What you need to know about nitrates
Nitrates (nitric acid salts) are an element of plant nutrition. They are necessary. Without them, for example, protein synthesis is impossible. But the excess of nitrates makes the product of plant origin toxic and dangerous to humans. Malonitrate vegetables differ in size: natural for this fruit, not very large.
Before you buy a package of tomatoes, cucumbers or a bunch of radish in the store, it is worthwhile to carefully study the label: where are expressed and when the vegetables are harvested. The answer to the last question will remove doubts about their freshness. In the store it is easier to control the quality of the packaged vegetables: all the necessary information should be on the label.
In the supermarket
The purchase of vegetables in the market and in the store has its own characteristics. On the one hand, in a large store you can always find out who the supplier is, where and when the goods arrived, and so get an idea of its quality and freshness. Yes, and the claims, in which case, it is clearer who to file. But here it is almost impossible to see a cucumber or radish in a cut. So, we will reveal "vegetable secrets", which will help to make a choice in the store.
"Guests from the South"
Buying imported vegetables from Turkey, Morocco, Israel or Spain, it is worthwhile to study the technique for determining nitrates in foods. After all, before appearing on the shelves of the stores, the products were carried on the road from 12 to 20 days, at best - a week. To ensure that during a long transportation with overloads and packaging they do not lose their marketable appearance, the fruits are covered with a special substance that protects them from bacteria. Hence their glossy appearance. Then for a while they lie on the shelves of stores, and more - in our refrigerators ... Therefore, without using the achievements of genetic engineering or special preparations, the product of the category "skoroport" (and this is all vegetables and fruits) can not have such an impressive shelf life.
Doctors recommend to try to eat, vegetables and fruits grown in the band where you constantly live: they are more useful for the body and less likely to cause allergic reactions.
Greenhouse Creatures
Large retail chains have their own regular suppliers from the nearest greenhouses that are responsible for the quality of their own products. And the delivery time of such fruits is several hours. But vegetables from greenhouse farms may have their own disadvantage: excessive nitrate content, because they are grown on nitrogen fertilizers. Of our three salad favorites: cucumber, radish and tomato, it is better to accumulate radish nitrates, to a lesser extent cucumber, in the tomato of nitrates is even less.
On the market
Generous collapses of bright tomatoes, greens, cucumbers and ruddy radishes, noisy sellers ... The market is beckoning with its aromas. Many restaurateurs prefer to buy products here, rather than in shops. The radish should be dense, snow-white, crunchy, juicy in the middle. Its cut can be tried on the tongue: it is important that it does not bitter. But it is better not to cut tomatoes, but to break them with hands (with the consent of the seller, of course). This break should be sugar and smell like a real tomato: such a stuffy, summer fragrance with a green note. The radish has tops, and tomatoes have a twig. If the tops or branches are dry, it means that the vegetables are not the first freshness. Cucumbers should be bought not too large, medium, not necessarily with pimples (for example, cucumbers of the Baku variety - smooth and even). Shelf life of tomatoes - two to three weeks, cucumbers - ten days.
Choose vegetables lying on top. The lower ones experience pressure, which worsens their taste: after a day black spots, foulbroods may appear. At purchase defects can be imperceptible. This applies to tomatoes and other soft vegetables.
If you have any doubts about the type of vegetables, treat them like this: from the cucumber generously cut the peel, the radish - tail and "ass." It is here that nitrates accumulate in vegetables.
Portrait of a fresh vegetable
Radish - strong, with bright, juicy and fresh tops, it should not taste tastes. The tomato is hard, with a smooth and tightly stretched skin, with a fresh, without defects, peduncle. It has a characteristic aroma. Cucumber - small, dense, straight, with a slightly shiny skin. Do not choose fruits as too beautiful and "glossy", and too large.