A rich source of antioxidants, packed with potassium, vitamin C and B complex, as well as melatonin, cherries pack a punch

Whether eaten out your hand, baked in a pie, or smushed into fruity drinks, there's no doubt about it, cherries are so incredibly versatile. If you can’t find sour, most sweet varieties work just fine, though you might add a little lemon juice or zest to impart tartness. Seasons tend not to matter either thanks to the tinned goodness in products like Admirals' Stoned Black Cherries, a perfect pie filling or pavlova topping. If you cant stand the idea of heating up the kitchen to make cherry baked goods, cold cherry treats — like ice creams, smoothies, cocktails and salsa — are the way to go this season. Dump some cherries, bananas and low-fat yoghurt in the blender and slurp your troubles away.

Cherries are low in calories and chock full of fibre, vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and other good-for-you ingredients. You'll get vitamins C, A, and K and each long-stemmed fruit delivers potassium, magnesium, and calcium too. They also bring antioxidants, like beta-carotene, and the essential nutrient choline. Check out these facts about the little purple fruits.

1 The health benefits of eating cherries are many, including pain relief, prevention of heart disease and cancer, as well as reducing inflammation.

2 The world record for spitting a cherry pit is more than 28 metres, a record set in 2003 by Rick Krause of Michigan.

3 The average cherry tree grows enough cherries to make 28 pies, around 800 pieces of ripe fruit.

4 If there is a lot of rain when cherries are ripe, they can get so full of water that they can burst, causing them to split. In heavy rain season, farmers will sometimes hire helicopters to dry off their fruit so it doesn’t split.

5 Cherries blossom in April in the Northern Hemisphere and the peak season for the cherry harvest is in the summer.

6 The world’s heaviest cherry was grown by Gerardo Maggipinto in Italy. It weighed more than 21g and it was harvested on June 21, 2003.

Fresh cherries, USA; AED94.50kg

7 Cherries are like bodyguards. They slow down aging and ward off chronic illnesses including heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and obesity.

8 There are more than 500 varieties of sweet cherries.