Buying fruit a couple of days before you plan to eat it to allow it time to ripen
The Basics
“Fresh fruit always taste better when it is ripe. To make sure you’ve always got ripe fruit available, buy it several days before you plan to eat it to give it time to ripen”, suggests Todd Donnelly, a registered nutritionist.
“…If you’re unsure how to tell when something is ripe or not, visit the local grocer’s and ask them to explain the signs to look for when buying different fruits”.
“Buying a big fruit bowl, having it on display and filling it, either at home or in the office (or both) will ensure there is always a healthy snack choice near by”, Todd suggests.
Common Myths and Misconceptions
- “Eating unripe bananas is bad for you”. . Unripe (green) bananas contain less sugar, and more starch, than the ripened (yellow) banana and will therefore not taste as sweet, but they are just as nutritious. .
- “Ripe bananas are bad for weight loss”. Many people believe that a ripe banana contains too much sugar and should not be eaten if you’re trying to lose weight. This is not the case. A medium sized ripe banana contains around 80 calories and makes a much healthier snack choice than a couple of biscuits!
- “Eating bruised fruit is bad for you”. There is no reason why you shouldn’t eat bruised fruits apart from you disliking the taste or texture.
- “There is no point in eating pre-prepared fruit or vegetables as all the vitamins and goodness has gone”. Certain vitamins are ‘lost’ when fruit and vegetables are cut up, exposed to UV light, heat or oxygen. Pre-packed fruit and vegetables will have been packed in a protective environment without oxygen to prevent them from spoiling. However, you don’t just eat fruit and vegetables for their vitamins, you also consume them for fibre, which will still be intact.
Tips and Tricks
- Look out for fruit specially packaged to contain some fruit that is ripe to eat and some that will ripen in a couple of days.
- To accelerate ripening place fruit in a paper bag with a banana – the banana gives off a gas called ethylene which will help the other fruit to ripen.
- If you have fruit that is ripe and you don’t want it to ripen any further store it in the fridge.
If you have fruit that is too ripe to eat, use it to make a smoothie.
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