A recent study shows that certain fruits and veggies at the grocery stores are more alive than we think.
Produce like cabbage, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots and blueberries have all been a part of tests that show them responding to light and dark environments a full week after being picked.
In the fields, plants give off natural chemicals at certain times of the day to ward off bugs that would eat them. None of the chemicals would be bad for us humans, just enough to help protect them from bugs.
Researchers kept the fruits and veggies in a grocery store on the same schedule as their predators, like the cabbage-looper-moth-caterpillar, by turning the lights on and off at specific times and then testing the food afterwards.The tests showed that the plants kept on the same schedule they were used to in the fields and could still produce the chemicals to ward off the bugs even though they have been picked and shelved!
The produce not kept on their natural daylight schedule were also coming up with the chemical to defend themselves well after being picked but they were releasing them at the wrong time, so in theory the bugs would have no problem eating them.
So next time you’re looking at vegetables in the supermarket give them a second look, maybe they’re trying to fight you off too!