What You’re Missing by Eating Rock-Hard Pears
Or at least let them ripen on your kitchen counter before you bite. A pear (or an apple) at its peak offers something extra — a special kind of antioxidant that only develops once it’s ripe.
Do It Ripe
We know fruits like apples and pears are chock-full of flavonoids. Now, research shows that when ripe, these fruits contain additional potent disease fighters: NCCs (short for nonfluorescent chlorophyll catabolites — say that three times). As fruit ripens, chlorophyll breaks down and forms NCCs. And it turns out NCCs pack quite the antioxidant wallop!
Fruit “To Do’s” for Your Health
Here are some other ways to get the most from your favorite fruits:
Give me some skin. The peel’s the place for antioxidants.
Opt for whole . . . especially when it comes to apples vs. apple juice.
Slice it yourself.
Shelf Life: How Long Does Fruit Stay Nutritious?
You’ve got a ripe banana and a juicy plum. Which one’s antioxidants will hold up best after a couple of days in your fruit bowl?
The answer: Eat the banana now. Turns out bananas may lose their antioxidant qualities quickly. Dark plums, on the other hand? They could actually get a tiny antioxidant boost with short storage. Here’s how other fruit holds up.
Time on My Side
The antioxidants in black grapes, apples, oranges, and tomatoes (yes, tomatoes are fruit!) also seem to hold up well during storage. But not so much when it comes to apricots and cherries.
Fun with Polyphenols
Researchers are busy finding the best way to measure the antioxidant power of individual pieces of fruit. Not an easy task, because the content can vary from piece to piece within the same variety of fruit, depending on the fruit’s genes, the environment in which it grew, when it was harvested, and how it was stored. But you don’t have to wait for the final results.
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