Home owners preserve the whole fruits in sugar sirup or prepare them as jam, marmalade, or paste. Fig paste (with added wheat and corn flour, whey, sirup, oils and other ingredients) forms the filling for the well known bakery product, “Fig Newton”. The fruits are sometimes candied whole commercially. In Europe; western Asia, northern Africa and California, commercial canning and drying of figs are industries of great importance.
The Fig plays an important part in Latin mythology. It was dedicated to Bacchus and employed in religious ceremonies. The wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus rested under a Fig tree, which was therefore held sacred by the Romans, and Ovid states that among the celebrations of the first day of the year by Romans, Figs were offered as presents. The inhabitants of Cyrene crowned themselves with wreaths of Figs when sacrificing to Saturn, holding him to be the discoverer of the fruit. Pliny speaks also of the Wild Fig, which is mentioned also in Homer, and further classical references to the Fig are to be found in Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Varro and Columella.
Processed figs are made into pies, pudding, cakes, other bakery products, jams, jellies and preserves. Fig paste is a mixture of figs, wheat and corn flour, whey, syrup, oils, and other ingredients
Dietary value, per 100 gram edible portion:
Dried Figs:
Water (%) …………………………………. 23 Calories …………………………………….. 274 Protein (%) ……………………………….. 4.3 Fat (%) ……………………………………… 1.3 Carbohydrates (%) …………………… 69
Crude Fiber (%) ………………………… 5.8 (high for fruit)
% of US RDA*
Vitamin A ………………………………….. 1.6 Thiamin, B1 ……………………………….. 7.1 Riboflavin, B2 ……………………………. 6.2 Niacin ………………………………………… 3.9 Vitamic C …………………………………… 0 Calcium ……………………………………… 15.8 Phosphorus ………………………………. 9.6 Iron …………………………………………… 30 Sodium ……………………………………… 0.8
Potassium …………………………………. 14
In internal use, Fig have been used to fight constipation, bronchitis and because of its edible properties. In external use, latex is applied on warts to get rid of them.
BENEFITS OF FIG
Figs are used for their mild, laxative action, and are employed in the preparation of laxative confections and syrups, usually with senna and carminatives. It is considered that the laxative property resides in the saccharine juice of the fresh fruit and in the dried fruit is probably due to the indigestible seeds and skin. The three preparations of Fig of the British Pharmacopoeia are Syrup of Figs, a mild laxative, suitable for administration to children; Aromatie Syrup of Figs, Elixir of Figs, or Sweet Essence of Figs, an excellent laxative for children and delicate persons, is compounded of compound tincture of rhubarb, liquid extract of senna, compound spirit of orange, liquid extract of cascara and Syrup of Figs. The Compound Syrup of Figs is a stronger preparation, composed of liquid extract of senna, syrup of rhubarb and Syrup of Figs, and is more suitable for adults.
The fruits are most commonly made into jams. According to the Plants for a Future database, the fully ripe fruits are sweet and mucilaginous. They can be eaten raw, cooked, pickled, or dried for later use. The leaves are edible also, but they are rated too mucilaginous to be enjoyable.
Medicinal uses have included: nausea, headaches, fevers, toothache, blood tonic, gout, arthritis, digestive problems, constipation, nervousness, diarrhea, earache, fluid retention, whooping cough, asthma, burns, boils, abscesses, venereal diseases, stomach-ache and to benefit the pancreas, spleen and heart. A Cough Syrup is prepared by soaking chopped leaves in a little water, strained and sweetened with honey.
The high mucilage content forms a healing and protective surface over sore throats. Pads, dried and powdered, are used as base material in vitamin preparations, and the powder is capsulated for treating hemorrhoids. American Indians made an ointment or salve from the plant for wounds, skin diseases and skin cancer.
Use pads, sliced in half, as a poultice, on bites, rashes, abscesses, tumours and rheumatic joints; over the chest for respiratory conditions; over ears for earache; and over the liver region for liver ailments. In China, it is a tradition to treat numbness by eating the pads cooked with eggs; and prepared with pork in soup, to strengthen weak patients. In Mexico, pads are made into a liquid and applied to the scalp, to restore natural hair colour and as conditioner, for dry and itchy scalps.
It is also used in soap recipes. It is a folk remedy for lowering high cholesterol and excess weight and for treating diabetes.