How to choose the right lemons. Brown Spot Ripe Lemon

Regular consumption of lemons during the cold season will reduce the risk of contracting respiratory diseases. To choose a quality lemon, you need to know its signs.

Signs of a Good Lemon

Among the variety of lemons on the market, you need to understand which ones are ripe and will bring you the most benefit. A good lemon has:

• clean skin;
• citrus aroma;
• small size;
• elastic shape.

To choose the right lemon, pay attention to its appearance.

Peel

Traces of dents or damage to the peel indicate improper storage or transportation of the fruit. Strong shine and bright skin color are signs of processing with food coloring and wax.

The greenish color of the skin indicates that the lemon is not ripe and has many useful elements.

Black dots and a slight peeling of the peel from the pulp are a sign that the fruits have been frozen and the content of nutrients in them has decreased. Still in frozen lemons there is bitterness, which can be removed by scalding the lemons with boiling water and leaving them in it for a few minutes.

Thick-skinned lemons have an oblong shape and a bumpy surface. The content of vitamins and useful enzymes for their assimilation in them is greater than in thin-skinned ones, since their albedo is a white layer between the peel and pulp, wider. Thin-skinned lemons have a smooth, finely porous surface and a round shape.

Size

The large size of a lemon indicates that it is low in vitamin C. Buy medium-sized fruits from the Abkhaz regions. Such lemons can be stored at a temperature of 0C for a long time and not lose their beneficial qualities.

Small lemons contain a lot of vitamin C, but less potassium and enzymes.

Essential oils

To determine the quality of a lemon, use a dry paper towel. Press the napkin to the lemon. Traces of essential oils will indicate to you the high quality of the fruit, since processed fruits do not contain essential oils.

Bones

Choose pitted lemons, as the pits contain reagents that cause intense bile secretion and provoke a severe allergic reaction.

One of those products that can always be found in the refrigerator of almost any resident of Russia. Lemons are added to tea and coffee, made into juice and jam, or simply eaten raw. With all this, many do not know how to choose the right lemon in the store so that it is the most delicious and healthy. In addition, lemons are much more expensive than some vegetables, so it is always a shame to spend money and find at home that you bought a low-quality product. In this article, we will introduce you to the basic rules for choosing quality lemons.

First of all, as with all other fruits and vegetables, you need to decide why you are buying a lemon? Do you plan to store it or eat it right away. If you are aiming for long-term storage, then it is best to buy unripe lemons, they can be stored for several months, the main thing is to put the citrus in a cold place. The ideal place to store lemons is the bottom compartment of the refrigerator. but not a freezer! Cold temperatures will only harm the lemon, causing it to lose many of its beneficial properties. If you do not want to store lemons all winter at all, then you should immediately buy fully ripe fruits.

What color of lemon is correct?

Now about how to distinguish a ripe lemon from an unripe one? Everything is very simple, the peel of a ripe lemon sparkles as if someone had just polished it! Wherein color intensity doesn't matter at all.

Another important property to pay attention to is hardness. A ripe lemon, when squeezed in the hand, springs a little, but remains firm. If the lemon is soft, then it is overripe. At the same time, it doesn’t matter if the lemon inside is rotten or not, the taste and, most importantly, the healing properties of such a fruit will not be of the best quality. An overripe lemon can also cause stomach problems, nausea, and vomiting. Be careful and if you do buy a stale lemon, it's best to throw it away.

The next trick when choosing lemons is choosing fruits with the “correct” skin. It is believed that lemons of the first harvest, that is, collected from a tree that bears fruit for the first time, have a smooth skin. The concentration of nutrients in such lemons is much higher than in the fruits of subsequent crops. You should also pay attention to the fact that too bumpy skin indicates that the peel of the fruit is very thick, and, therefore, the weight of such lemons will be much larger, although they will have the same amount of pulp as in lemons with a normal peel. This is important if you buy citrus not by the piece, but by weight.

Sometimes brown marks appear on the lemon. Usually, this indicates that the lemon was supercooled, which means that it has lost most of its beneficial properties and vitamins. In addition, such a lemon often begins to taste bitter. There can be several reasons for bitterness: firstly, lemons treated with chemicals are bitter (this is often done by unscrupulous manufacturers so that the fruit is better preserved during transportation); secondly, sometimes unripe lemons are bitter, but in this case, you just need to leave them to ripen for a while, the bitterness will disappear. It is best, if possible, to try a lemon before buying, then you will be able to avoid many unpleasant consequences, because you cannot deceive the taste.

