Figs are among the richest plant sources of
calcium and fiber. 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.
According to the USDA, 100 g of dried, uncooked fruit of the Common Fig (Ficus carica) contains the following:
- Energy 249 kcal
- Protein 3.30 g
- Fat 0.93 g
- Carbohydrate 63.87 g
- Sugars 47.92 g
- Dietary fiber 9.8 g
Cultural aspects
In the
Book of Genesis in the
Bible,
Adam and Eve clad themselves with
fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) after eating the "
forbidden fruit" from the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Likewise, fig leaves, or depictions of fig leaves, have long been used to cover the
genitals of nude figures in painting and sculpture. Art collectors and exhibitors often added these depictions long after the original work was completed. The use of the fig leaf as a protector of modesty or shield of some kind has entered the language.
The
Book of Deuteronomy specifies the fig as one of the
Seven Species (Deuteronomy 8:7-8), describing the fertility of the land of
Canaan. This is a set of seven plants indigenous to the Middle East that together can provide food all year round. The list is organized by date of harvest, with the fig being fourth due to its main crop ripening during summer.
Also in the Bible (Matthew 21:18–22 and Mark 11:12–14, 19–21) is a story of Jesus finding a fig tree when he was hungry; the tree only had leaves on it, but no fruit. Jesus, then, curses the fig tree, which withers.
The biblical quote "each man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25) has been used to denote peace and prosperity. It was commonly quoted to refer to the life that would be led by settlers in the American West, and was used by
Theodor Herzl in his depiction of the future
Jewish Homeland: "We are a commonwealth. In form it is new, but in purpose very ancient. Our aim is mentioned in the First Book of Kings: 'Judah and Israel shall dwell securely, each man under his own vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba".
[14]
Buddha achieved enlightenment under the bodhi tree, a large and old
sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa, or Pipal).
Sura 95 of the
Qur'an is named
al-Tīn (
Arabic for "The Fig"), as it opens with the
oath "By the fig and the
olive." The fruit is also mentioned elsewhere in the Qur'an. Within the
Hadith,
Sahih al-Bukhari records Prophet
Muhammad stating: "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."
[15]
In
Greek mythology, the god
Apollo sends a crow to collect water from a stream for him. The crow sees a fig tree and waits for the figs to ripen, tempted by the fruit. He knows that he is late and that his tardiness will be punished, so he gets a snake from the stream and collects the water. He presents Apollo with the water and uses the snake as an excuse. Apollo sees through the crow's lie and throws the crow, goblet, and snake into the sky where they form the constellations
Hydra,
Crater, and
Corvus.
In
Aristophanes'
Lysistrata one of the women boasts about the "curriculum" of initiation rites she went through to become an adult woman (
Lys. 641–7). As her final accomplishment before marriage, when she was already a fair girl, she bore the basket as a
kanephoros, wearing a necklace of dried figs.
[16]
In the course of his campaign to persuade the
Roman Republic to pursue a
third Punic War,
Cato the Elder produced before the
Senate a handful of fresh figs, said to be from Carthage. This showed its proximity to Rome (and hence the threat), and also accused the Senate of weakness and
effeminacy: figs were associated with femininity, owing to the appearance of the inside of the fruit.
[17]
The word "
sycophant" comes from the Greek word sykophantes, meaning
"one who shows the fig". "Showing the fig" was a vulgar gesture made with the hand.
[18]
The fig tree is sacred to
Dionysus Sukites (Συκίτης). The Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis, is the National Tree of India.
[19]
Since the flower is invisible, there are various idioms related to it in languages around the world. In a
Bengali idiom as used in
toomi jeno doomurer phool hoye gele (তুমি যেন ডুমুরের ফুল হয়ে গেলে), i.e., 'you have become (invisible like) the fig flower (doomurer phool)'. The derisive English idiom
I don't care a fig probably originates from the abundance of this fruit. There is a
Hindi idiom related to flower of fig tree,
गूलर का फूल (
Gular ka phool i.e. flower of fig) means something that just would not ever see i.e. rare of the rarest
[20] In
Awadh region of
Uttar Pradesh state of India apart from
standard Hindi idiom a variant is also used; in the region it is assumed that if something or work or job contains (or is contaminated by) flower of fig it will not get finished e.g. this work contains
fig flower i.e. it is not getting completed by any means.
Gular ka phool (flower of fig) is a collection of poetry in written in
Hindi by Rajiv Kumar Trigarti.
[21]
There is also an old phrase in
Telugu which says "Medi pandu chuda melimayyi undunu, potta vippi chuda purugulundunu", It means—"The fig fruit looks harmless but once you open you find tiny insects [refers to the
fig wasp] in there". The phrase is synonymous to an English phrase—"Don't judge a book by its cover".
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