This week in science class, we learned about how fruits and vegetables are all different colors and textures. I found it pretty amazing that the same plants can end up looking so different. Weird, but cool!
It turns out there is a big reason for this common phenomenon. Plants use a group of molecules called chlorophyll to capture sunlight for photosynthesis, which helps them create sugars from carbon dioxide from the air and water from the ground. But when plants are exposed to light, it triggers another chemical reaction that destroys chlorophyll molecules. This chemical reaction is called "chlorophyll breakdown."
This process reveals an amazing variety of colorful molecules called carotenoids (which can make fruits and vegetables like carrots, pumpkins and tomatoes red) and anthocyanins (which create the purples, pinks, reds, oranges and yellows in blueberries, cherries and grapes.
In a way, chlorophyll breakdown is similar to what happens to the color in your clothes when you hang them out to dry. The sun bleaches out some of the color molecules in your clothes and leaves lighter colored clothes behind. Plants use light for photosynthesis, but then chlorophyll breakdown bleaches them of their green pigments, turning plant leaves different colors.
It's a very cool process.
But what about the red fruit we eat? Well, for those fruits, carotenoids are used to shield the chlorophyll molecules from sunlight. When chlorophyll molecules get exposed to sunlight, they start breaking down. Carotenoids act as protection against this breakdown so chlorophyll molecules can keep shining bright green in the sun. And in this way, some of the colors we see on fruits and vegetables are due to plant protection from sunlight rather than plant photosynthesis.
So next time you look at a red, orange, yellow or purple fruit or vegetable, think about how it got that way!
Want to learn more? Check out the book I'm reading over break called Green is for Green. It has a lot of neat information about fruits and vegetables!
If you want to check out the scientific paper I talked about this week, click here.
And make sure you catch the next post, where I will talk about how the color of fruit and vegetables can change in the future!
Keep eating fruits and vegetables
Mixing fruits and vegetables
Mixed fruits and vegetables contain compounds which are good for your health. Fruits, on the other hand, contain a lot of water and fibers. This makes them good for hydration and digestion. Vegetables, on the other hand, contain very little water and fibers than fruits but they have more carbs than fruits. As a result, fruits are a better option than vegetables when you need to drink water or eat raw foods to prevent dehydration.
Mixing fruits and vegetables is good for your health because it gives you a variety of nutrients that you can't find in just one fruit or vegetable. This helps in preventing chronic diseases and making your body strong. When you eat fruits and vegetables together, they prevent each other from spoiling because fruits preserve the vegetable's crunchiness.
Yes,This is true! There are certain fruits and vegetables which contain certain antioxidants which will help protect your skin. Fruits with antioxidants such as oranges, red grapes, green peppers, strawberries and dark chocolate provide the best protection. But you should be aware of your body's reaction to these delicate fruits because they can have an adverse effect on health if eaten in high amounts. You may find a doctor or nutritionist after eating a whole orange or green peppers and experiencing skin rashes or painful joints.
The best way to find out which fruits and vegetables are healthy is to read the labels. The nutritional information in the product's label can tell you what benefits you can expect by consuming these products. Fruits and vegetables contain a wide range of food components. Some of these food components include calcium, vitamin C, and fiber. On the other hand, some foods contain high levels of calories, such as eggs and meat. You can also find certain fruits and vegetables in different colors. For instance, yellow fruit contains carotenoids, while dark green vegetables contain fiber.
This is true! Fruits and vegetables have the ability to mix in your stomach. This helps reduce the formation of stomach acid, and the digestive process is made easier. By consuming mixed fruits and vegetables a person can get more nutrition from their diet since mixed fruits provide vitamins and minerals which are not found in just one type of fruit or vegetable.
I will talk about how plants like orange carrots and cranberries will change to become more red. And the color of tomatoes may someday be a bright pink!
Say, this must-read book is 75% off right now on Amazon.com! (It's only $6.
Carotenoids and anthocyanins are very tough molecules, which is why they can survive the otherwise deadly process of chlorophyll breakdown. However, some plants use a different way to survive. When plants are exposed to light, they produce a dried-up version of the chlorophyll called phycobiliproteins (also known as phycobilins). These molecules help protect their DNA from damage from the breakdown process. Think of phycobiliproteins as a plant's built-in sunscreen. It gives them a nice tan, in addition to helping them make energy and survive.
This process is extremely important to plants since the phycobiliproteins (or phycobilins) that plants create do not protect more than just their DNA. The phycobilins are also responsible for the plant's coloring and help protect the chlorophyll from destruction.
So next time you eat your favorite fruit or vegetable, consider the complexity of the chlorophyll breakdown process. This reaction helps produce the colorful molecules in plants that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors, which also help protect plants from deadly sunlight exposure. It makes me wonder about other important biological processes that happen every day all around us. I wonder about the colors in the shadows on a cloudy day, what kinds of breakdown processes are going on there? And what kind of reactions are happening in all the millions of reactions going on in your own body right now?
Read more: Vegetables good for juicing