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How to determine the quality of vegetables and fruits?

The taste of a dish of vegetables and fruits is largely determined by their quality characteristics, some of which are reflected in the appearance of fruits and root crops. How to determine the quality of vegetables and fruits by studying their external features?

Potatoes are a product with a difficult definition of its quality. The most delicious potatoes are those whose tubers have just been dug out of the ground. But, unfortunately, such high-quality potatoes can only be obtained if you have your own garden. For this reason, it is necessary to learn how to choose potatoes when buying, focusing on some signs of their quality:

For boiling (in the skin or peeled), choose small-sized potatoes (medium or small), since they cook quickly, and when boiled, not all the useful substances have time to boil out.
The best potatoes are those with fewer eyes, a uniform color, and dry skin.
If the goal is to store potatoes longer, then late varieties of potatoes are selected for these purposes.

Root crops such as carrots, beets, radishes and horseradish also have quality characteristics that can be determined by appearance:

Long and thick carrots take longer to cook, which is why it makes sense to use these carrots for cooking in the oven, such as casseroles, cutlets or stuffed vegetables.
If you need carrots for use fresh or boiled in salads, for side dishes, for pickling or fermenting, for making juice, then small and medium-sized carrot roots are best. This carrots size are more aromatic and juicy.
The best quality beets have dark, evenly colored skin, a round or flat shape (not oblong), and a firm root.
White, conical radishes have a sharper flavor than black, round (or flat) radishes.
Radishes vary greatly in taste from variety to variety. However, the less spicy and more delicious radishes are colored in white-pink tones with a white tip.

Zucchini differ in size depending on the purpose for which they are purchased. If you need to fry or bake zucchini whole or in pieces, then it is better to choose small zucchini - no more than 8 inches long. If zucchini is going to be preserved, then any size of zucchini is suitable, even those zucchini that have fairly dense seeds (heat treatment will soften the seed skin).

Cucumbers for salads and fresh consumption should be purchased with thin skin and slightly unripe. They are more tender and have a more pleasant taste. Cucumbers with thick skin, overripe and with large seeds are quite suitable for any type of canning, since heat treatment softens the skin and seeds.

The best tasting tomatoes are those whose fruits are completely swollen and not lumpy at the base. In addition to the taste, they have the property of being stored longer.

Apples vary greatly in taste from variety to variety. And the taste of apples is chosen according to personal preferences. But if it is necessary to heat-treat apples, it is better to choose sweet and sour-sweet varieties of apples, since sour apples quickly disintegrate when boiled or baked, when scalded with boiling water and when canned.

It is a big problem to determine the ripeness of a melon if a person does not grow this food product himself. But some signs make it possible to determine the degree of ripeness of a melon, for example, by pressing on the rind from the side opposite to the growth of the stem. A ripe melon has a pliable rind when pressed, while an insufficiently ripe melon has a hard rind when pressed.

The characteristic external signs of a ripe and high-quality watermelon are a shiny rind surface (even a dusty or dirty watermelon will show this shine when you wipe the surface of the skin). The sound when you knock on the watermelon should be clear and ringing, not dull. If the watermelon has unripe seeds, then eating its pulp close to the rind is not recommended, since this area still contains a set of nutrients that are useful for the ripening of the watermelon, but not for human nutrition. They are harmful in terms of the usefulness of substances for health and the presence of residual elements that regulate the ripening of the pulp and seeds.

Cauliflower has visual signs of its quality. Snow-white and large forks of cauliflower are tastier and of higher quality, while grayish and greenish tones of cauliflower may indicate its bitter taste.

Cabbage for pickling should have whitish leaves - they are more juicy and sweet. Cabbage heads with a dense and white base are selected for storage. Wilted or too thin outer leaves on a cabbage head indicate that it has been lying for a long time after being cut down, and its useful substances from the leaves have begun to move into the depths of the head, for example, to start the growth of another cabbage head inside the cabbage head.

It is not easy to determine the quality of vegetables and fruits by their appearance, but it is possible by studying the external signs that distinguish high-quality and low-quality fruits and root crops.