FYI, Apples Are Often Frozen In Time For 10 Months Before You Eat Them

When you pick out an apple at the grocery store, you may not think much about where it came from. But the truth is that some apples take a fascinatingly long journey to get to you. If you’re eating an American-grown apple at this time of year, chances are it’s been in storage for about five months now. Eat one in July, and it could’ve been stored for nearly a year.  Apples can last for months in specialized storage. If you think they’re picked and delivered straight to you year-round, then you’re mistaken. “Apples are harvested once a year in the U.S.,” says Alisha Albinder, a fourth-generation fruit grower and distributor at New York’s Hudson River Fruit Distributors. “If you’re eating a New York apple not in the fall, then it’s safe to say that it’s been in storage.” Here’s how the process goes down.  There are two types of apple storage. There are two types of storage: regular refrigeration and controlled atmosphere. Apples ― which are harvested between August and November, depending on variety ― usually enter refrigeration if their growers intend to sell them by December, Albinder told HuffPost. These giant warehouses are kept at 34 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit, preserving sweetness and crunch until it’s time to ship them to a grocery store. Apples that will be sold later in the year head to controlled atmosphere storage, or CA. In this giant...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news