28th August, 2015
I don’t know if am the only on one that have noticed the improvement in power supply these days? Well where ever it is coming from, I really do appreciate it. At least my refrigerator is not just occupying some space, now it is being used for the purpose it was bought.
It’s late at night, which obviously means I’m making frequent trips to my refrigerator. Truth be told, I am literally standing here with the refrigerator door open, typing this article on my iPad as I look for a healthy snack to satisfy my every craving. Hmmm, what to eat? I think I’ll go with carrots tonight (low calorie, high fibre, low glycemic, and quite filling), but for now, probably much like you, all this refrigerator talk has got me in the mood to TYPE SOME NEWS!
Having said that, did you know that refrigeration can actually cause certain foods to spoil faster? It’s true. In fact, here are 6 foods that you’ll never find in my refrigerator (mostly because I store them somewhere else):
1. Bananas – Storing bananas in the refrigerator can actually disrupt the ripening process. In fact, once refrigerated, a banana may never be able to resume the ripening process even if returned to room temperature. Just think of how devastating that is for the banana
2. Sweet Potatoes – When exposed to cold temperatures, starches found in potatoes will turn to sugar, disrupting their flavor and texture, not to mention increasing their sugar content. If you prefer tasteless potatoes that cause weight gain, however, please refrigerate.
3. Tomatoes – Ever had a really amazing tomato right out of the fridge? Me either. Tomatoes actually lose their flavor and become mushy when refrigerated. Yumn’t.
4. Apples – Same as above, apples lose their texture and flavor when refrigerated. Instead, place an apple in the fridge about 30 mins before eating if you prefer your apples cold. That’s what I always do anyway.
5. Onions – If you love soggy onions while also causing the rest of your food to taste and smell like onions, then you’ll definitely want to refrigerate your onions immediately. Otherwise, try storing them in a paper bag (within a cool, dark cabinet) for maximum shelf-life.
6. Coffee – Contrary to popular belief, coffee is best stored at room temperature to allow the natural oils within the coffee bean to activate its pungent aromatic scent. A close friend, Joel Marion, Co-Founder, BioTrust Nutrition let me in on this little secret. On the flip side, refrigeration can actually cause coffee to absorb odors from other foods in your fridge. Onion flavored coffee anyone? Don’t make that mistake twice guys…
Speaking of refrigerators, Margaret Barth, author of “Microbiological Spoilage of Fruits and Vegetables,” estimates that of all the product that is grown in developed and developing countries like Nigeria, 20 percent will be lost to spoilage. One of the chief means of reducing this spoilage is refrigeration. Some fruits benefit from refrigeration. Others, however, are spoiled if you put them in the refrigerator too soon.
Ripening
Some fruits ripen after they are picked. Some don’t. Cherries (agbalumo), apples and grapes ripen on the plant. Once you pick them, they may get softer due to the natural deterioration of plant matter, but they will never get any sweeter. In other words, once picked, these fruits are as ripe as they will ever get. Fruits that don’t ripen after picking should be refrigerated immediately. Other fruits that fall into this category are tangerines, oranges, limes and red grapes.
Ripening after Picking
Other fruits continue to ripen after picking. In these fruits ethylene gas is part of a ripening signal. If the fruit is left on the plant long enough, the plant will send the signal. But the signal can also be triggered by a wound to the plant. The wound made when the fruit is cut from the plant can actually trigger ripening. These kinds of fruits– bananas, pears, plums and tomatoes–will stop ripening if you put them in the refrigerator. For best quality, ripen them at room temperature in a brown paper bag that traps the ethylene gas. When the fruit is fully ripe, you can store it in the refrigerator to stop it from over-ripening or spoiling.
Refrigeration and Spoilage
All fruits can spoil. Ripe fruit spoils more quickly than unripe fruit. One of the reasons fruit spoils is presence of bacteria, mold and fungus. If you have ever forgotten about an orange only to find it covered in blue or green mold, you are familiar with this kind of spoilage. Refrigeration slows the growth of these microbes. In doing so it buys you a little bit of time between the time your fruit is fully ripe and the time it starts to deteriorate.
Cut Fruit
Fresh cut fruit always requires refrigeration. Whether the fruit was cut before you bought it or whether you cut it up, that fruit needs to be refrigerated. Soft fruits that have been cut up, fruits like mangoes or melons, typically have a shelf life of two days or less even if they are refrigerated. Fruits containing more acid or harder fruits have a slightly longer shelf life. Anytime you cut open a fruit, you accelerate the ripening process and expose that fruit to bacteria, mold and fungus. For both food safety reasons and food quality reasons, keep cut fruit in the refrigerator.
For developing countries, the application of freezing preservation is favorable with several main considerations. From a technical point of view, the freezing process is one of the most convenient and easiest of food preservation methods, compared with other commercial preservation techniques. The availability of different types of equipment for several different food products results in a flexible process in which degradation of initial food quality is minimal with proper application procedures. As mentioned earlier, the high capital investment of the freezing industry usually plays an important role in terms of economic feasibility of the process in developing countries. As for cost distribution, the freezing process and storage in terms of energy consumption constitute approximately 10 percent of the total cost.
Depending on the government regulations, especially in developing countries, energy cost for producers can be subsidized by means of lowering the unit price or reducing the tax percentage in order to enhance production. Therefore, in determining the economical convenience of the process, the cost related to energy consumption (according to energy tariffs) should be considered.
Exercise for the week:
Walk, Walk, and Walk more. I have also increased my walking pace and am not the same again, I am better.
Let’s connect @ www.facebook.com/BodyConfidenceFitnessClub