How to choose delicious cucumbers in the store: 3 tips from a nutritionist

founder of the International Institute of Integrative Nutritionology

How to choose good cucumbers? What to pay attention to when buying?

Summer is the season of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs. One of the most popular vegetables for salads, sandwiches and appetizers is cucumber. The choice of varieties on the shelves of stores and markets is huge, but how to find the most useful and tasty? We tell you what to pay special attention to when buying a vegetable.

Evaluate the color and aroma

Fresh cucumber should be of uniform color, dark green or emerald green (depending on the variety). There should not be a glossy sheen on the cucumbers – this is a sign of treatment with wax or other chemical agents.

In some stores you can meet varieties of yellow (barrise) and white color (bidigo-lungo), but sellers indicate this point, so as not to confuse the buyer with an unusual appearance of the vegetable.

The aroma of a ripe cucumber should be fresh and vegetable, without extraneous or unpleasant odors.

About other seasonal fruits and vegetables that are worth buying in June, told in the material.

Look at the appearance

Inspect the cucumbers: they should be without dents, cracks, scratches and stains. When you press the cucumber feels elastic, do not leave marks and dents. If the cucumber is puffy, all the tubercles of the fruit must be the same size, color and necessarily without defects.

In size and shape, cucumbers can be different:

• large;
• curved;
• oval;
• small;
• long;
• round.

The listed criteria depend on the variety and growing conditions: climate, amount of water, level of solar heat.

Checking the stalk

Check the condition of the stalk on the cucumber. The stalk is the part of the stem that connects the fruit to the plant. Near it, the cucumber should be firm and firm. If all the stalks are in place, it is a sign of a neat harvest.

The presence of stalks is an additional protection against germs, dirt and other pathogens. In a healthy fruit it should be at least 0.2-0.5 mm.

Do not miss the opportunity to enjoy seasonal cucumbers! They have the highest concentration of useful substances and vitamins. At the same time, the vegetable has minimal pesticide content.

Try to buy cucumbers from trusted stores and market outlets. Choose unwashed vegetables – they keep longer. But cucumbers in the package carefully inspect for damage and condensation inside.

And how to choose a tasty cherry, told in the article.