What should you look out for when buying fruits?

Here are a few things to keep in mind before selecting fruits:

• your best option is buying sesonal produce.
• locally grown produce travels shorter distances to get to your table, so it tends to be fresher and less expensive
• check your local sabzi mandi and farmers' markets called haats or sandhais for good deals.
• supermarket chains may also offer a large variety of produce at reasonable prices.

Frozen fruits like strawberries are nutritionally similar to fresh produce. This is because they are transported directly after picking to the factory for flash freezing.



Tips for picking commonly available fruits

Find out how you get the best value for your money while making sure your family gets the recommended servings of fresh fruit.

Name of Fruit	Signs that fruit is fresh	Signs that fruit is bad
Apples (seb)	Look for firmness and good colour. Good quality Kashmiri apples such as red delicious and golden delicious are usually crisp, juicy and sweet.	Soft bruises that are discoloured indicate damage.
Avocado (makhan phal)	Will yield slightly to gentle pressure. Smooth clear skin.	Blemishes, cracks or dark sunken spots.
Bananas (kela)	Best when yellow with brown freckles. The green bananas should be firm	Black soft patches or bruises. Bananas get damaged below 12 degrees Celsius or 55 degrees Fahrenheit, so never refrigerate.
Cherry	Large, firm with stems intact. Brightly coloured in shades of pink, red, gold and black.	Brown spots, too soft, tiny in size and hard.
Sapota (chikoo)	Should have wrinkled skin when ripe and give slightly when pressed	Unripe chikoo will have a greenish tinge and be hard. Over-ripe chikoo will have mushy soft spots all over or a white fur near the stem.
Grapefruit(chakotra)	Firm fruits, heavy for their size. Thin skinned fruits have more juice than thick skinned ones. Scratches and spots on the peel don't necessarily mean that the fruit is bad.	Soft, water soaked patches and lack of bright colour.
Grapes (angoor)	Select those with green, pliable stems that the grapes don't fall off of easily. The grapes should be tender and plump.	Stems which are brown with grapes falling off. Soft or wrinkled grapes usually mean that they are of poor quality.
Guava (amrud)	Smooth clear surface and yields slightly when gentle pressure is applied.	Hard and has blemishes.
Kiwi	Ripe when it yields to the touch but doesn't leave indentations. The skin of some kiwis may look water stained. This is normal and doesn't affect the flavour in any way.	Shrivelled up, too soft and mould.
Lemon (nimbu)	Firm, smooth, thin and brightly coloured lemons. Choose fruit heavy for their size as they'll contain more juice.	Dull colour, soft, spongy and have bumpy or wrinkled skin.
Lychee	Pink skin and should give a little when you apply a little pressure.	Green or brown skin and too soft.
Musk melon (kharbuja)	Sniff for a sweet, pleasing smell. Most musk melons require two to four days to ripen at room temperature at home.	A stem that's still attached may indicate the fruit isn't ripe. Overly yellow colour, soft pulp and mould indicate the fruit is over-ripe or going bad.
Mango (aam)	Firm fruit which yields a bit when pressed. Smell for a ripe fruity aroma.	Very soft fruit with a lot of black spots or bruises.
Orange (santara/narangi)	Look for bright coloured and heavy oranges (indicates juiciness). Brown or white streaks on Nagpur or Kamala oranges are common and don't affect flavour.	Dull, dry and rough skin texture, Fermented smell may indicate that it is overripe.
Papaya (papita)	Choose fruits which are greenish yellow to full yellow, firm but gives in slightly when fruit is pressed.	Very soft fruit and those with white patches.
Peach (aadoo)	Plump, fairly firm and fuzzy skin. The skin colour between the red areas should be yellow or atleast creamy.	Hard with a green colour are likely not to ripen. Overripe fruits are usually too soft and have bruises.
Pear (nashpati)	Should be firm but slightly soft. Their colour depends on the type and varies from pale to rich yellow.	Shrivelled or wilted pears with dull appearing skin will usually not ripen.
Pineapple (ananas)	Fruit should have a nice ripe aroma, golden yellow in colour and slightly soft.	Discoloured or soft spots mean it is over ripe. Unpleasant smell is a sign of decay.
Plum (aloo bukhara)	Colour varies from bright yellow green to red to purple and sometimes even purplish black. Fruit should be plump, well coloured and slightly yield to gentle pressure.	Hard, shrivelled and cracked fruit. If it is too soft then the plum is over-ripe.
Pomegranate (anaar)	Choose firm thin skinned fruit. Colour can vary from yellowish red to crimson.	Cracks or discolouration. Seeds which can be felt through the skin may mean it is overripe.
Strawberry	The cap stem (hull) should still be attached to firm, plump and bright fruit.	White shoulders or large discoloured patches.
Sweet lime (musambi)	Bright-coloured, firm and heavy for their size. These will contain more juice than the ones that are light or spongy.	Soft spots or traces of mould.
Watermelon (tarbooj)	Firm, heavy and free of bruises or cracks. When tapped it should produce a nice resonant sound.	Pale coloured flesh, white streaks and white seeds.