Is there chemical contamination in butter? Look at the core stem to find out.

Every April and May, wax apples enter the market. That’s why during this time, many small traders bring Gia Lai wax apples to sell on sidewalks, local markets, and online markets.

This year, the price of wax apples has dropped by about 30%-40% compared to the same period last year, reaching 30,000 VND/kg – 40,000 VND/kg, which is quite cheap.

The reason why the price of wax apples is so cheap this year is due to favorable weather conditions, prolonged rainy season, and high humidity, which create favorable conditions for plant growth. Most plants have a high rate of fruit bearing. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the market demand for wax apples and other summer fruits has decreased, causing farmers to sell at very cheap prices, resulting in a “plummet” in the price of wax apples in the market.

Currently, wax apples are not widely grown in the Mekong Delta, mainly brought in from the Central Highlands. However, wax apples have a soft skin, so when transported over long distances, ripe fruit can easily get crushed and damaged. Therefore, for many years, fruit traders have adopted a simple trick called “chemical bath” to keep the wax apples fresh and delicious when they reach consumers.

So how can you tell if wax apples have been “chemically bathed”? According to a farmer, for wax apples that are not yet ripe, the core stem will be green, while if it is yellow, it means it is almost ripe, and if it is dark brown, it means that the apple is too ripe and easily spoiled. So, if you hold a wax apple and the stem is green but the body of the fruit is soft, it means it has been soaked in chemicals to ripen quickly.

Wax apples soaked in chemicals before being brought to the market.

In addition, the size of the stem is also a characteristic for identifying wax apples that have been chemically bathed. If the stem is large, it means that the apple is young and has been soaked in chemicals, and the quality is not good. Therefore, you should choose to buy aged wax apples, which are slightly soft when pressed on the stem but still have firm skin, because these apples do not contain chemicals and will ripen naturally over time.

According to this theory, when buying wax apples, absolutely do not choose ones that are soft, as they have certainly been soaked in chemicals for a long time. Good and naturally ripe wax apples have shiny but slightly rough skin, and they feel firm when held.

Besides, you should also pay attention to the taste of the wax apples. Wax apples that have been soaked in chemicals will have a very bitter taste, and many people often mistake it for being too close to the skin. However, with naturally ripe wax apples, even if you peel off all the green part of the skin, they will not be bitter, and this green part is even fatty and delicious.

Some information suggests that shaking wax apples and hearing a sound means they are good and not treated with chemicals. But in reality, this only applies to certain traditional varieties of wax apples. For some varieties like the Booth wax apples with large seeds, even when they are naturally ripe, you cannot hear the sound of the seeds when shaking.

Currently, the methods of “transforming” wax apples using chemicals are becoming more sophisticated, making it difficult to detect with the naked eye. Therefore, women should apply all the tips shared above to choose fragrant, nutritious wax apples.

According to GiadinhNet