First of all, they help make the food we eat taste even more delicious. Secondly, they often have their own health benefits.
Dried Fruits, Berries and Plants
Dried fruits offers some advantages over fresh fruits: a longer shelf life and portability. If you are watching your weight, dried fruits should be eaten in moderation as they contain significantly more calories per serving than fresh fruits. Some dried fruits contain sugars added in processing which increase its calorie content. However, dried fruits without additives offer numerous health benefits .
Dried Herbs
All spices originate from plants: flowers, fruits, seeds, barks, leaves, and roots. Herbs and spices not only improve the taste of foods, but can help preserve them for longer periods of time. Herbs and Spices have antibacterial and antiviral properties and many are high in B-vitamins and trace minerals. True sea salt, for instance, contains 93 trace minerals .
Dried Vegetables
Dehydrated vegetables, with their harder texture and wizened forms, might not be your first vegetable choice, but drying vegetables is a safe, low-fat and long-lasting method of preserving them .
Fresh Melons
Melon has more to offer than a cool summer snack! Numerous varieties of melons are available which are basically fleshy fruits belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family which also includes squash, cucumber, pumpkin, gourd etc. Though botanically melons are fruits, they are often used as culinary vegetables .
Frozen Products
Frozen produce is picked at its peak and flash frozen to maintain all the flavor and nutrients. The Frozen Food Foundation says that frozen fruits and vegetables are equally, and possibly more nutritious than fresh .
Nuts
Nuts are technically considered a fruit. However, unlike most types of fruit, they aren't sweet and are high in fat .
Oil
Oilseed crops are primarily grown for extraction of oils. But the seeds are also widely consumed across the world .