Food for the Ark — Chapter Nine:

Medicinal Fruits from Chile’s Rainforest

The ark swayed in the sea near where the country of Chile and home of the Selva Valdiviana rainforest used to exist. Annie and LJ were here to assess the condition and depth of the water for Gabriel, the leader of the survivors of the 500-day storm that destroyed the earth. He sent them as part of a plan to help determine where a receding ocean would reveal land first. It would be the initial place all arks would gather to begin restoring human habitat.

LJ walked into the seed room to find Annie immersed in the never-ending job of examining the condition of the 930,000 seeds that represented the planet’s entire biodiversity. “Hi babes, according to my calculations, we are right where the Southern Ocean connected to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.”

“That means we are at the tip of what was Chile,” said Annie, sadly. It was a beautiful, environmentally diverse country.

LJ hugged her, “yes, Chile was devoted to protecting its ecology. Twenty percent of the country’s landmass was designated for its forty-one national parks, forty-five reserves, and seventeen natural monuments. We have seeds from all its flora and fauna on board. Some day they will grow on earth again. We can reminisce about what we used to have before human-induced climate change destroyed our planet, but we must remember our mission now is to protect the seeds and clean up the waters.”

Annie brightened,” you’re right, and the good news is we have seeds from some of Chile’s best medicinal fruits.” Annie opened a tiny drawer and reached inside, “these seeds produce Lucuma, a native fruit that grew in the Andean valleys. It looks similar to mango and has an inedible seed. It can be eaten raw but was commonly consumed in powder form as a healthier alternative to table sugar. Lucuma is an excellent source of calcium (bone builder), potassium (blood-pressure regulator), phosphorus (formation of bones and teeth), vitamin C (tissue repair), and protein.”

LJ laughed, “I was at the farmer’s market once trying to figure out if it was a mango or a Lucuma. While there, I tasted another native fruit, a Pepino Melon. There are several types, the one with golden skin and purple stripes caught my eye. It tastes like a combination of cantaloupe…