Make sure you eat only well ripened fruit if you want the full antioxidant effect. Antioxidants become unlocked the more the fruit ripens, and more stilll as the fruit eventually turns towards going bad, claim researchers at the Uni of Innsbruck in Austria.

Looking closely at Pear and Apple fruits, the research team found that as the skin changed colour during the ripening process as they underwent a decomposition similar to tree leaves in the autumn.  As the chlorophyll disappears the leaves lose their natural green colour.

In attempting to explain the process Dr Krautler said: "There is clearly one biochemical pathway for chlorophyll decomposition in leaf senescence and fruit ripening"

In laymans terms it means that powerful antioxidants are released during this decomposition period and could play an important physiological role for a plant. Also when these are consumed as part of the human diet, they can play the same antioxidative role in our bodies.

Further reading:
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2007
Author: Bernhard Kräutler