If there’s one color we’re inclined to affiliate with lettuce, it’s…undoubtedly not pink. Visualize a head of crisp, inexperienced romaine that you just’re chopping for a salad. You use half the highest, and put the remaining once more throughout the crisper. A pair days later, whilst you seize a lot of leaves to excessive a sandwich, you uncover it’s turned pink throughout the perimeters. For many who’ve ever prepped lettuce—significantly romaine or iceberg—this is not an imaginary state of affairs. It’s occurred to all of us. Nonetheless why does lettuce flip pink when it’s decrease?
Why Does Lettuce Flip Pink After Being Decrease?
It’s a totally pure post-harvest trait, explains Katie Sabatini, RD, LDN, Meals Safety & Top quality Assurance Supervisor at Little Leaf Farms. Sometimes known as “rusting,” this happens when the lettuce oxidizes polyphenols (a category of health-beneficial plant compounds) as a defending measure in direction of spoilage. In numerous phrases, the lettuce is defending itself from quick deterioration. Sabatini says that rusting may even be introduced on by further moisture and publicity to ethylene gasoline, a naturally-emitted plant hormone current in abundance in fridges.
“Lettuce can flip pink at any stage after harvesting,” says Sabatini, nevertheless notes that it’s further extra more likely to occur in a bag or container that’s been opened and put once more throughout the fridge. Bruised or decrease leaves expedite the rusting course of, too.
Is It Safe to Eat Lettuce that Has Turned Pink?
Yep! Utterly protected. It moreover shouldn’t model any utterly completely different. “If the discoloration bothers you, chances are you’ll on a regular basis choose any pinkish leaves for a further attention-grabbing meal,” says Sabatini. To verify your lettuce stays to be good to eat, focus further on the texture: “Study that the rest of the leaves are nonetheless crisp, they normally appear vibrant and company. In that case, chances are you’ll nonetheless benefit from your greens as you normally would,” Sabatini says, together with that in case you uncover a significant amount of slimy or soggy greens, discard the rest of the bundle to be on the protected side.
How Do You Stop Lettuce from Turning Pink?
Because of further moisture is a wrongdoer of rusting, solely wash lettuce leaves as wished, instead of batch-washing them and inserting soggy or damp leaves once more throughout the fridge. For many who truly want to prep a bunch upfront, use a salad spinner to eliminate as so much water as potential. And preserve the lettuce away from completely different greens, in a appropriately sealed container or in a separate crisper drawer, to stay away from publicity to ethylene gasoline.