Fruit in any form is the most nutritious and delicious natural food we can feed our body. We all know that fruit is best eaten fresh but there are also some delicious way of serving it, below I have listed some practical tips on how to dry, juice and cook fruits.

How to sun dry fruit:

• Place the fruit in a single layer on a baking dish for three to four days, turning slices over half way through the drying process. At night time place the fruit inside to keep dew from collecting on the fruit. Sun drying fruit works best in climates with 100 degree heat and low humidity. Otherwise use oven to dry fruits.

How to oven-dry fruit:

• Choose firm, bruise-free and fully ripe but not over ripe fruit.
• Wash, peel, core and cut into ¼ inch slices. The smaller the pieces, the quicker they will dry. But keep all pieces uniform in size so they'll dry at the same time.
• To preserve the color of the fruit, blanch or dip the fruit slices before drying them.
• Place the fruits in a single layer on wax paper or a baking dish (cut size facing up). Put in a warm oven at 140°F / 60°C for about six hours.
• Remove from the oven and lay the fruit on the kitchen counter and let dry in the open air for a day or so, turning it over occasionally.
• The fruit is fully dried and ready when it is wrinkled and it size shrunk to ¾ of its original size and there is a slight change in color. At the same time, it must be soft and juicy. When fruit is properly dried it can keep their flavor for up to six months if stored in airtight containers and refrigerated.

How to cook fruit:

• When using dried food in cooking, soak the fruit at room temperature in hot water, wine or brandy before using. If the fruit is not soaked it will turn hard during cooking.
• When using fresh fruit for desserts, use ripe or even slightly overripe fruit for it gives the best flavor.
• Blending fruit is best done when the fruit is at room temperature rather than when it is just taken out of the refrigerator.

How to Juice Fruit:

• Choose a fruit that is heavy, as that gives more juice.
• When juicing citrus fruits like oranges, lemon and pomelo roll it on a countertop and knead it simultaneously. This crushes the fruit inside and breaks the juice sacs and you can hear the rupturing sound. Once this is done, cut the fruit into half, taking care not to spill the juice. Extract the juice, as you would do with an orange or lemon, using a manual or electric juicer.
• Strain the juice through a fine sieve (if you are juicing it manually).

Other Important tips:

• Dried fruit are higher in calories, sugar and fiber than fresh fruit because the water content evaporates and the flesh and skin darken and the sugar content is concentrated.
• To ripen fruit faster, wrap them individually in an old newspaper and keep them in a covered container.
• If you want to store the dried fruit for a longer period of time, it is best to pasteurize the slices to destroy any bacteria. To do this, when drying is complete, freeze the fruit for several days at zero degrees in a deep freeze or heat in a 175 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
• To store dried fruit. Place the fruit in an airtight ziplock bags or glass containers kept inside paper bag to protect from light. Store in cool dry place. Since a refrigerator is cool and moist, keep the dried fruit there only in the heat of summer, but make sure the package is air tight.