Vegetables usually taste better after frost. Why?

There is a saying in the countryside that "frosted dishes are especially sweet". According to the twenty-four solar terms, after beginning of winter, the temperature will suddenly drop, and a layer of frost will form in the ground, and the vegetables after frost will become more delicious and taste sweeter. The "sweetness" here is mainly aimed at cruciferous vegetables.

It is not so much frost as low temperature.

After first frost, vegetables tend to taste sweeter. This is mainly because when the temperature drops suddenly, in order to increase their cold resistance, plants hydrolyze the starch in their bodies into soluble sugar, and the concentration of free water increases and its freezing point decreases, thus preventing the baptism of low temperature.

The radish tastes slightly spicy before the first frost, and it will become a little crisp and sweet after frost. People living in the north may have experienced it, where the seeds are usually planted around September. After first frost, it will continue to grow until it snows, and then it will be buried in the soil or stored in the cellar.

Chinese cabbage, like radish, is also a cruciferous vegetable, and its leaves will be sweeter after frosting. People living in the north like to store Dabaijia in winter, and cabbage will become sweeter and sweeter.

Spinach Spinach is usually planted in August or September every year. Spinach in front of first frost has a slightly bitter taste, which is one of the reasons why many people don't like it. The bitter taste of spinach roots will be obviously weakened after frosting treatment.

To sum up, there are two reasons to make vegetables sweet:

First, the cold-proof mechanism of vegetables.

When the temperature drops suddenly, the starch in vegetables is converted into maltose under the hydrolysis of amylase in plants, and then into glucose under the action of maltase, thus increasing the sugar in cell fluid and not easily freezing; Glucose will dissolve in water, so vegetables will become sweet.

Second, the plant cells are destroyed and the sugar and amino acids in the cells are extravasated.

Vegetables will be frozen in the first frost weather below 4℃, then the cell membrane will rupture, and then the sugar, amino acids and other substances in the cells will also seep out, making vegetables have a sweet, soft and attractive taste.

In a word, vegetables after first frost tend to taste better, which is really well-founded. I hope my answer can help you!