Kiwifruit

Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi), or Chinese gooseberry (traditional Chinese: 獼猴桃; simplified Chinese: 猕猴桃; pinyin: míhóutáo), is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa 'Hayward') is oval, about the size of a large hen's egg: 5–8 centimetres (2–3 inches) in length and 4.5–5.5 cm (1+3⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) in diameter. Kiwifruit has a thin, fuzzy, fibrous, light brown skin that is tart but edible, and light green or golden flesh that contains rows of tiny black edible seeds. The fruit has a soft texture with a sweet and unique flavour.

Kiwifruit is native to central and eastern China, with the first recorded description dating back to the 12th century during the Song dynasty. In the early 20th century, cultivation of kiwifruit spread from China to New Zealand, where the first commercial plantings took place. It gained popularity among British and American servicemen stationed in New Zealand during World War II, and later became commonly exported, first to the United Kingdom and Australia from 1953, followed by California in 1959.

From the late 20th century, countries beyond New Zealand initiated independent kiwifruit breeding programmes, including China and Italy. As of 2023, China accounted for 55% of the world's total kiwifruit production, making it the largest global producer.

Early varieties were discovered and cultivated in China. Common Chinese names for the fruit prior to the 20th century include míhóutáo (Chinese: 獼猴桃, 'macaque peach'), húlítáo (Chinese: 狐狸桃, 'fox peach'), ténglí (Chinese: 藤梨, 'vine pear') and yángtáo (Chinese: 羊桃, 'sheep peach'). Among the early English language names for the fruit were yangtao, the name that was in popular use in the Yangtze River valley areas of central China, Wilson's gooseberry (after British plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson), gooseberry vine, and Ichang gooseberry, the latter referring to Yichang, a port city in Hubei province. The first known reference to the name Chinese gooseberry comes from 1917 in New Zealand, but it is likely that the name was in use before this time. By the 1920s, Chinese gooseberry became the standard name for the fruit in English until the 1950s. In modern-day Chinese, the fruit is often referred to as qíyìguǒ (Chinese: 奇異果), a transliteration from English.

In 1959, Turners & Growers, a major New Zealand exporter, began calling it "kiwifruit" after being advised by a United States client, Norman Sondag, that products with the name gooseberry may have been having difficulty passing through quarantine. Sondag believed that quarantine officials were more suspicious of European gooseberries and other berry shipments, due to fears that berries that were grown closer to the ground could come into contact with soil contaminated with anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis, something that was not an issue with kiwifruit. The name kiwifruit was coined by Jack Turner of Turners & Growers, referencing kiwi, an informal name used to describe New Zealanders, which Turner felt that United States servicemen stationed in the Pacific during World War II would have fond associations with. The name was first registered by Turners & Growers on 15 June 1959, and by 1970, all exports from New Zealand used the name kiwifruit.

Numerous myths are associated with the naming of kiwifruit, including that it is a reference to New Zealand's furry, brown, national bird – the kiwi, or that the name Chinese gooseberry was replaced in response to anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States.

In New Zealand and Australia, the word kiwi alone either refers to the bird or is used as a nickname for New Zealanders. Kiwifruit has since become a common name for all commercially grown kiwifruit from the genus Actinidia. In the United States and Canada, the shortened name kiwi is commonly used when referring to the fruit.

Kiwifruit is native to central and eastern China. The first identifiable description of a plant as Actinidia chinensis is from a Tang dynasty poem by Cen Shen, which describes a mihoutao plant growing above a well in modern-day Shaanxi. The first recorded description of the kiwifruit dates to 12th century China during the Song dynasty. As it was usually collected from the wild and consumed for medicinal purposes, the plant was rarely cultivated or bred. Cultivation of kiwifruit spread from China in the early 20th century to New Zealand, where the first commercial plantings occurred. After the Hayward variety was developed, the fruit became popular with British and American servicemen stationed in New Zealand during World War II. Kiwifruits were exported to Great Britain and Australia from 1953, and then to California from 1959.