Consumer Q&A: A Compilation of Fruit Questions

Q: Why are tomato plants called vines? What exactly is a "vine-ripened" tomato?

A: Tomato plants don't twine as morning glories or pole beans do. They do not cling with rootlets the way Boston or English ivy do. They do not attach themselves with tendrils the way grape or cucumber vines do. However, because of the loose, sprawling habit that cause some varieties to need staking or trellising, tomato plants are sometimes called vines.

A true vine-ripened tomato is a tomato that is allowed to grow and mature on the vine and is not picked until it is actually ripe. A tomato that has been allowed to ripen on the vine is sweeter and juicier than one that is picked while it is still green and ripened off the vine. Some tomatoes you see at the supermarket are picked green or nearly green, and gassed with ethylene to ripen them.

One note of caution, there are some sellers who will call a tomato "vine-ripened" if it is picked when showing any redness or color other than green. A true vine-ripened tomato is less suitable for shipping because of its susceptibility to bruising and shorter shelf life. You are most likely to get a true vine-ripened tomato by growing the crop yourself, or buying directly from a farm or farmers market.

Q: Is there a place in Georgia that offers witch finger grapes?

A: With curiously tapered fruits, witch finger grapes look like a grape version of a ristra of purple chili peppers. These table grapes are beginning to appear in some supermarkets. All of them that we have seen in stores were grown in California. We do not know of any farmers in Georgia growing the fruits or nurseries producing the plants to sell.


Q: I heard a fig can have a regular crop and a breba crop. What is a breba crop?
 
A: Figs can bear two crops a year. The early crop is called the breba crop. It is borne on the old wood and ripens in early summer. The regular crop is borne on new wood and ripens later in the summer.

Q: I saw a strange item called "dragon fruit" at the grocery store. What exactly is it? How do you eat it? Can we grow this in Georgia?

A: Dragon fruit, sometimes called "pitaya," is a fruit that grows on several tropical cactus species. Dragon fruits are often red, pink or fuchsia on the outside with white flesh on the inside and small, edible black seeds. Some dragon fruits have yellow skin or red flesh. It has a very striking appearance inside and out.

The fruits have a mild, sweet taste. They can be sliced in two and the flesh scooped out and eaten with a spoon. You can also peel them and cube the flesh to use in fruit salads or as an addition to green salads of spinach, mache or microgreens along with avocadoes and Georgia pecans. In fruit salads, it blends well with pomegranate, blueberry and oriental persimmon. Slices of dragon fruit are an attractive garnish on a plate of chicken salad. The flesh is also used in juices, teas, sorbets, smoothies and shakes.

Dragon fruits are grown commercially in Central and South America, south Florida, south Asia and Australia. They cannot be grown in Georgia except in a greenhouse, which protects them from freezing temperatures.

Got a question? Visit our website, write to us at 19 MLK Jr. Drive, Room 128, Atlanta, GA 30334, or email arty.schronce@agr.georgia.gov.