By Lim Wey Wen

THE vitamin C content of a kiwifruit (once called Chinese gooseberry) needs no further introduction. Like oranges, there is nary a mention of the little brown fruit that does not follow with an observation that it is high in the immune-boosting nutrient.

That is why when Lynley Drummond, health science manager of kiwifruit marketer Zespri International Limited spent almost half her 40-minute presentation on the company's kiwifruit health and nutrition research talking about vitamin C, it did not come as a surprise.

A kiwi(fruit) a day

"The kiwifruit is a nutrient-dense fruit, and the vitamin C content kiwifruit is exceptionally high," Drummond explains.

And if you go by the latest US Department of Agriculture National Nutient Database (2009), a 69g medium-sized green kiwifruit will give you 64mg of vitamin C - almost the same amount a medium-sized orange more than twice its weight (159g) can give you (68mg of vitamin C).

What's best: a gold kiwifruit can give you more. (A gold kiwifruit that weighs 86g can give you close to 91mg of vitamin C).

"Even if you take only one kiwifruit a day, you can meet your daily vitamin C requirements," she adds, much to the delight of the 11 journalists from India and Malaysia who had just spent the first day of the South East Asia Zespri Media Tour at the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, sampling kiwifruits raw and in various food combinations for every meal.

Because even though the kiwifruit is small in size compared to other fruits (a reasonably large kiwifruit is still smaller than a medium sized orange), it still tucks in a lot of nutrients beneath its furry skin.