時(shí)差N小時(shí):為什么萵苣不能冷凍 Why Lettuce Should NOT Be Frozen

Stroll through the frozen foods section of thesupermarket andyou'll find frozen corn, peas, andbeans.

你在閑逛超市的冷凍食品區(qū)的時(shí)候，會(huì)看到有冷凍玉米、冷凍豌豆和冷凍大豆。

A Moment of Science wonders, why isn't there anyfrozenlettuce?

《科學(xué)一刻》欄目很好奇，為什么看不到冷凍萵苣呢?

Freezing is a relatively easy and convenient way topreserve many vegetables because it slowsdown ordestroys the bacteria and enzymes that causespoilage.

冷凍是儲(chǔ)藏很多蔬菜的一種相對(duì)簡(jiǎn)單、便捷的方法，因?yàn)樗鼤?huì)減慢導(dǎo)致食物變質(zhì)的細(xì)菌和酶的增長(zhǎng)或者殺死它們。

But, the freezing process itself can cause changes in food that can spoil the appetite.

但是，冷凍過程本身就會(huì)改變食物，從而影響食物的口感。

During freezing, the water in every cell of the vegetable freezes and forms ice crystals.

在冷凍過程中，蔬菜的每個(gè)細(xì)胞中的水都會(huì)結(jié)冰。

As we knowfrom our ice cube trays, water expands in volume when it is frozen.

從制冰格我們可以知道，水在凍冰時(shí)體積會(huì)膨脹。

In frozen vegetables, the icecrystals expand and damage the wall that surrounds each cell.

對(duì)于冷凍蔬菜而言，冰晶膨脹會(huì)破壞蔬菜細(xì)胞的細(xì)胞壁。

When the cell walls are damaged, the vegetable's structure is weakened, and its texturebecomes softer.

細(xì)胞壁受損時(shí)，蔬菜的結(jié)構(gòu)就會(huì)變得不穩(wěn)定，質(zhì)地就會(huì)變軟。

Some vegetables, like corn and peas, have a lot of starch in them but very little water.

像玉米和豌豆這樣的蔬菜含有大量的淀粉但含水量卻不高，

So they maintain their structure in spite of the cell damage.

因此就算是細(xì)胞壁受損，它們的結(jié)構(gòu)也不會(huì)發(fā)生改變。

But, other vegetables, like lettuce and cucumbers, have a lot of water in them and moredelicate cell walls.

但是像萵苣和黃瓜這類蔬菜本身水分較多，且細(xì)胞壁也更脆弱，

The ice crystals damage thesevegetables so badly that they really can't be frozen withoutturning into mush.

所以冰晶會(huì)對(duì)這類蔬菜造成很嚴(yán)重的影響，所以在沒被搗碎的情況下最好不要將它們冷凍起來。

Ice crystals can reduce almost any vegetable to mush if poor freezing technique is used.

如果冷凍方法運(yùn)用不當(dāng)，冰晶幾乎可以把任何蔬菜都變得軟綿綿。

Slowfreezing creates larger ice crystals than fast freezing and causes more damage.

慢冷凍所形成的冰晶要比快冷凍大，因而造成的損害也更多。

Repeated thawing and freezing also creates larger crystals and can turn fresh,crunchyvegetables into unappetizing,mushy goo.

反復(fù)的解凍和冷凍也會(huì)形成較大的冰晶，能夠把新鮮的蔬菜變得黏黏糊糊，讓人沒了胃口。

Oddly enough, good freezing technique means boiling the raw vegetables for twenty secondsbefore quickly cooling and then freezing.

說來也奇怪，良好的冷凍方法竟然要把生蔬菜先煮沸20秒，然后快速冷卻，最后再冷凍起來。

The brief boiling makes the cell walls slightly more elastic.

短暫的煮沸可以使細(xì)胞壁變得更加有彈性。