How to Select Fruit

By: Megan Wiles—Intern

Summer is the season of fruits. Many of the most beloved fruits are at their peak ripeness in the hottest months of the year, making fruit salad, fruit pies, and fruity smoothies popular treats for summer. But choosing fruits can be difficult and confusing. It’s hard to know how to make sure the melons and berries you bring home are fresh, ripe, and delicious. But there are some tricks you can use to ensure your produce is top-of-the-line and ready to be devoured by you and your family.

Cantaloupe

Picking a cantaloupe has a lot to do with smell. A good cantaloupe should smell sweet and even a little musky. An overly sweet smell may indicate the melon is overripe. A cantaloupe should also be beige or yellow in color, not green, and the surface of the fruit should have raised ridges or webbing. It should be firm, but not hard, and when you press near the stem, it should give slightly. Avoid cantaloupes with large soft spots, as those can indicate rotting. Try picking up a few different melons and judging their weight— the heaviest is usually the best choice. Finally, give it a good tap with your hand or fingers. You should hear a low, deep sound, not high-pitched or hollow.

Pineapple

To choose a pineapple, you should look for a yellow color at the base, but green elsewhere doesn’t necessarily mean it’s underripe. The leaves should be a nice green color if it’s fresh. When you squeeze it, a pineapple shouldn’t be soft, but firm with only a slight give. Try sniffing the bottom of the pineapple. You should be able to recognize its tropical and sweet aroma. If it has no smell, it’s likely underripe, while a vinegar or alcohol scent means it’s overripe. Like most fruits, it should be heavy, since the heavier a fruit is, the juicier it is.

Mango

Unlike other produce, a mango’s color means very little. Choosing based on color is pretty much taking a shot in the dark. Instead, go by feel. Mangoes are similar to avocados or peaches in that they become softer as they ripen, so try to find one that gives slightly, but isn’t mushy. If you plan to wait a few days before eating it, choosing a harder mango may be a good idea so it will have time to ripen without rotting. You should also be able to smell some of its natural fragrance.

Strawberries

When choosing strawberries, color does matter. Strawberries will not continue to ripen after they’ve been picked, so avoid berries with a lot of green or yellow, since they’ll stay that way no matter how long you wait (until they rot, that is). Instead, look for bright red berries with fresh, green leaves. The leaves will start wilting once they’re removed from the plant, so if they’re limp, it probably means the strawberries have been sitting a while. Size doesn’t really matter, since both small and large berries can be sweet, but they should be plump and full, not shriveled or dry-looking. Make sure to also check the berries you can see from the top and bottom of the box for signs of mold, and if you find any, stay away. Even if only a few of the berries are moldy, it’s a sign the rest of the box is also starting to rot.

Honeydew

Honeydew is notorious for always being under-ripe in restaurant fruit salads, but it can be delicious if you choose it carefully. The rind should be completely yellow or white, with almost no green left, and should feel a bit waxy as opposed to dry. There should be some fine ridges in the skin so that it isn’t completely smooth. Pressing on the end where the stem was connected (called the “blossom end”) should yield a soft but springy feeling. The same area should have a sweet smell, and slight scarring can mean it’s sweeter. As with cantaloupe and watermelon, go for a heavier honeydew for added juice and sugar.

Papaya

Papayas that ripen on the tree will have stripes of red or orange running along the length of the fruit. When papaya is picked too early, it changes from green to orange all over without stripes, so it may not be as sweet since it wasn’t ripe at picking. Papayas are extremely fragile and can be easily bruised during transportation, so make sure it doesn’t have brown areas or too soft or wrinkly a texture. If it’s very firm or light in color, it may need time to ripen before eating.

Watermelon

The most important factor in choosing a watermelon is the field spot. This refers to the big yellow spot on the melon where it rested on the field. This will only appear on one side of the melon, so the other side could look completely different, and that’s okay. The darker the field spot, the longer the watermelon was on the vine, and therefore the riper it will be. The surface of the melon should also be dull, as shiny or glossy watermelons are less ripe. You may also want to look for sugar spots or pollination marks. If you see black spots, this is where sugar is seeping out, and lines of small holes are a sign of pollination, both of which are indicative of sweetness. Like cantaloupe, it’s also a good idea to get a heavy melon and tap on it with your knuckles or fingers to check for a deep, solid sound.

Knowing how to choose ripe and fresh fruit is especially important when shopping at a grocery store as opposed to a local farmer’s market or fruit vendor. Just because it’s being sold in the store doesn’t mean it’s ready to be eaten. So, when you get a craving for a summer fruit salad or a nutritious sweet treat, check the produce you’re buying so you don’t wind up with a disappointing dud