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Fig can also be found in continental climate with hot summer, as north as Hungary, and can be picked twice or thrice a year. Thousands of cultivars, most unnamed, have been developed or come into existence as human migration brought the fig to many places outside its natural range. It has been an important food crop for thousands of years, and was also thought to be highly beneficial in the diet.

Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic type dating to about 94009200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho). The find predates the domestication of wheat, barley, and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture. It is proposed that they may have been planted and cultivated intentionally, one thousand years before the next crops were domesticated (wheat and rye). Kislev et al.

Cato the Elder, in his De Agri Cultura , lists several strains of figs grown at the time he wrote his handbook: the Mariscan, African, Herculanean, Saguntine, and the black Tellanian ( De agri cultura , ch. 8). The fruits were used, among other things, to fatten geese for the production of a precursor of foie gras.

According to USDA data for the Mission variety, dried figs are richest in fiber, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamin K, relative to human needs. They have smaller amounts of many other nutrients. Figs have a laxative effect and contain many antioxidants. They are good source of flavonoids and polyphenols. Vinson (1999) In one study, a 40-gram portion of dried figs (two medium size figs) produced a significant increase in plasma antioxidant capacity. Vinson et al.

The genus Dorstenia, also in the fig's family (Moraceae), exhibits similar tiny flowers arranged on a receptacle but in this case the receptacle is a more or less flat, open surface. The flower is invisible, as it blooms inside the fruit. The small orifice visible on the middle fruit is a narrow passage, which allows a very specialised wasp, the fig wasp, to enter the fruit and pollinate the flower, whereafter the fruit grows seeds.

The Quran mentioned figs and then stated, "If I had to mention a fruit that descended from paradise, I would say this is it because the paradisiacal fruits do not have pits...eat from these fruits for they prevent hemorrhoids, prevent piles and help gout." The Quote by prophet Muhammad is from Bukhari.

The derisive English idiom I don't care a fig probably originates from the abundance of this fruit.

Before the Senate, he produced a handful of fresh figs, said to be from Carthage. This showed its proximity to Rome (and hence the threat)figs are also associated with femininity (due to the appearance of the inside of the fruit), and an insult may have been intended.

Source: Wikipedia > Common Fig