Why do grocers spray fresh fruit and vegetable with water?
Besides the appeal glistening water droplets have on fresh fruits, we can look at the cell of a vegetable to explain that. As we know, cells contain large amounts of water, especially in the central vacuole. Such water, if lost, causes the cell to become shriveled and unhealthy looking. A lack of water causes plants to die faster. As the surrounding medium of the fruits is air, evaporation accounts for the water loss. Evaporation of water can occur at the peels of fruits. The reason why you probably see grocers ‘watering’ vegetables more frequently is because the leaves of the vegetables contains stomata. These stomata are tiny ‘perforations’ on the underside of the leaf that allow for gaseous exchange. The more prominent form of evaporation is at the stomata. Such a practice allows for the fruits to stay fresh longer. However, grocers only practice this for a few days as there would be a high chance of mould growing on them.
