Color-changing squash reveals ripeness

Honeynut squash
Honeynut squash

Cornell Chronicle [2016-10-06]

How do you know when squash is at its ripest and tastiest? Most vegetables offer a unique hint. Bananas turn a summery yellow. Peaches are soft but not too squishy. Squash, however, is an anomaly in that it shows no exterior sign of ripeness.

At least it didn’t until Michael Mazourek, assistant professor in plant breeding and genetics, bred one into it.

All it took was a little color.

With his new honeynut squash it’s now possible to see where an individual squash is in its eight-week ripening process. Beginning as a bright green color, like a zucchini, and then — depending on temperature, sunlight and other factors — it turns orange in the last couple weeks, signaling it has achieved peak flavor and nutrition.

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