Few things are more unpleasant than encountering immaturity. We are not talking about people, although we could, but about fruits in this case. More specifically the kiwi, a tricky fruit of Chinese origin to which we have given a face and a name at the expense of New Zealand, the country that has made them a world-famous product.
Now common in our greengrocers, that hairy fruit with a tender green heart strewn with seeds quickly conquered us. Juicy, sweet and with a slight point of acidity, its success has conquered us through its flavor and also its properties.
The problem, especially when we we approach exotic fruits -although the kiwi is grown with great success in the north of Spain-, it is that the skid of acidity is sometimes too noticeable.
It is a matter of immaturity, as we said before, but an unripe kiwi becomes a hard fruit, slightly rough and with a high acidity point. In addition, it is more or less frequent that people with sensitization to latex or profilins —proteins present in some vegetables, pollens or in latex— suffer more abrupt allergic reactions to immature kiwis than to ripe kiwis.
Sanitary issues aside, choose a kiwi and ensure its sweetness It is a simple task but from time to time frustration can appear.
How to choose the sweetest kiwi
We grew with the presence of green kiwi, the most abundant in our markets and also the most resistant, which years later came to visit another relative, the yellow kiwi. Finally, although it also exists naturally, the family seemed to close with the arrival of the red kiwi.
We come across a curious traffic light of kiwis with different brands and origins that sometimes go unnoticed. To be useful to you, know that the Spanish kiwi is a winter fruit, which is at its peak between the months of October and March.
Outside of this season, the most common is that let’s talk about imported kiwi, New Zealand being the main origin of these tender fruits loaded with fiber. Regardless of the color, it will be our Antipodes that will supply us with most of the kiwi.
As in the rest of fruits, the sweetness of these is measured in the famous degrees Brix, as our colleague Liliana already explained to us. As logically we cannot test fruit by fruit and we do not expect you to have a refractometer at home to measure it, there are options to know when a fruit will be sweet.
touch does not fail
As in the rest of the fruits in the world, touch is going to be our best friend to check when a fruit is ripe and, therefore, at its optimum point of sweetness. This, when we come across especially acid fruits, is quite relevant.
It happens with persimmons, which can be very tannic, or with any type of citrus, which if eaten ‘green’ is quite unpleasant. The same thing that happens with our beloved kiwi, to which we dedicate the plea today.
For it, Let’s make sure to lightly squeeze the fruit. If we notice that it is too soft and gives in very easily to pressure, it will be a bad sign and it will mean that it is overripe. If, on the other hand, we notice that it is hard and that it never gives way, it will be unequivocal proof that it is yet to mature.
In the case of kiwi it is quite simple. Having a very soft and delicate skin, quite sensitive to this over-ripening, it is not difficult to know when it is ripe. In any case, that it yields more does not mean that it is not edible -in fact, the sugars will be more concentrated- but its texture will not be as pleasant.
Bet on winning color
If we have never seen a kiwi and we have ‘the three tenors’ in front of us and we want to rely on sweetness, the color of its pulp will be an indication. Red kiwis, not yet very abundant in our country, we will see that they surround the part of the seeds with red and that they are the sweetest.
The next in degree of sweetness they are the yellow kiwis, already quite frequent in our markets and especially imported —a reason that also justifies their high price, which is usually double that of the green kiwi.
By last, the least sweet kiwi is the green one although it is also the richest in fiber and the least caloric —as a nutritional note—, while those that have a greater amount of vitamin C are the yellow ones (three times more than an orange, for example).
Images | iStock / Red Kiwi: Zespri /
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