Source: Two Girls' Gourmet Notes
When buying cucumbers, we are often confused by the two types of cucumbers in front of us, not knowing which one has been hormonized and which one is naturally ripe.
There are two cucumbers here, can you tell which one is the one that has been given hormones and which one is the cucumber that is naturally ripe? In fact, the one on the left is the one that has been hormones, and the one on the right is a normal cucumber, did you guess it?
Today, I will share some ways to identify whether cucumbers have been hormones, so that you can make an informed choice when buying, and we can identify them from the following 5 aspects!
The first method is to observe the florets of cucumbers
I don't know if you noticed when you were picking cucumbers? Some cucumbers have a small tweed on one end! When we pick cucumbers, some people may think that cucumbers with small flowers are fresher, a sign of freshness. However, this is not the case, and the answer is quite the opposite.
After the naturally ripened cucumbers are picked, they are transported to the wholesale market and then distributed to various retail markets for sale, which is 2 to 3 days. The florets have withered, so it is difficult to see cucumbers with florets in the market, unless they are cucumbers that are freshly picked and sold in the countryside, you can see the withered flowers. This is what an idiom commonly used in our lives means.
If you can see the flowers, then you can definitely say that these cucumbers are not normal, they are cucumbers that have been hormone-used. If you want the florets not to wither, soak them with plant hormones when the cucumbers are still flower bones. So when we buy cucumbers in the city, don't buy those with small yellow flowers, of course, there are also cucumbers that are stored for too long, and the small flowers will also fall.
The second method is to inspect the head of the cucumber
Observe the position of the cucumber head, especially the florets. But if we take a closer look, we will find that there is a small knot, the normal cucumber head is in the shape of a pointed dome, while the hormone-treated cucumber head will have a small knot. This little summary is actually the remnants of the withered flowers.
So what does a normal cucumber look like? If we look closely, the head has no knots at all, and it is completely in the shape of a pointed dome, which is more like the head of a rocket.
The third method is to pay attention to the small thorns of the cucumber
Cucumbers usually have some small spines on the surface, these small thorns are there since childhood, so they will always be carried when they grow up, but these spines will become shorter and less sharp as the cucumber grows for a while. The spines of naturally ripe cucumbers are relatively thick and short, and even the thorns are gone, leaving only a small yellow dot. The hormone-treated cucumber will not only be more dense, but also relatively sharper and thinner, and when you pinch it by hand, it will feel more prickly.
The fourth method is to observe the tail of the cucumber
Naturally ripening cucumbers take about 8-10 days from flowering to fruiting, and the longer it takes, the shorter the place without thorns on the tail will be. The normal cucumber tail is generally thicker, shorter, straighter, and smoother.
The hormone-treated cucumber tail is longer, thinner, more curved, and less smooth. The tail is an important indicator of cucumber growth, so it is also possible to determine whether hormones are used by looking at the tail of cucumber.
The fifth way is to smell the cucumber
A normal cucumber should have a strong fragrance, while a hormone-treated cucumber will be bland and tasteless. If you smell cucumbers that are unusually bland, or even tasteless, it's most likely because of the use of hormones.
At this time, some people will definitely ask, can you judge whether the cucumber has taken hormones by looking at the color of the cucumber?
Is it that the dark color is not hormone-informed? and the light-colored one is hormone-instilled? This cannot be used as a criterion, because some cucumbers grow taller, and the sunshine hours will be longer, and the color will naturally be darker. Some cucumbers are born in a very short place, growing at the bottom of the vine, and the daylight hours will be relatively short, and the color will naturally be lighter.
The above are the five ways to identify whether cucumbers have been hormones. With these tips in mind, the next time you pick a cucumber at the wet market, you'll be able to easily tell which is a safe naturally ripened cucumber and which is a hormone-treated cucumber with a potential risk. Let's pay attention to food safety together, refuse to eat hormone vegetables, and protect the health of ourselves and our families.