APPLES — UP TO 12 MONTHS

WHILE supermarket shelves are never short of Britain’s second- favourite fruit, that’s no guarantee they have been freshly picked. Once harvested, apples destined for longterm storage are placed in chilled warehouses filled with a mixture of gases to stop ripening. Like with bananas, the aim is to halt any release of ethylene gas. They are also often treated with SmartFresh, a synthetic ‘produce enhancer’ whose active ingredient is 1-methylcyclopropene. This also reduces ethylene production, effectively ‘putting the fruit to sleep’. The techniques mean apples can be a year old by the time they hit the shelves, but shops are guaranteed a steady supply of the fruit.