What to do with green figs

Tires due to storage?

The plant hormone ethylene plays an important role in fruit ripening because it promotes ripening. Ripening fruits such as bananas, apples and pears produce the ripening gas and expel it through their skin. Even after picking, they form sugar in the pulp and become softer.

Pineapples and cherries are among the species that do not develop this organic compound on their own. If they are stored together with an apple, only the aging process accelerates. Sugar formation does not take place.

Problem case fig

Figs belong to the group of non-ripening fruits. Unripe fruit that fell from the tree prematurely will spoil over time. Although they soften a little, they do not develop a sweet aroma. The pome fruits have to ripen on the fig tree, which requires good care and optimal site conditions.

Tips for using green figs

Unripe fruits turn out to be the perfect ingredient for making syrup. However, since they contain milky juice, which is slightly toxic, you should boil the pulp before processing. Gloves protect against the skin-irritating liquid.

method

Score the individual specimens crosswise on the ground and prick several holes in the outer skin with a kebab skewer. Put the fruit in a sufficiently large saucepan and fill up with water so that the figs are completely covered. After a boiling time of 15 minutes, pour off the brew and rinse the harvest. The cooking and rinsing process is repeated one more time.

Making syrup:

• Dissolve 750 grams of sugar in 250 milliliters of tap water
• Simmer the figs in the syrup for a quarter of an hour
• Let the approach steep overnight
• Add the cinnamon stick and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until frothy
• add a dash of lemon juice

Special features of Ficus species

Caring for fig trees has proven to be complicated, so that it is not uncommon for fruits to fall unripe from the branch. In Central Europe, it is advisable to plant early-ripening fig varieties. Alternatively, you can also cultivate your fig bush in the greenhouse to ensure milder conditions for longer. However, there is another reason that supposedly green figs are causing.

It all depends on pollination

Cultivated figs that are offered in specialist stores are parthenocarp. They develop fruits without the flowers being fertilized. These forms are the result of long-term breeding in which a mutation was promoted. With exotic wild forms it often happens that the fruit-like structures fall prematurely and immature from the tree. They are bottle-shaped flowers that look like small figs and have not been pollinated. Special gall wasps, which are no longer found north of the Alps, are responsible for fertilization.