You know the basics of citrus fruit already: it's a huge source of some of your most important daily nutritional requirements, it's fun to eat with a huge variety of great tastes among its many varieties, and it even provides fiber to help your bones and muscles grow.

But did you also know that citrus fruit has played a long and distinguished role in world history, or that emerging research shows some kinds of fruit may be even more beneficial to the human body than previously believed? Presented below are a few of the lesser-known facts about citrus fruit. They're all true.

Citrus fruit is a drug for the 21st Century.

Citrus fruits such as oranges are sometimes called "the wonder food" and for plenty of good reasons. Recent studies show that oranges contain high doses of important antioxidants, which can help the body resist disease and recover from cellular damage. Meanwhile other assorted citrus fruits such as pink grapefruit contain the antioxidant lycopene. Some studies show lycopene may help prevent many different types of cancer, including prostate cancer.

Many medical researchers believe antioxidants may open the door for a new generation of medicine and therapeutic care of the sick and elderly. In the future, eating citrus fruits could become a part of many medical treatment routines, with people of all ages turning to fresh citrus fruit, for example the kind found in fresh citrus fruit baskets, as part of their daily health routine.

Citrus Fruits Helped Sailors Explore The New World

The wonders of citrus fruit may play a big role in the medicine of the future, and they also played a big part in world history. Five hundred years ago, the crews of long-voyage exploration ships were vulnerable to a painful bone disease called scurvy. In time, these explorers released that eating oranges while aboard ship helped prevent the disease. Free from its affliction, ships went out to explore the North and South American continents.

Modern Citrus Fruits Are Grown Using State-of-The-Art Techniques

The citrus fruits of the presents are grown and developed using only the most current and ecologically responsible techniques and methods, drawing on centuries of both research and tradition to produce the best tastes possible. Citrus fruits, for example the kind used in assorted fruit baskets and fruit gift baskets, are picked and shipped at their peak ripeness, allowing for maximum freshness and taste.