By Lori Bongiorno
There’s nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than biting into a juicy, sweet, ripe piece of fruit. But how do you know if a peach or strawberry is going to taste as good as it looks?
While it’s true that choosing delicious fruits is more of an art than a science, there are some guidelines that can help you make smart choices.
It’s helpful to know that there are different categories of ripe, according to Shirley Corriher, a food scientist and author of BakeWise. Some fruits become ripe when carbohydrates break down into sugar and they become sweeter after they are picked, such as bananas, apples, pears, and mangoes.
Then there are the ones that are so deceptive, she says, because they ripen in color, texture, and juiciness after they’re picked, but they don’t get any sweeter because they get their sugar from the plant sap. Apricots, peaches, nectarines, blueberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew are all good examples.
Soft berries, cherries, citrus, watermelon, pineapple, and grapes will never ripen after they’ve been picked, says Corriher. So if they’re not ripe in the grocery store, you probably don’t want to bring them home. Avocados, on the other hand, don’t actually start to ripen until after they’ve been picked.
Color, smell, texture, and other clues can also help determine which fruits you should buy. The rules differ depending on the fruit. Below, experts share their secrets for finding the best fruits.
One thing they all agree on is that you’ll get the ripest, most delicious fruits if you shop for local produce that’s in season. It’s also easier to sample fruits at farmers’ markets — the only surefire way to know if fruit tastes good — than at the grocery store. Going to a farm that lets you pick your own fruit right off the vine yields the best fruit, they say.