If, nevertheless, you have already bought a lemon that is bitter, but do not want to throw it away, there is one folk way - pour boiling water over the lemon, this will reduce the bitterness. It is also worth remembering that the seeds and peel of a lemon give it a bitter taste, therefore, when cooking, they should be removed, otherwise you risk spoiling the dish.

That's all the tricks you need to know when buying a lemon. Good luck and remember, only fresh and ripe fruits are useful, and in order to choose them among all the others, you just need to be a little more careful.

Lemon is a hybrid of bitter orange and citrus. Contains proteins, carbohydrates and essential oils, and the pulp is rich in high content of citric, malic and ascorbic organic acids.

Lemons are valuable for their high content of vitamin C, B vitamins, phytoncides and minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, potassium and zinc).

In folk medicine, lemons are recommended for beriberi, inflammatory diseases, rheumatism and hypertension, nausea and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Substances contained in lemon pulp and zest improve digestion and increase appetite.

But the taste of lemon in cooking is especially in demand. The pulp, juice and zest are also used.

Meat dishes

Citric acid softens collagen fibers in meat, so all parts of the lemon are used in the preparation of all kinds of dishes from all types of meat: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, etc.

Fish and seafood

The specific fresh aroma of lemons adds an original taste and smell to fish dishes and seafood salads.

Pastries, cakes and pastries

Lemon zest is added to creams, cakes and pastries. Soda is quenched with lemon juice, bananas, apples and avocados are sprinkled to prevent their darkening due to oxidation. Cakes are decorated with lemon slices, they are served with tea or coffee.

Drinks and desserts

Based on or with the addition of lemon juice, a huge number of drinks are prepared: from lemonade to the most complex cocktails. Desserts are also surprisingly tasty: creams and ice cream. Lemon slices decorate glasses and bowls, flavor alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, serve with vodka and cognac.

Lemon juice and zest are used as aromatic and flavoring additives to sauces, gravies, salads, soups and other dishes.

calories

100 g lemon - 34 kcal

How to choose a quality lemon

A good lemon is fragrant, juicy, moderately sour, with a smooth skin and a thin white layer. When choosing a fruit, carefully inspect and feel it from all sides. The crust should be fragrant and elastic, not dehydrated.

We weigh lemons of the same size in our hands and choose a heavier fruit - it is juicier and riper than a lighter specimen. The thickness of the peel also depends on the size of the fruit: the larger the lemon, the thicker the peel. If we buy lemons for juice, then we choose small fruits with a thin peel. If we need to get the zest, then the large size of the lemon will give us more zest.

How to store lemons

Lemons are stored in the refrigerator. To preserve juiciness and freshness, wrap each lemon in parchment or tissue paper and put it on the lower shelves of the refrigerator.

Another effective way: dip the lemon in a glass jar of cold water. Lemon retains all its qualities for a long time (up to 60 days!), but the water should be changed every 5-7 days.

Dry, slightly depressed light brown spots form on the peel of the fruit, which subsequently merge.

With severe damage to the fetus, the deep layers of the peel and the walls of the lobules become brown, even the shape of the fetus changes.

1. Membranosis

The disease does not cause any external changes in the fetus, it is detected only when they are cut. With membranosis, the inner layers of the peel of the shell of the lobules, and sometimes also the tissues of the central cavity, are covered with irregularly shaped brown or dark spots.

The disease affects citrus fruits during storage. Most often, it is found in mature fruits, as well as in varieties with reduced keeping quality.

The development of membranosis depends mainly on the storage temperature. At 0 "C, the disease almost does not manifest itself, at + 2" C, the fruits are affected less often than at plus 4 - 5 "C. However, storing lemons at 0 + 2" C leads to other, more unpleasant consequences, and therefore they are usually stored for a long period at a temperature of plus 3 - 4 "C. Insufficient ventilation of storage facilities also contributes to the development of membranosis.

The disease is also caused by unfavorable development of fruits on trees, low temperatures (even if the temperature does not fall below 0"), dry winds and strong fluctuations in the moisture content of the soil.

