What IS the best condition to eat your banana, orange and blackberries in?
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Getting your five a day can be quite difficult.
But in addition to eating fruits and vegetables, choosing one in the perfect state of ripeness can also be important for your health.
Waiting until blackberries are ripe can increase the fruit’s immune-boosting benefits, while speckled bananas are the most sugar-laden variety.
And not leaving oranges in the fruit bowl for too long can ensure that the citrus is eaten when its vitamin C levels are highest, in theory.
Here, the experts tell MailOnline which fruits to eat ripe and why.
The ripeness of your fruit could affect the amount of vitamins you get from it. Although in small amounts, the levels of vitamin C, antioxidants, and sugar change as the fruits ripen.
Wait until the blackberries are ripe and juicy.
Blackberries are thought to get better with age, but not just because they get juicier and more flavorful.
The summer berry also develops more compounds with antioxidant qualities.
Tai Ibitoye, a London-based registered dietitian, explains that this effect is due to an antioxidant called anthocyanin, which gives them their deep purple hue.
It is found in other dark, red or purple berries, the darker the fruit, the more antioxidants it contains.
Ms Ibitoye said: “When blackberries ripen, antioxidant levels increase fourfold, but the mechanism behind why this happens is not so clear.”
Increased levels of antioxidants could help your body fight disease, according to Ms. Ibitoye.
She said: “Antioxidants help fight free radicals, which are harmful substances in the body that can cause disease, such as cardiovascular disease, for example.”
Blackberries contain a particular antioxidant called anthocyanins. It is these powerful antioxidants that give blackberries their deep purple hue, and they are found in other dark, red, or purple berries. Dietitians say antioxidants have the potential to help fight disease
The health-boosting effect of ripe blackberries was confirmed in a 2004 study. studypublished in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Food scientists at Oregon State University tested anthocyanin levels in two different types of blackberries as they ripened.
Antioxidant levels in the fruits went from 74.7 mg/100 g when overripe to 317 mg when overripe for marion berries and from 69.9 mg to 164 mg for evergreen berries.
However, there is a caveat.
Our bodies aren’t very good at absorbing this particular antioxidant, according to registered dietitian Dr. Duane Mellor of Birmingham’s Aston University.
He said: ‘If you look at the purple pigments in mulberries, they are quite large molecules and are not as easily absorbed.
“Although you can have a lot of antioxidants in the fruit, they are not always available to us.”
For that reason, the amount that we can actually absorb from the fruit is very small.
But mulberries also provide a variety of other health benefits. They are also rich in vitamin C and potassium.
Dr. Mellor stresses that eating a variety of differently colored foods is the key to getting a mix of these compounds.
Oranges may be overripe
Like the antioxidants in blackberries, oranges also get a boost in the ripening stage, as they produce more vitamin C.
“It’s not clear why this happens, but vitamin C can increase due to weather or the ripeness of the fruit,” said Ms Ibitoye.
In fact, other citrus fruits also increase vitamin C, but not as much as oranges.
That is according to a 2017 study from a Nigerian university published in the International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology.
He found that the vitamin C content of oranges was at its highest concentration as they became “half-ripe” and then decreased slightly as the fruit became “ripe.”
The same pattern was also observed in lemons, but the vitamin C concentration was lower.
However, the vitamin continues to increase in bell peppers and pineapples, according to Dr. Mellor.
Vitamin C plays a vital role in protecting cells, keeping skin and bones healthy and helping to heal wounds, according to the NHS.
However, the changes in vitamin C are so small that they are unlikely to make a noticeable difference in your health.
But how you store fruit and cook does matter when it comes to vitamin levels.
Pictured here are freshly squeezed oranges next to a cup filled with vitamin C tablets. As oranges reach their ripening stage, they produce more vitamin C, but once they ripen, that level can drop again.
Dr Mellor said: “As the fruit slowly dies and decomposes in the cupboards or refrigerator, the vitamin C will break down.”
“When you cut a potato, it browns, but the more vitamin C, the slower it will brown after you cut it. Newer potatoes have more vitamin C than older potatoes. The same goes for apples.
‘That’s why you should keep things in the fridge, so they don’t spoil the same way.’
Adults need 40 mg of vitamin C a day, health chiefs say.
But you shouldn’t worry too much about the vitamin C content of your fruit and how ripe it is, because eating just one orange, whether freshly ripe or overripe, provides more than enough.
Ms Ibitoye said: “You don’t need to worry too much about the ripeness of the fruit, as all fruits have healthy vitamins, but the way you prepare the food is important.”
Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, so the content in food will be drastically reduced if it is boiled.
Instead, Ms Ibitoye says we should eat raw or steamed fruits and vegetables, as this cooking process retains vitamin C.
The best of bananas
It’s not just the flavor and texture that change as plantains ripen, they also become more sugary.
As with all fruits, bananas break down starch into simple sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose, as they ripen.
These are more easily absorbed into the bloodstream, which can cause a spike in blood sugar levels, according to Debra Williams, a registered dietitian who runs a private clinic called Eat Well Now.
This makes bananas a perfect snack for those looking for a quick source of energy for sports, suggests Dr. Mellor.
While the increase in sugar does not change the caloric content of the fruit, it could pose a problem for people with diabetes.
As bananas ripen, the breakdown of starch increases, which is converted into simple sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose, which are more easily and quickly absorbed into the bloodstream.
Ms Williams said: “This is something to keep in mind if you’re diabetic, as you want to eat carbohydrates that are more slowly absorbed.”
‘For diabetics it is better to eat bananas that are greener.’
Unlike the sugar content, the mineral levels in bananas rarely change during the ripening process, he said.
For example, green bananas contain a similar amount of potassium as yellow bananas.
But green bananas contain more fiber and resistant starch, a carbohydrate that feeds the good bacteria in your gut.
Dr Mellor said: “With an unripe green banana you’ll get different semi-digestible carbohydrates that can be good for gut health.”
He suggests eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, but recommends avoiding eating too many sweet and overripe tropical fruits due to their high sugar content.