How to Pick Fresh Fruits and Vegetables at a Store

Eating fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to maintain good health. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. They contain vitamins, phytochemicals, and minerals that can protect your body from diseases like diabetes, cancers, and heart diseases. Ideally, you should consume five kinds of vegetables and two kinds of fruits each day.

If you want to enjoy the maximum nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables, it is best to select those cultivated in your local region. Imported fruits and vegetables may not have the inherent taste and flavor as they have been picked and packed some time before.

Seasonal fruits and vegetables have a natural taste and flavor of their own and may be easier on your wallet.

Apples: Choose firm and unbruised apples. Handle them gently. If you choose red or yellow colored varieties, they should be mostly of that color. Red or yellow apples with green patches may not be ready to eat.

Asparagus: Choose asparagus with straight and bright-green stalks and stiff tips.

Bananas: Bananas should be firm and not soft. They should not have any bruises, especially along the underside. Normally, bananas with little shades of green ripen in room temperature. Some people claim that bananas that are partly green are better for helping your digestion of other foods.

Beets: Beets should be firm and should remain attached to red stems and fresh green tops. Do not choose loose beets without tops.

Blueberries: Choose firm and fresh blueberries. Frozen wild blueberries are normally available all year through.

Broccoli: Choose broccoli with tight bud heads and dark green in color. Brocolli stems are eaten by many people and also a great treat for small parrots when split so that the birds can get at the soft pulp inside.

Carrots: Choose carrots with smooth skin. Do not choose thick carrots, as their centers could be hard too. If you buy fresh, bunched carrots with green tops, remove the tops before storing.

Cucumbers: Choose firm, dark green and unblemished cucumbers.

Eggplant: Choose heavy and smooth-skinned eggplants.

Fresh Figs: Pick heavy and plump figs. Also, choose the nice-smelling ones as sour-smelling figs are normally old ones.

Garlic: Pick those surrounded with tissue that have firm bulbs. Do not pick garlic with green sprouts.

Grapes: Choose firm grapes. Soft ones could be too ripe.

Hass Avocados: Choose avocados with rough skin as smooth-skinned avocados may have less flavor. Dark-skinned avocados are good to eat.

Honeydew Melons: Melons should not have any bruises or broken skin or rind. It should be easy to open them with a little pressure. Melons with some wrinkled skin may be a good buy. Also, check for a mild fragrance. This indicates the melons are ripe enough.

Leeks: Choose leeks with white bulbs and dark green leaves. Do not pick ones with yellow and brown spots, as they could be over-ripe.

Mushrooms: Choose unwrinkled, plump, unbruised and blemish-free mushrooms for those with the best taste.

Onions: Choose firm onions without any soft spots. Green onions should have bright green leaves or shoots.

Oranges: Oranges should be heavy and bulky. They should be free of any blemishes.

Peaches: Peaches should have a smooth skin and should give when you apply just a little pressure. They should not have any bruises.

Pears: Smooth-skinned and unbruised pears are the best.

Potatoes: Choose firm potatoes without any cracks or bruises.

Raspberries: Choose bright red raspberries. Be sure to check for any white or cotton-like strands around berries. These may indicate the growth of mold.

Red Peppers: Choose red peppers with smooth, thick skin.

Spinach: Choose spinach with dark green leaves and without any signs of yellowing.

Strawberries: Choose dark and bright red plump fruits without any bruises. Also, choose the ones with a fragrance.

Tomatoes: Pick tomatoes that are firm and bright in color. They should be free of any bruises.

Watermelon: Watermelons should have a tight, dark-green rind. Tap the melon slightly. If it gives out a hollow sound, it indicates a juicy and full melon.

Winter Squash: Squashes should have a hard, smooth skin.

Yams: Yams should be free of any cracks or soft spots.

Zucchini: Choose zucchini with firm, dark-green skin. Soft and wrinkly zucchini are old.

To find out more fabulous information about how to incorporate a healthy lifestyle with more fruits and vegetables order your copy of Fabulous Fruit and Vegetables today.

About the Author:

Georgina Cundall



Georgina Cundall started to learn about the benefits of adding more fruit and vegetables to her diet when she had some minor health problems.



She was also starting to worry about how she could give her young children a healthier range of foods on a very limited budget.



An additional problem was finding things which the children would actually choose when she wasn’t around to supervise.



She discussed this with friends and found her concerns were widely shared, so she decided to put what she found into this book so that other people, especially women with a job and a young family, could benefit from her tips.



Georgina tried many things over the last couple of years and believes that almost everyone will find value in her suggestions in this book, whatever their situation.



You can get the ebook from http://www.fabfruitveg.ebooks-excel.com/

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/how-to-pick-fresh-fruits-and-vegetables-at-a-store-701079.html

Author: Georgina Cundall