Fig Seed

The fig is a deciduous tree or large shrub with broad, lobed leaves, and what looks like a fruit is actually a hollow structure called a syconium, lined inside with hundreds of tiny flowers. After pollination or in self-fertile varieties, each flower produces a small seed-like fruit called an achene. These are about 1 to 2 mm long, pale yellow to light brown, and crunchy, which gives the fig its characteristic texture. They have a faint, nutty taste, largely masked by the sweet, jammy pulp. Fig seeds are rarely sold alone, but they are eaten in fresh and dried figs, fig paste, jam and fig-based baked goods, and some are processed into an oil.

The common fig is native to the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, including western Asia, and was among the first fruit trees to be cultivated, with evidence from the Jordan Valley dating back around 11,000 years. It spread through the Mediterranean, to India and later to the Americas. The English word fig comes from Old French figue and Latin ficus. The species name carica may refer to the ancient region of Caria in Anatolia, which was famed for its figs.

Figs are among humanity's oldest cultivated foods. Remains of figs found in the Jordan Valley suggest that varieties able to fruit without pollination were planted by early farmers, before wheat and barley. Figs appear in the writings of Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Hebrew Bible, where the fig tree is a symbol of peace and prosperity. In Greece figs were so valued that exporting the best was once regulated, and Roman accounts speak of figs as an athlete's food.

Most edible figs are produced by trees that develop fruit without pollination, though the Smyrna type needs pollination by a tiny wasp, which enters the fruit and carries pollen. This relationship led to the introduction of the fig wasp to California in the 1890s so that Smyrna figs could be grown there. Fig seeds in fresh fruit result from this pollination.

In the Mediterranean, dried figs are strung and kept through the winter. Today Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Iran lead production. Fig seeds play a quiet role, adding crunch to jam, fig bars and other foods, and researchers have studied the oil pressed from them as a cosmetic and food ingredient.

Fig seeds are eaten whole with fresh or dried figs, in fig jam, fig paste, chutneys, cakes and biscuits, and in pastries such as fig rolls. Ground dried figs, including their seeds, are mixed into baked goods and energy bars. A small amount of fig seed oil is produced for use in skin care and as a specialty cooking oil. Fig leaves, fruit and latex have been used in traditional medicine, although the seeds themselves are not widely used apart from their presence in the fruit.

Figs with their seeds provide fiber, which supports digestion, and small amounts of calcium, potassium, magnesium and polyphenols. The seeds contribute to the fiber, and some research has looked at the oil's fatty acid profile. Evidence for specific health benefits from the seeds is limited. The sugar content of dried figs is high, so portions matter for people monitoring blood sugar.