Fruit is a ripened ovary of the flower Grows on vines trees Nuts are fruit walnuts pecans almonds Different fruits have different requirements Enzymatic browning when you cut through the fruit you release enzymes and components that are susceptible of the browning process Don t want to blanch strawberries because texture would change in an unacceptable manner leave them partially frozen ice crystals will keep the structure What is a fruit The ripened reproductive body of a seed plant We don t call all fruits fruits Kiwifruit is like an inside out strawberry Pineapple is several flowers but one fruit Pumpkins are in the same family as a cucumber or a gourd Simple fruits Citrus fruits lemon orange lime grapefruit mandarin tangerine kumquat Orange is a good source of folate potassium and vitamin C False berry Bananas are an herb flesh of the herb Multiple flowers and from those flowers come the banana Cranberries grow in a bog more similar in growth pattern to rice than anything else Blueberries grow on a bush Aggregate Grow from one flower but have several segments to them Strawberry has seeds on the outside not inside Multiple fruit Multiple flowers but only one fruit comes forward Stones fruit Drupe or pomes p Apples and pears are considered pome core with seeds Stone fruits have a pit in the middle Nutrient that is most likely to be high in this fruit is beta carotene which can be converted to vitamin A Guava is considered the most nutrient dense fruit that there is Gooseberry are made into a juice or jelly lots of pectin in them Composition of Fruit Glucose and fructose sometimes they are a disaccharide called sucrose Malic acid makes you pucker Oxalic Tartaric is acid from grapes how tartar is made Citric acid comes from a lemon or lime Pectin is a soluble fiber very beneficial to health diet high in this reduce risk of CVD When you first buy a peach Ripe ones will have pectin in them juicy Hard ones will have protopectin Tannins take part in the unique flavors from fruit Nutrients that we depend on fruits for Vitamin C destroyed when heated Calcium Folate destroyed when heated Beta carotene pre Vitamin A Lycopene red color phytochemical Fiber Phytochemicals flavonoids carotenoids High Potassium low in sodium Research shows we can balance diet high in sodium with a diet high in potassium to counteract mg of sodium Preparation of Fruit Cooking If you want fruit to hold its shape you need to think about the things that affect cells In a fruit there is a cell wall glucose sucrose acids fructose inside cell If you take cell and put it in a pot with just water water will flow into the cell and the cell wall will swell and break apart If you want to make a sauce want fruit to break up put fruit into plain water and heat it Add sweetener afterwards If you want blueberries to hold shape and not break apart put them into water and add some sugar not a lot of sugar If too much sugar is added water will flow out and blueberry will shrivel up Need to have the right amount of sugar If you are careful and keep the concentration of water and sugar the fruit will hold its shape Cutting If you are planning to cut fruit ahead of time apple pear color that will change from oxidative browning there are several things to do to keep color from changing Using products like Fruit Fresh powdered citric acid that contains antioxidant Antioxidant will slow down the browning process Dropping the pH will lower the activity of the enzymes Squeeze lemon orange or lime juice on fruit Say it will just be an hour between cuttings and eating keep the fruit ice cold not 40 degrees but on ice Ice will retard the enzyme action Submerge fruit in cold water so oxygen won t get into fruit because the reaction won t take place will also keep crispness of fruit Freezing Cell has a lot of water in it along with sugars and such Rigid cell wall and freeze water The cell will freeze and break If you freeze strawberry cell wall break so when thawed they will become mushy and water will flow out If you blanch fruit it will change the texture If you take strawberries and cook them in a little water WITH SUGAR you can freeze them beautifully You have to have a little bit of sugar with the fruit when frozen If you don t do this they need to be cooked put in a smoothie or kept a little frozen Apples are hard to freeze if you cook and add a little bit of sugar they are good to freeze Add Sugar Maceration will get a beautiful juice that can be frozen The sugar has high concentration on the outside of the cell and draws the water organic acids and the pigments out Fresh dry canned Canned fruit in on juice and dried fruit is good Add variety to meal plan Dried fruit Don t need a fridge You can prepare with a gas stove or grill Has a long shelf life if protected they can be in there for years Prunes raisins dried cherries mango Concentrated natural sugars so eat them with other foods May seem expensive but you can pay more for it than regular fruit because of the water difference High consumption is associated with reduce risk of cardiovascular disease lots of soluble fiber 5 prunes compared to 1 or 2 plums 70 75 degrees room temp not exposed too much air concealed can be colder but not hotter Watch out for the added sugar coating on the outside Fruits that we can dry are limited in their nutrient delivery No vitamin C If not chewed it will go through undigested for children Storage of Fresh fruit Berries raspberries blackberries strawberries Soft fleshy fruit Spoil quickly Will get mold really quickly Have to be kept dry if not they will spoil SO fast Store them dry in a drawer in the fridge Some things have to be stored right away in the fridge apples citrus fruit berries Some things can be stored at room temp plums peaches apricots kiwifruit banana until just ripe Keep bananas outside until right temp and then they need to be put in the fridge otherwise it will just keep ripening until it is mushy and gross Buy them green all bananas are picked green then stored in grocery store Take good care of them as they are ripening Once they get to exactly how you like them store them that way in the fridge Make something like ice cream that are mushed up bananas Gelatin Make something solid that can melt in your mouth Satisfying feeling creaminess enjoyment You can gel almost any liquid Tea coffee fruit juice alcoholic beverage wine Sangria tomato juice You can suspend things in the gel Fruit You can reduce the fat by replacing some fat