With the price of fruit these days, you don’t want to buy it only to get home and realize you can’t use it because it was too ripe, bruised or a bad quality. Below are some suggestions for buying fruit.
- BANANAS: The skin should not have any bruises or brown spots. Purchase them green and allow them to ripen on the counter at room temperature.
- BERRIES: The berries should be plump and solid with a good color. Do not purchase them if the container looks stained as this means berries may be going bad. If blackberries or raspberries still have the stem on, they may not be ripe. Strawberries should still have the caps on them or they may be overripe.
- MELONS: The best quality cantaloupe is when it has a thick, close netting on the rind. They are ripe when the stem end is smooth and the space between the netting is yellow or yellow-green. If you smell the melon it should have a fruity odor to it. Honeydew are ripe when the flesh has a creamy to yellowish color and a velvety texture. If you see one that is whitish green, it is an immature melon. Watermelon are ripe when they have a bit of yellow color on one side. If one side is white or pale green on one side, it is not ripe.
- ORANGES & GRAPEFRUIT: Choose ones that are heavy for their size. Smoother, thinner skins usually indicate more juice. Most skin markings do not affect the quality of the fruit. Oranges with a slight greenish tinge may be just as ripe as fully colored ones.
- LEMONS: Light or greenish yellow lemons are more tart than ones with a deep yellow color.
AVOID CITRUS FRUITS SHOWING WITHERED, SUNKEN OR SOFT AREAS.
Source: Ron Douglas
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