by Dr Marli Botha This traditional South African beverage delights the senses with a bright red hue and blend of sweet and malty flavour. It features a bold flavour profile that entices taste buds and completes the experience with a smooth or crisp finish. The rooibos plant grows exclusively in the mountainous Cederberg region of South...
by Dr Marli Botha Coffee is the most popular beverage to enjoy first thing in the morning, but it's hard to ignore that more and more people have been making the switch to green tea to get their daily fix of caffeine. There are a few health benefits that makes green tea superior to many other...
by Dr Marli Botha Excluding water, black tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. It comes from the Camellia sinensis plant and is often blended with other plants for different flavours. Black tea has stronger flavour and contains more caffeine than most other teas, but less caffeine than coffee. Black tea also...
by Dr Marli Botha Guavas are a very common type of fruit but are often neglected because of their fairly unappealing appearance, its hardness, and the presence of seeds. The guava fruit can however be considered as a superfood and is known for all its health benefits, even its leaves consist of several medicinal properties, like...
by Dr Marli Botha The South African guava industry is primarily based on a local cultivar called Fan Retief, named after the founder of this industry. This variety has a vivid salmon pink flesh, and derives from the original guavas, brought to the Cape via Madeira, by the early Dutch settlers in the seventeenth century. The...
by Dr Marli Botha When you normally think about the fruit “guava”, you tend to think of tropical holidays and fun smoothies with umbrellas sticking out, but what is a guava really? A guava is one of those exotic, yet fairly dull-looking (from the outside!) fruits that, if you have no idea what to do with...
by Dr Marli Botha The mango, or Mangifera indica, is part of the Anacardiaceae family, a family of flowering plants that bear fruits known as drupes (a.k.a. stone fruits!). Drupes are fruits with an outer fleshy part and a stone (or pit) in the middle. Other notable Anacardiaceae family members are poison ivy, sumac, and marula. Here...
by Dr. Marli Botha Mangoes are available in large amounts during peak season, and you might be tempted to buy a boxful when they are available at a reasonable price. It is important, however, to know how to pick the right mango. The bulk of South African mangoes come from the Hoedspruit area in the Limpopo...
by Dr. Marli Botha Mango (Mangifera indica) is a sweet and delicious fruit with many benefits. It is also known as the “king of fruits” due to its impressive nutritional profile. But guess what? Mangoes aren’t just good for dessert and satiating our sweet tooth, they can also be used to beautify your skin too. Here...
by Dr. Marli Botha The seemingly simple sense of taste is anything but clear-cut. Science cannot explain all its complexities, and the underlying biology is so powerful that marketers successfully manipulate customers with suggestions… Here are 8 weird and wonderful facts regarding our taste perception: A compound called cynarin in artichokes can temporarily block your sweet receptors. Then,...
