Your supermarket veggies are plotting something
They're not just sitting there waiting to be eaten. Here's what's up
That shiny, crisp apple sitting on your kitchen counter... might actually…
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- They're not just sitting there waiting to be eaten. Here's what's up
- Nitrogen is pumped in to fill the void, and carbon dioxide is carefully monitored to keep the fruit's internal chemistry stable.
- Even the bright misting systems in the vegetable aisle are more about psychology than hydration.
Your supermarket apples might be older than your car's last oil change. Many of the waxed, shiny fruits in the produce aisle were actually harvested up to a year ago and kept in a state of biological suspended animation.
Plants don't stop breathing once they are plucked from the soil. They continue to consume oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, a process that eventually leads to rot and shriveling. To stop time, industrial warehouses replace the air with a precise cocktail of gases that tricks the fruit into falling asleep.
In these controlled atmosphere rooms, oxygen levels are plummeted from the usual 21% down to a suffocating 1%. Without enough oxygen to fuel their metabolism, the apples effectively hold their breath, stopping the ripening process mid-stride.
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