fruit was sweeter

[Guest guest]

Alobar wrote

" fruit was only available for short seasons, and

fruit was much less sweet than fruit is today. "

 

Gail:

I strongly disagree. I am old enough to remember when

food had flavor. Real mouth watering flavor.

 

Fruits WERE SWEETER then because they were

locally or regionally harvested and more likely to be ripe

or almost so when you bought them at the local grocers.

 

There were more local farmer's markets and

roadside stands. Stay at home Moms made

day trips to pick-your-own farms, brought

goodies home and made jams,

compotes, fresh pies, piled fruit into fruit

bowls and put up the rest up in the freezer.

More people had fruit trees and backyard gardens.

 

Grocery stores were not

national chains run by far away corporate offices.

Produce was not as readily available

all year longer but it tasted good when

you could get it. It had deep rich flavors.

Butchers were not just cellophaned meat package handlers

of already made cuts from some factory

meat processing plant. Chicken didn't

need the Colonels secret recepie to have

marvelous flavor. Milk came in glass

bottles with cream top and had not

only deep creamy flavor but a good mouth

feel. Soups were rich, and laden with minerals and other

nutrients from bone broth, not as today from excess salt and

MSG meat flavoring packets.

 

The reason fruit tasted sweeter and was sweeter

was not pickedgreen and hard, shipped in from 1000's of miles away,

sent to some refrigerated warehouse,

stored , most likely fumigated, then shipped again to a retailer.

 

So Fruits and Veggies today just do not have the

natural sweetness and flavor and aroma

of past times. And because of the way they

are grown today, they also have less of the

vitamins, minerals, or protein content of past times.

 

 

I used to love fruit. Back then people

talked about " when the crop came in " .

That meant outlying farmers would harvest

daily or every couple of days, and bring fruit and

veggies into the city. Peaches had

aroma, juice that ran freely down you hands when

you would bite into it, and a deep satisflying

sweetness and complex flavor. Melons beckoned

you to buy them by their rich mouthwatering aroma.

 

So it was with all fruit and a bowl of fruit on the kitchen

table would scent the room.

 

These days most grocery store fruits are almost tasteless...

and harshly sour. No wonder people need to sugar them so heavily

to eat it....or with veggie fruits such as tomatoes to

add so much salt. Today, watermelon flesh is more likely

to taste bland (like the white rind edge) than sweet. Sour plums used

to have an underlying sweetness, now even sweet plums are sour.

 

Okay, so much for my " days gone by " rant. We

are going back there. Its not economically viable in todays agriculture

or corporate grocery management both of whom are more concerned

with uniformity, standardization, and bottom line profit than such

esoterics as nutrition or flavor.

 

 

Lets get scientific

When fruit ripens, it changes:

 

AROMA: Bitter and astringent phenols

fade away (their job was to discourage

animals before the seed was ready), and

nice aromas are produced (to encourage

animals). This normally only happens

while fruit still attached to tree.

 

SWEETNESS: In the form of

sucrose or fructose. It can

come as sweet sap while

attached to the tree, or in some

fruits by converting the fruit's

stores of starch/glucose/acid.

 

JUICINESS AND SOFTNESS: .

The enzyme polygalacturonase attacks

pectin in the cell walls making cells

slide around (softness) and spill their

contents (juiciness). Acids are used up

in this, making the fruit less sour.

 

g

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ripe Fruit.

Fruit on the tree grows to its intended size and shape - maturity.

Then, within a week or so, it ripens

 

Aroma. Bitter and astringent phenols

fade away (their job was to discourage

animals before the seed was ready), and

nice aromas are produced (to encourage

animals). This normally only happens

while fruit still attached to tree.

Sweetness, in the form of

sucrose or fructose. It can

come as sweet sap while

attached to the tree, or in some

fruits by converting the fruit's

stores of starch/glucose/acid.

Juiciness and softness. The

enzyme polygalacturonase attacks

pectin in the cell walls making cells

slide around (softness) and spill their

contents (juiciness). Acids are used up

in this, making the fruit less sour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

How right you are? I remember those days too. Today I can hardly tolerate

the fruit being sold. Its dry , tasteless or if anything sour. Nothing there

to whet the appetite at all. We had one good year recently- twas the year

after the big FireStorm 2003. That following year the fruit was unbelievably

delicious- most likely due to all the ash on the ground. It has not been the

same since. Oranges, even home grown ones are dry and bitter- not at all

sweet. The best of the lot is apples, and then you have to be quite choosy.

I used to love fruit and eat a lot of it, but no longer. I use frozen berries

with Stevia to make my smoothies and thats about the extent of it.

Occasionally put an apple in my carrot juice.

zoe W

 

Thursday, April 12, 2007, 8:53:09 AM, you wrote:

> Alobar wrote

> " fruit was only available for short seasons, and

> fruit was much less sweet than fruit is today. "

 

> Gail:

> I strongly disagree. I am old enough to remember when

> food had flavor. Real mouth watering flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I was talking about back in hunter gatherer days, not 50 or 100 years

ago. Humand have been brreding for sweetness since the start of

recorded human history.

 

Alobar

 

On 4/12/07, Gail Raby <graby wrote:

> Alobar wrote

> " fruit was only available for short seasons, and

> fruit was much less sweet than fruit is today. "

>

> Gail:

> I strongly disagree. I am old enough to remember when

> food had flavor. Real mouth watering flavor.

>

> Fruits WERE SWEETER then because they were

> locally or regionally harvested and more likely to be ripe

> or almost so when you bought them at the local grocers.

[Guest guest]

I want to chime in here. I still find organic fruit to have a better

flavour than the taste-less fruits and veggie you get at a commercial

market.

 

If your lucky enough to have a " farmers market " close by, they too have

wonderful things to sell.

 

We have adult fruit trees here and there are years we don't have adequate

fruit. Being a farmer is hard work even if it's a small garden or a back

yard with four trees.

 

Ilene

-

" zoe W " <ilovegrafix

" Gail Raby "

Thursday, April 12, 2007 9:02 PM

Re: fruit was sweeter

 

 

> How right you are? I remember those days too. Today I can hardly

> tolerate the fruit being sold. Its dry , tasteless or if anything sour.

> Nothing there to whet the appetite at all. We had one good year

> recently- twas the year after the big FireStorm 2003. That following year

> the fruit was unbelievably delicious- most likely due to all the ash on

> the ground. It has not been the same since. Oranges, even home grown

> ones are dry and bitter- not at all sweet. The best of the lot is

> apples, and then you have to be quite choosy. I used to love fruit and

> eat a lot of it, but no longer. I use frozen berries with Stevia to

> make my smoothies and thats about the extent of it. Occasionally put

> an apple in my carrot juice.

> zoe W

>

[Guest guest]

Fruit is picked before it is ripe.

Ripe fruit will not ship.

Canned peaches are green as grass - they are picked when they reach size.

Then cooked and colored and sweetened - not peachy though.

Apples are your best bet as they can be tree ripe and ship.

If you have no garden space container grow dwarf trees and at least have a

little good fruit.

 

Kirk

 

zoe W <ilovegrafix wrote:

How right you are? I remember those days too. Today I can hardly tolerate the

fruit being sold. Its dry , tasteless or if anything sour. Nothing there to whet

the appetite at all. We had one good