Scrambled eggs with tomatoes are a favorite dish for children. However, in recent years, some friends have also found that the current tomato is less and less like the sour and sweet taste of the tomato flavor of the childhood. Instead, the tomatoes have an astringent taste, very little juice, and no longer have the familiar tomato flavor.
Scrambled eggs with tomatoes
Why is that? It turns out that many of the tomatoes are now artificially ripened and sold. Today, let's take a look at the things about tomatoes. In particular, eating these ripening tomatoes, is there any harm to our bodies?
What is a ripening agent?
With the improvement of living standards, we can often eat anti-seasonal vegetables and fruits in different seasons. In addition to the improvement of its own planting technology, ripening agents have also played a very important factor. Ripening agents are a chemical called ethylene that can help fruits and vegetables ripen faster.
Ripening agent
The discovery that ethylene can accelerate ripening of fruits is also a very accidental thing. In the early 20th century, a gas produced when people lit it with gas lamps was able to accelerate the green lemon to yellow. It was not until the early 1960s, when very trace amounts of ethylene were detected in immature fruits by instruments, that ethylene was officially classified as a plant hormone.
ethylene
When plants are exposed to sunlight, they will also produce ethylene on their own during normal growth. Ethylene has a very important feature, that is, it can promote itself, and the more ethylene accumulates, the more ethylene can be produced. Then during the growth process of plants, ethylene can promote the synthesis of RNA and proteins, accelerate respiration, and thus enable rapid growth.
Why do tomatoes need to ripen now?
Among the many fruits, tomatoes are a common vegetable that ripens quickly with a ripening agent. It is a fruit that belongs to a respiratory leap type. The period between the cessation of growth and the beginning of aging of its fruit is determined by different respiratory rates. They release ethylene themselves to accelerate their growth, but the rate of release through themselves is particularly slow.
tomato
Therefore, in order to make the fruit ripen faster, some fruit farmers will use ethylene, and spray it on the fruit to achieve the purpose of ripening. The natural ripening cycle of tomatoes is generally about 20 days, but the time for artificial ripening by using ethylene can be shortened to about 10 days. In order to sell more tomatoes and make more money, growers often choose to ripen artificially through ethylene.
With the increasing use of ethylene in various vegetables and fruits, our country has put forward strict requirements for the residual amount of ethylene in tomatoes in recent years. It is stipulated that the residue limit value cannot exceed 2mg/kg, and such a standard value will not cause harm to the human body.
How do you distinguish between naturally ripe and ripened tomatoes?
There are many kinds of tomatoes. In order to pursue the rustling taste and sweet and sour taste of tomatoes, we need to have a pair of wise eyes that can accurately distinguish between naturally ripe tomatoes and ripened tomatoes.
Usually, the easiest thing to judge is to start with the appearance of the tomato. Due to the more uniform use of ethylene, the entire color distribution presented by ripening tomatoes is relatively uniform, and the color of the entire peel is more dark, especially in the place of the fruit pedicle. The naturally ripe tomato is in a shiny state, the whole color distribution is uneven, there are red and red places, there are green places, and the whole fruit stem is also dark green. Therefore, the "black fruit stalk" is an important symbol of ripening tomatoes.
Pick the tomatoes
Second, choose tomatoes that are soft to the touch. Soft or hard is a sign of whether a tomato is ripe or not. Tomatoes that are hard to the touch and show no signs of softening no matter how long they are left, then you have to be careful, and the possibility of ripening tomatoes is very high. Usually, naturally ripe tomatoes are hard even when they are bought home, and when they are put away, they will release ethylene on their own and make the fruit soft.
Then, when you break it open and taste it, it's easy to tell if it's a naturally ripe tomato. Generally speaking, naturally ripe tomatoes are seeded and appear pale yellow. The number of ripening tomato seeds is very small, and the color is mostly green, and the middle part is also dry, without any moisture. When eaten, the naturally ripe tomatoes will be more pronounced in their sweet and sour taste, and the juice is also abundant. When I eat it, it tastes like the tomato I remembered as a child. However, ripening tomatoes are not so delicious, and the taste is astringent, hard, and there is no juice.
What is the effect of ripening tomatoes on the body?
So in addition to the tomatoes that are artificially ripened, in addition to the tomatoes that do not taste like naturally ripe, will we have some other effects on the body when we eat these ripened tomatoes?
Fruits and vegetables ripen
Ethylene is originally a plant growth regulator that comes with a plant, which can quickly help the fruit ripen at a reasonable dosage and operation. Therefore, at a certain dose, it will not be harmful to the human body, nor can it be regarded as a food safety problem. Naturally ripe fruit produces ethylene on its own, which then matures after accumulating to a certain extent. But if it exceeds a certain dose, it will be harmful to the body.
Tomato cultivation
In the production of ethylene, many manufacturers are directly processed by phosphorus trichloride and ethylene oxide, and in the case of improper treatment, there will be residual ethylene oxide. This substance is more harmful to the human body. It is a central nervous system inhibitor and a venom of the original plasma, and long-term small amounts of contact may cause human neurasthenia syndrome and functional nerve disorders of plants.
Uses of ethylene oxide
Therefore, when the dose of ethylene is too high, the growth of the tomato itself will also have problems. On the outside, it seems that the ripening tomatoes have been red and ripe, but in fact, the nutrients such as lycopene and vitamin C inside have not been formed, and the content of tomato alkali in tomatoes is relatively high. The human body eats too much of such substances, which is easy to cause symptoms of nausea and vomiting.
brief summary
The above simple points can quickly distinguish the difference between natural ripening and ripening tomatoes. There is a little knowledge to share with you, ethylene is an acidic substance, more soluble in water. Therefore, after we get it, no matter what kind of state, we must carefully clean the epidermis of vegetables and fruits to reduce the intake of harmful substances. In general, the use of ripening agents for seasonal vegetables is less likely.
Wash fruits and vegetables
In the off-season, it is easier to use some chemicals to increase the yield and diversity of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, you officials, when you go to the vegetable market, it is safer to buy more seasonal vegetables and fruits ~ food that comes out of the natural growth and ripening cycle of vegetables and fruits. Do you remember?