriers with Temic
(a pesticide), to kill the insects that transmit the virus. He reports that
"there was evidence in almost all locations of severe chemical abuse".

So, if you see any scarred Mexican papaya, consider the above.

Page 10, article "Minor Fruits of Southeast Asia: The Bago", by Roberto E.
Coronel. Dr. Coronel mentions that the bago seed might not be fully
developed physiologically, even when the fruit is ripe - further seed
physical development may occur on the ground! The bago fruit is grown for
its seed, which is eaten as a nut (also, its young leaves are cooked and
eaten as a green vegetable). This is a counter-example to the "eat the
fruit when fully ripe" rule in that the nut/seed, the part eaten, needs to
finish its growth on the ground for a while. Otherwise the seeds are slow
to sprout, or sterile. Once again, nature reminds us that we don't fully
understand the "laws".

Finally, from the latest (July/August issue) of "Fruit Gardener" (published by
California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.,  Fullerton, CA):

Pgs 12-13 is an article, "The Indian Mulberry - The Fruit You Love to Hate",
by Gerald Y. Kinro. This article is on Morinda Citrifolia, better known
in the U.S. as "Tahitian Noni", as it has been promoted recently. I mention
this only because someone asked for info on the plant - I have no interest
in buying or selling "Tahitian Noni".  The article is NOT a sales pitch.

Regards,
Tom Billings
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