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Two kiwis give you more than a full day of vitamin C.

Actinidin breaks down protein, so it helps a meat-heavy meal settle.

It's the fruit most likely to cause mouth itching in people with latex allergy.

Kiwi reached Iranian orchards in the 1980s and took to Gilan and Māzandarān so well that Iran is now one of the bigger producers in the world. Here it's a winter fruit, picked in autumn and kept through the cold months. Two of them carry more vitamin C than an orange, and they hold an enzyme called actinidin that breaks down protein — which is why people eat the fruit after a heavy meal rather than before it.

Known to botanists as Actinidia deliciosa.