quickly used up by the plant cells after harvest This is why vegetables picked just before cooking are more full-flavored than store-bought produce, which is usually days to weeks from the field Browning Enzymes, Breath Fresheners, and the Order of the Meal The browning enzymes are normally considered a nuisance, because they discolor foods as we prepare them Recently a group of Japanese scientists found a constructive use for their oxidizing activities: they can help clear our breath of persistent garlic, onion, and other sulfurous odors! The reactive phenolic chemicals produced by the enzymes combine with sulfhydryl groups to form new and odorless molecules (Phenolic catechins in green tea do the same.) Many raw fruits and vegetables are effective at this, notably pome and stone fruits, grapes, blueberries, mushrooms, lettuces, burdock, basil, and peppermint This may be one of the benefits of ending a meal with fruit, and one of the reasons that some cultures serve a salad after the main course, not before Bitter tastes are generally encountered only among vegetables and seeds (for example, coffee and cocoa beans), which contain alkaloids and other chemical defenses meant to discourage animals from eating them Farmers and plant breeders have worked for thousands of years to reduce the bitterness of such crops as lettuce, cucumbers, eggplants, and cabbage, but chicory and radicchio, various cabbage relatives, and the Asian bitter gourd are actually prized for their bitterness In many cultures, bitterness is thought to be a manifestation of medicinal value and therefore of healthfulness, and there may be some truth to this association (p 334) Though savory, mouth-filling amino acids are more characteristic of protein-rich animal ...mushrooms, lettuces, burdock, basil, and peppermint This may be one of the benefits of ending a meal with fruit, and one of the reasons that some cultures serve a salad after the main course, not before... Bitter tastes are generally encountered only among vegetables and seeds (for example, coffee and cocoa beans), which contain alkaloids and other chemical defenses meant to discourage animals from eating them Farmers and plant breeders have... Asian bitter gourd are actually prized for their bitterness In many cultures, bitterness is thought to be a manifestation of medicinal value and therefore of healthfulness, and there may be some truth to this association (p 334)