MYTHCONCEPTIONS

Mat Coward

262: ORANGE ORANGES The myth When an orange is ripe its skin turns orange; when a lemon is ripe its skin turns yellow. Limes are green. The “truth” In most of the world, ripe citrus fruits are green. The colouring comes, as you’d expect, from chlorophyll, which is destroyed by cold. As citrus is mostly grown in climates that are warm yearround, the chlorophyll remains, and so does the green colour. Skin colour is entirely a matter of ambient temperature, and nothing to do with the fruit’s stage of development. The cooler the conditions, the more the chlorophyll will die and the more a lemon will turn lemon-coloured – but if there’s a sudden reversal of the surrounding temperature, it’s possible for the fruit to re-green. Buy an imported lime…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 425

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