苹果在世界上最受欢迎的水果中占据一席之地。它们不仅是手工吃的美味，而且还为沙拉，秋季馅饼中的明星和咸味肉类菜肴的甜蜜补充。以下是如何选择合适的苹果来制作您的制作以及如何保持其最佳品尝。

What makes an apple crisp and juicy?
苹果的细胞充满了美味juices composed of water, sugar, acids, and aromatic esters (compounds made of one acid and one alcohol molecule). The spaces between the cells are filled with air, which accounts for as much as 25% of the volume of a ripe apple (that’s why apples float). In a ripe apple, the cells bulge with juice, which stretches the cell walls and compresses the air between the cells. When you take a bite, the cell walls break (hence the crispness), and the juice bursts out. At the same time, the trapped air is released, transporting the apple’s aromatic esters up the back of your throat to the olfactory membranes in your nose, and you taste the distinctive flavor of that particular apple. Apples that contain less air aren’t as flavorful, crisp, or juicy, but they’re better for cooking.

What makes an apple sweet or tart?
All apples have a balance of sugars and acids, but the balance changes by variety. Granny Smith apples are high in acid and lean in sugar, for example, and Fujis are decidedly sweet with a subtle acidity. Regardless of the varietal differences, the sweet-sour balance of any apple evolves during storage. Apples are climacteric, which means they contain starch that converts to sugar after harvest. In addition, malic acid, the primary acid in apples, is consumed by the fruit once picked and is used for energy over time in storage. This means that all apples are at peak tartness right after picking and gradually become sweeter the longer they’re stored.

您如何从坏蛋中告诉一个好苹果？
As an apple ripens, its cells fill with water, and green chlorophyll in the skin breaks down, revealing deeper green, yellow, red, and pink colors underneath. When picking apples from the tree or the market bin, look for brightly colored fruit that feels plump, firm, and somewhat heavy. This heaviness indicates maximum water retention and juiciness.

收获后，苹果由于乙烯（果实产生的蒸发激素）而继续成熟。随着乙烯的持续暴露，苹果变得越来越柔软，缩水和重量更轻。半纤维素和果胶物质在苹果细胞中含有水（并使细胞分开）最终分解，从而导致水分逸出，苹果皮肤皱纹。过度成熟的苹果会显得萎缩和皱纹，并在按下时会柔软。由于缺乏水和植物组织的种群，随着半纤维素和果胶的弱化，它们也可能味道干燥和味道。

一个坏苹果会破坏整个苹果吗？
是的。争吵和撞击伤害会损害一个苹果，留下柔软的棕色斑点，这些斑点很容易受到真菌青霉膨胀的攻击。P.膨胀物被称为蓝色模具或软腐烂，从一个坏苹果迅速扩散到附近的苹果，尤其是在温暖的潮湿条件下，这些苹果会促进霉菌的生长。

What’s the best way to store apples?
储存的苹果会在收获后品尝酥脆和多汁的月份。为了最大程度地减少瘀伤和不合时宜的腐烂，应轻轻处理苹果，并在收获期间和之后分开；这就是为什么生产分销商用单个摇篮将苹果运送出来的原因。

对于最长的存储空间，请将苹果放在冰箱中生产抽屉，以减慢其自然成熟过程并阻止霉菌的生长。如果您的冰箱带有可调节湿度的抽屉，请将苹果抽屉置于约85％的湿度，这有助于防止苹果过早干燥。

How do I keep apples from browning?
Browning in fruit is caused by exposure to oxygen. Bruised or cut apples release enzymes from the damaged cells that mix with phenols, the fruit’s aromatic compounds, and react with oxygen to form new molecules that appear brown in color.

So how do you keep cut apples nice and white in, say, a fresh apple salad? There are a few options. The easiest way is to slow the enzymes’ activity with acid and cold temperatures. To do this, put cut apples in a bowl of cold acidulated water (add 1?4 cup lemon juice, 2 tsp. vinegar, or 500mg crushed vitamin C tablets to every 4 cups cold water). To avoid the mild acidic flavor imparted by this method, you can simply keep cut apples submerged in plain cold water to shield them from oxygen; however, the lack of added acid will cause enzyme activity to increase more rapidly when the apples are removed from the water. You can also toss cut apples in sugar or syrup to shield the cut surfaces from oxygen-this method works well for sweet fruit salads. Finally, you can deactivate enzymes by dipping cut apples in boiling water for at least 1 minute. This blanching method soft ens the fruit slightly, but is a good choice if you want the apple to stay white without an acid or an oxygen-shielding solution.

是什么使苹果对烹饪有益？
一般而言，像格兰尼·史密斯（Granny Smith）和布雷伯恩（Braeburn）这样的酸苹果在烹饪过程中保持最佳状态。酸增强了我们对其他FL avors的看法，并且由于热量倾向于散发芳香分子，因此用高酸苹果制成的煮熟的菜肴会保留更多的fl avor。另外，酸是增强果胶（将水果细胞融合在一起的“胶水”）所必需的，这有助于苹果切片在馅饼和薯片中保持其形状。苹果品种较少的空气，例如罗马美女和布雷伯恩（Braeburn），最适合整体烘烤，因为它们随着水的蒸发，果汁的浓缩和细胞收缩而不会倒塌。尽管任何苹果都可以用来制作苹果酱，但那些空气较少的人，例如麦金托什，制作奶油般光滑的苹果酱，而酥脆，酸苹果，例如格兰尼·史密斯（Granny Smith），使更粗糙，更宽松的酱汁。

有关苹果的更多信息，请参阅我们的成分配置文件。

大卫·约阿希姆（David Joachim）和安德鲁·施洛斯（Andrew Schloss）是屡获殊荣参考书的作者The Science of Good Food。

Illustration: Janet Stein