By Julie Upton, M.S., R.D.

Green or Gold, Kiwifruit Deliver Taste, Nutrition

The Folklore. A kiwi is a type of flightless bird found only in New Zealand and a common nickname for New Zealanders. But to most Americans, a kiwi is a brown, fuzzy fruit. In the 1950s, enterprising New Zealanders dubbed what was once called the Chinese gooseberry with the more marketable name of kiwifruit. The Facts. Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is actually a berry. Like all berries, kiwi pack a big nutrition punch. A serving of green kiwifruit (two medium) is just 92 calories, yet it provides almost double the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C, 16% of the DV for fiber and 13% of the DV for potassium. That’s as much C as in two oranges, the same potassium as in a banana and as much fiber as in many whole-grain cereals.