Whatever fruit or vegetable you are buying, look first for freshness. Pointers on selecting some fruits and vegetables follow on page [12].
Fruits
Apples.—Good color usually indicates full flavor.
Bananas.—Bananas should be firm, fresh in appearance, and unscarred. Yellow or brown-flecked ones are ready for immediate use. Select slightly green-colored bananas for use within a few days.
Berries.—Select plump, solid berries with good color. Avoid wet or leaky berries. Blackberries and raspberries with clinging caps may be underripe. Strawberries without caps may be too ripe.
Grapes.—Grapes should be plump, fresh in appearance, and firmly attached to the stems. Red or black varieties should be well colored for the variety. Most white or green varieties should have a slightly amber tone.
Melons (except watermelons).—Ripe cantaloups have a yellowish surface color; honeydews, a creamy color; crenshaws, a golden-yellow color mottled with green; casabas, a yellow color; and persian melons, a dull gray-green color. Ripe melons of these types usually have a fruity aroma and a slight softening at the blossom end. A ripe cantaloup has no stem; other melons may have stems attached.
Oranges, grapefruit, and lemons.—Choose those heavy for their size. Smooth, thin skins usually indicate more juice. Most skin markings do not affect quality. Oranges with a slight greenish tinge may be just as ripe as fully colored ones. Light or greenish-yellow lemons are more tart than deep-yellow ones.
Peaches.—Best quality peaches are fairly firm, not bruised, with yellow or red color over the entire surface.
Pears.—Some pears, especially winter varieties, are marketed when slightly underripe and need to be ripened at home—at room temperature. Pears are ripe and ready to eat when they yield slightly to moderate pressure.