Membranosis is often accompanied by other diseases, such as pitting, red spotting, since these diseases develop under the same conditions as membranosis.

1. Oleocellosis

Oleocellosis occurs due to the destruction of part of the essential oil glands. The spreading essential oil damages the cells of the surface layer of the peel between the glands. Diseased cells are deformed. The areas of tissue between the glands are slightly pressed and dark, and the undisturbed glands clearly protrude above the reduced surface of the spot and seem to be swollen. In green lemons, the tops of the glands protruding on the spot are usually green in color, while in mature fruits they are yellow. Gradually, the glands become light and then dark brown. The walls of the glands dry out and collapse. Escaping essential oil damages adjacent areas of the peel. Affected tissues become dry, brownish-brown or completely black. As the disease progresses, the albedo tissues gradually darken under the severely damaged areas of the flavedo. In the lower layers of the albedo there are individual brownish-brown spots and veinlets.

This physiological disease affects the fruits of oranges, lemons and tangerines on trees and during storage. The most commonly damaged fruits are unripe fruits that are harvested in cool, damp weather in autumn or winter. Mechanical damage to the peel, hailstones and insect stings, causing the leakage of essential oil from the glands, also contribute to the development of the disease.

1. Endoxerosis

In practice, endoxerosis is known as yellow-tip, dry-tip, or flower-tip disease.

Its signs are usually the destruction or drying of the tissues of the pistillate end of the fruit, accompanied by a change in color to pink or brown. This process intensifies as the fruit ripens. Green lemons with the development of endoxerosis often lose the luster of the peel and turn yellow at the pistillate end. When an affected lemon is cut, a pinkish or rusty-brown tissue is found, partially dried and destroyed, resulting in voids and gum exudation. In the appearance of mature fruits, this disease is difficult to distinguish, but the cut shows damage to the inside of the peel and axial tissue.

Endoxerosis is often mistaken for black rot caused by Alternaria, which contributes to or follows this disease. The main cause of endoxerosis is the lack of moisture in the soil during fruit development. You can prevent the disease by maintaining a favorable water balance of the soil, as well as by collecting fruits that are fully ripe on the tree.

The occurrence of the disease has little to do with storage conditions or does not depend on them at all.

Regular consumption of lemons during the cold season will reduce the risk of contracting respiratory diseases. To choose a quality lemon, you need to know its signs.

Signs of a Good Lemon

Among the variety of lemons on the market, you need to understand which ones are ripe and will bring you the most benefit. A good lemon has:

• clean skin;
• citrus aroma;
• small size;
• elastic shape.

How to choose a lemon

To choose the right lemon, pay attention to its appearance.

Peel

Traces of dents or damage to the peel indicate improper storage or transportation of the fruit. Strong luster and bright skin color are signs of processing with food coloring and wax.

The greenish color of the skin indicates that the lemon is not ripe and has many useful elements.

Black dots and a slight peeling of the peel from the pulp are a sign that the fruits have been frozen and the content of nutrients in them has decreased. Still in frozen lemons there is bitterness, which can be removed by scalding the lemons with boiling water and leaving them in it for a few minutes.

Thick-skinned lemons have an oblong shape and a bumpy surface. The content of vitamins and useful enzymes for their assimilation in them is greater than in thin-skinned ones, since their albedo - a white layer between the peel and pulp, is wider. Thin-skinned lemons have a smooth, finely porous surface and a round shape.

Size

The large size of a lemon indicates that it is low in vitamin C. Buy medium-sized fruits from the Abkhaz regions. Such lemons can be stored at a temperature of 0C for a long time and not lose their beneficial qualities.

Small lemons contain a lot of vitamin C, but less potassium and enzymes.

Essential oils

To determine the quality of a lemon, use a dry paper towel. Press the napkin to the lemon. Traces of essential oils will indicate to you the high quality of the fruit, since processed fruits do not contain essential oils.

Bones

Choose pitted lemons, as the pits contain reagents that cause intense bile secretion and provoke a severe allergic reaction.

Signs of a Bad Lemon

Poor quality lemon is indicated by:

• soft peel, poorly sticking to the pulp;
• brown or black spots on the peel;
• dent on the peel after indentation;
• bright yellow;
• bitterness;
• white crystals in the center of the pulp when cut;
• foreign smell;
• green shade of the peel;
• strong shine.