There is a wise saying that says "we eat more with our eyes than with our mouths." And, it is true, because the color of food influences our perception of taste.
In this photographic report by Isaura Marcos in La Vanguardia Readers' Photos, we analyze the different vegetables that exist and their color varieties, as well as the nutritional properties they offer, taking as a pattern the red chard grown by the nuns in the monastery. of Pedralbes of Barcelona.
Experts consider that color is the first attribute that consumers value to determine its appearance and quality. In the specific case of fruits and vegetables, colors are the result of the concurrence of three families of pigments: chlorophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins.
Thus, color gives a clue as to what benefits its intake provides and is also an indicator of the state of maturation and decomposition of a food. For example, when a lemon has spots, it means that it has been exposed to low temperatures. Or when a tomato turns from green to red, it indicates that it has already ripened.
As Constantino Mora, president of the Gremi de Fruites i Hortalisses de Barcelona, explains, vegetables have temporality, that is, they belong to specific seasons of the year, and it is during these seasons that they should be consumed, as they are at their most optimal quality.
Broadly speaking, vegetable production increases during the winter months and is reduced during the summer due to the heat, which is responsible for vegetables turning green, losing their natural color and the flavor that characterizes them. In the case of celery, to prevent this from happening, it is covered with plastic so that sunlight does not enter and change its shade.
Fruit and vegetable consumption habits continue to evolve. "People are increasingly more aware of the importance of eating healthy, this is especially noticeable in children, who eat more fruit and vegetables than before," explains Constantino Mora, who emphasizes that the discourse in favor of healthy food has made that its demand skyrockets, and, consequently, supply and prices increase.
According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, prepared between September 2022 and August 2023, each Spaniard has eliminated 2.45 kilograms of fruits and vegetables from their shopping basket, due to inflation. This has caused 68% of consumers to change their purchasing habits.
Furthermore, 56% of Spaniards buy prepared vegetables due to "lack of time", according to a study carried out by the AECOC. That is why, satisfying customer demands, supermarkets increasingly offer vegetables prepared and ready to eat.
"Due to the consumer's lack of time, what we do is prepare the vegetables more, so that they are already chopped, peeled, so they just have to get home and boil them," gives the president of the Gremi de Fruites i Hortalisses de Barcelona as an example.
"We do not use any ingredients such as preservatives, stabilizers...", says Constantino Mora, betting on natural ingredients and adapting to society's new consumer trends.
