What is Lucas Candy?
It is a candy made from pulped tamarind fruit and chilli powder. It is very popular in Mexico particularly with children. Lucas candy is additionally flavoured with sugar and salt. The combination of ingredients gives simultaneous taste of sweetness and spice, along with a sharpness that enhances the spicy flavour. Lucas Mexican candy is also known under its trade name Pulparindo.
What is tamarind?
The tamarind tree is indigenous to Central and West Africa and produces a sweet and tangy fruit that is used in cooking all over Southern Asia and was introduced to Latin America in the 15th and 16th centuries. Today outside Asia is the largest single producer and consumer of tamarind fruit. Much of it used in the manufacture of lucas candy.
Health benefits of tamarind
A source of dietary fibre:
Fibre itself is not digested but is an excellent source of roughage which insures a healthy and regular digestive system. The fibres also react with bile salts (released from the pancreas during digestion) bonding with cholesterol it contains and removing it from the body. This obviously stops reabsorption of the molecule in the large intestine and can remove excess cholesterol from the body
It is rich in tartaric acid:
This antioxidant and anti-inflammatory occurs in very high concentrations in tamarind fruit, so has role in boosting the immune system. In addition it can lower glucose levels in the blood stream and improves the efficiency of absorption of digested food molecules in the small intestine, ileum and duodenum.
It contains essential trace (mineral elements):
Copper:
Promotes organised growth and improves the absorption of iron. It also improves the efficiency of enzyme catalysed biochemical reactions, (of which there are millions) and it ensures healthy connective tissue.
Potassium:
The element is essential for healthy blood and the body fluids which regulate the heart rate. It also has a role in the transmission of nerve impulses
Calcium:
Absolutely essential for healthy bones and teeth
Iron:
This is Needed for the protein hemoglobin which is found in red blood cells, hemoglobin bonds with oxygen and continually transport throughout the body.
Lucas candy also contains selenium (which helps the skin reabsorb vitamins D and E), zinc (which boosts the immune system), and magnesium (which is essential for protein synthesis). In addition it contains vitamin A, Vitamin C, niacin, folic acid and riboflavin.
