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How To Select Fruit
Here are some common sense tips on buying fruit which accounts for a primary part of the raw diet.
How to Select Fruits
1) Buy in season when quality is highest and prices
lowest.
2) Don't buy more than you will use before they perish. Use
it as soon as possible they will have a better taste.
3) Don't buy damaged fruit unless damage is slight and you
will use it immediately.
4) Be careful how you handle fruit in stores so you don't
ruin the fruit for others.
5) Fruit should only be eaten when ripe. Some foods (bananas
) can be purchased green and ripened at home.
6) Try to purchase organic fruit as much as possible for they
are not sprayed with pesticides.
7) Smell the produce and see if there is an unpleasant odour
coming from the fruit.
8) If fruit doesn't taste right it is better to disregard it
than disregard your health.
Here are some tips for specific fruits:
Apples
Seasons : October through March.
Types : Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Pippin,
Golden Grimes, McIntosh, Jonathan and Winesap.
Selecting : Organic if possible. Apples are one of the most
sprayed fruits. Apples should be firm and crisp with bright
and shiny skin. Color is a sign of maturity in apples - high
in color indicates maturity - and only apples picked when
mature will have good flavor and texture.
Apricots
Season : June through July
Selecting : Look for plump, juicy looking apricots
with a uniform golden-orange hue. When ripe they will gently
yield to pressure. Due to the short growing season dried
apricots are very popular. Avoid sulfur covered dried
apricots and buy organic if available.
Avocados
Season : Available all year.
Selecting : Very important to eat avocados when just
ripe, when it has a buttery consistency and a mild flavor.
Best to buy avocados when they are hard and firm. Take them
home, place them in a brown paper bag and let them ripen at
room temperature. Select avocados of uniform colors and free
of cracks. Don't buy avocados with dark, sunken spots in
irregular patches or cracked surfaces.
Bananas
Season : Available all year.
Selecting : It is best to buy bananas when green for
ripening at home, where ripening conditions can be
controlled. Bananas are usually 'gassed' to facilitate
ripening. Bananas have a good protective skin so the flesh
isn't exposed to chemical sprays. Select bananas free from
surface bruises with skin intact at both tips. Don't buy
bananas which are bruised, discolored, or dull and grayish
which means they have been held in cold storage and will
never ripen properly.
Oranges
Season : December through June.
Types : Navels, Temples, Tangelos, Valencia's,
Tangerines, Tangerines, Pineapple oranges.
Selecting : Color of the skin is no indication of
quality or ripeness. The skin of the first crops of mature
oranges in November are green or greenish, but mature oranges
are ready for harvest and eating, even when the skin is
green. They are, however, not as sweet as oranges harvested a
month or so later on. California growers 'orange' their green
fruit by gassing; Florida shippers put the oranges through a
colored wax bath (a 'nontoxic' food coloring and wax).
because they believe the added color will make the fruit more
saleable. Firm heavy oranges are full of juice. Avoid
lightweight fruit and a very rough surface, which usually
signifies a thick skin and a smaller orange.
Papayas
Seasons : Some of the fruit is available all year
long.
Selecting : Select fruit that has some golden yellow
or orange streaks, which is a sign that it has not been
picked to green and will be apt to ripen properly. If you
select papaya with at least 35% of the skin streaked yellow ,
they will ripen completely in two or three days at room
temperature. When a papaya is totally yellow to orange and
yields to gentle pressure, it is then ready for eating. Avoid
mushy papayas, or fruit with dark patches, which signify age
and decay. The taste should be sweet and lucious.
Mangos
Seasons : May through August.
Selecting Fruit : Mango can be bought green and
ripened at room temperature. It is best to select mangos
which are starting to show signs of ripening, rather then
totally hard and green, or totally ripe. Haden Mangos are
ready to eat when it is yellow/orange, only slightly firm,
yielding to gentle pressure. The Carrie mango is large and
green. It turns a paler green and develops dark speckles as
it ripens. When ripe enough for full flavor and enjoyment, it
is slightly firm, yielding to pressure. Mangos have a tough
peel which is a good protective coat against
pesticides.
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