Getting your five a day can be hard enough.
But in addition to eating only fruits and vegetables, it can also be important to choose those that are at the perfect stage of ripeness.
Waiting for blackberries to ripen can increase the fruit’s immune-boosting benefits, while speckled bananas are the highest sugar variety.
And if you don’t leave oranges in the fruit bowl for too long, you can ensure that the citrus fruits are eaten when the vitamin C content is theoretically at its highest.
Here, experts tell MailOnline which fruit you should eat when ripe – and why.
How ripe your fruit is can affect how many vitamins you get from it. Although it is in small amounts of vitamin C, the antioxidants and sugar content change as the fruit ripens
Wait until the blackberries are ripe and juicy
Blackberries are believed to get better with age, but not just because they get juicier and tastier.
The summer berry also develops more compounds with antioxidant properties.
London-based nutritionist Tai Ibitoye explains that this effect is due to an antioxidant called anthocyanins, which give them their deep purple color.
Found in other dark, red or purple berries, the darker the fruit, the more antioxidants it contains.
Ms Ibitoye said: “As blackberries ripen, antioxidant levels increase by a factor of four, but the mechanism by which this happens is not so clear.”
According to Ms Ibitoye, the increased levels of antioxidants can help your body fight disease.
She said: “Antioxidants help fight free radicals, which are harmful substances in the body that can cause diseases such as cardiovascular disease.”
Blackberries contain a specific antioxidant called anthocyanins. It is these powerful antioxidants that give blackberries their deep purple color, and they can be found in other dark, red or purple berries. Nutritionists say antioxidants have the potential to fight disease
The health benefits of ripe blackcurrants were confirmed in a 2004 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Food scientists at Oregon State University tested anthocyanin levels in two different blackberry cultivars as they ripened.
The antioxidant content in the fruit varied from 74.7 mg/100 g at underripe to 317 mg at overripe for Marion blackberries and from 69.9 mg to 164 mg for evergreen blackberries.
However, there is a caveat.
According to nutritionist dr. Duane Mellor of Aston University in Birmingham, our bodies are not very good at absorbing this particular antioxidant.
He said: “If you look at the purple pigments in blackberries, they are quite large molecules and are not as easily absorbed.
“Although the fruits contain many antioxidants, they are not always available to us.”
Because of this, the amount we can actually absorb from the fruit is very small.
But blackberries also bring a host of other health benefits. They are also rich in vitamin C and potassium.
Dr Mellor emphasizes that eating different colored foods is key to getting a mix of these compounds.
Oranges can be overripe
Like antioxidants in blackberries, oranges get a boost as they ripen produce more vitamin C.
“It is not clear why this happens, but vitamin C can rise due to the weather or the ripeness of the fruit,” Ms Ibitoye said.
In fact, other citrus fruits also increase vitamin C, but not as much as oranges.
This is according to a 2017 study by a Nigerian university published in the International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology.
It found that the vitamin C content of oranges was highest when they were “semi-ripe” and then decreased slightly as the fruit became “ripe”.
The same pattern was also observed in lemons, but the concentration of vitamin C was lower.
however, according to Dr Mellor, the vitamin in peppers and pineapples continues to increase.
Vitamin C plays an important role in protecting cells, maintaining healthy skin and bones and helping to heal wounds, according to the NHS.
However, the changes in vitamin C are so small that they are unlikely to have a noticeable impact on your health.
But how you store and cook the fruit matters when it comes to vitamin content.
In the photo, freshly squeezed oranges next to a cup full of vitamin C tablets. As oranges reach their ripening stage, they produce more vitamin C, but once they are ripe, these levels can drop again
Dr. Mellor said: “When fruit slowly dies and decomposes in cupboards or in the fridge, vitamin C is broken down.
“If you cut a potato, it will turn brown, but the more vitamin C it has, the slower it will turn brown after cutting. Newer potatoes contain more vitamin C than older potatoes. The same goes for apples.
“That’s why you have to keep things in the fridge so they don’t break immediately.”
Adults need 40mg of vitamin C a day, health chiefs say.
However, you should not worry too much about the vitamin C content and the degree of ripeness of your fruit, because just one orange, whether it is just ripe or overripe, is enough.
Ms Ibitoye said: “You shouldn’t worry too much about how ripe the fruit is as all fruits contain healthy vitamins, but how you prepare the food is important.”
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, so its content in food decreases drastically when it is cooked.
Instead, Ms Ibitoye says we should eat fruits and vegetables raw or steamed, as this cooking process includes vitamin C.
The best of bananas
It’s not just the taste and texture that changes as bananas ripen, they also become more sugary.
As with all fruits, bananas break down starches into simple sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose during ripening.
It’s more easily absorbed into the bloodstream, which can cause blood sugar to rise, according to Debra Williams, a registered dietitian who runs a private clinic called Eat Well Now.
This makes bananas a perfect snack for those looking for a quick source of energy for exercise, says Dr. Mellor.
Although increasing the sugar content does not change the calorie content of the fruit, it can cause a problem for people with diabetes.
As bananas ripen, the breakdown of starch increases, which is converted into simple sugars such as sucrose, glucose and fructose, which are more easily and quickly absorbed into the bloodstream.
Ms Williams said: “If you have diabetes, the thing to remember is that ideally you want to consume carbohydrates, which are absorbed more slowly.
“It is best for diabetics to eat unripe bananas.”
Unlike the sugar content, the mineral content of bananas changes little during the ripening process, she said.
For example, green bananas contain a similar amount of potassium as yellow bananas.
But unripe bananas contain more fiber and resistant starch – a carbohydrate that feeds good bacteria in the gut.
Dr Mellor said: “With an unripe green banana you get several semi-digestible carbohydrates that can be good for gut health.”
He suggests eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, but recommends not eating too many sweet and very ripe tropical fruits because of their high sugar content.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
