Fruit ripeness
Different stages of ripeness on a strawberry plant
Fruit ripeness describes the ripeness or the degree of ripeness of fruits as the entirety of the organs that emerge from a flower. The term is used especially for fruit and vegetables , but also derived. A distinction is also made between:
- Picking maturity : maturity status at which the fruits have to be harvested in order to avoid diseases or impairments in quality (e.g. falling spots, speckling in apples, loss of taste ) or because they can be stored longer in the unripe state (e.g. apples ) or better transportable ( e.g. bananas ).
- Ripe for consumption : It results from the period of ripening of the fruit either on the tree or through subsequent ripening on the warehouse ; The maturity for consumption can therefore coincide with the maturity for picking, but z. B. occur months later with stored fruit . Sometimes an enzymatic breakdown of tannins ( tannins ) or fruit acids after exposure to frost is necessary in order to be ready for consumption (for example in persimmon fruits, medlars or the service tree ).
- Market maturity : This is mainly determined by demand . If the market is undersupplied, less ripe fruits and vegetables can be traded under certain conditions. These are then less fully grown (for example the demand for small cucumbers for the production of pickles , in the meantime cucumber plants have been selected that produce high numbers). "Maturity is reached when the market demands the goods."
- Overripe : Some of the fruits have already rotted and can hardly be transported and consumed.
Processed foods know more maturity terms, for example in the wine drinking time .