• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Vegetable Rhythms

Vegetable Rhythms

June 21, 2013
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/130621_sciup_veg.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Lights, Cabbage, Nutrients. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

When you close your refrigerator door the light goes out because, after all, there’s nothing in there that needs light. Or is there? Botanist Janet Braam at Rice University says that even after they’re picked, fruits and vegetables are still alive and sensitive to day/night cycles. What’s more, she and her colleagues report in the journal Current Biology that during the day, they produce high levels of chemical compounds that are toxic to plant-eating insects, but good for people.

JANET BRAAM (Rice University):

Those chemicals that defend the plant against insects are also important for human health. So those chemicals are among the most potent natural anticancer compounds known.

HIRSHON:

So in the future, fruits and vegetables could be harvested, shipped and stored in light conditions to optimize their nutrients. I’m Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the Science Society.

(Jupiter Images)
Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Biology, Chemistry, Nutrition & Food Science
Previous Post:IQ & Motion Detection
Next Post:Bombs & Brain Cells

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos