If you don't have an asparagus hut nearby, you have to buy the white sticks in the supermarket. But how fresh are the packed bars really?
- The asparagus season is in full swing.
- The sticks taste best fresh.
- Packaged asparagus did disappointingly in the test.
Asparagus is a very expensive treat *, not least because it only lasts so short. On June 24th the season for the "white gold" is officially over again and by then many people want to have as much of it as possible.
If you do not have a sales hut for fresh asparagus in the surrounding area, all you have to do next to the weekly market is go to the supermarket or discounter. Here the asparagus is not only available loose, but often also packed in plastic. This variant is significantly cheaper and usually costs less than six euros. But how good is the quality of this packaged asparagus . The NDR consumer program "Markt" subjected the packaged asparagus, peeled and unshelled, from the supermarket shelves to a freshness test - with a sobering result.
Packaged asparagus: freshness and poor quality
In order to make a meaningful comparison, the properties of fresh asparagus * must be considered. This has a crisp consistency so that the bars break quickly when bent. The scent should also be aromatic and pleasant . Both criteria cannot be checked for packaged asparagus *, which would be reason enough for expert Anneke von Reeken to stay away from packaged asparagus.
Asparagus was bought for the freshness test from:
- Aldi
- Edeka
- Lidl
- net
- Rewe
When the packaging was opened, the consumer advocate often encountered a musty, unpleasant smell . The particularly fine asparagus tips - for many the special highlight when eating asparagus - were affected, or even mushy, by the supermarket or discounter when the asparagus was packed. When buying, make sure that they are tightly closed and light to white . During the visual inspection, you should also leave asparagus that is discolored or split. With these stalks, the harvest is too far behind.
Delicious idea with asparagus: Refined asparagus and ham casserole - so you can do it straight away
Good news: no germ contamination
If the asparagus has been out of the earth for a long time, the germ load could be increased. Is this really the case? To clarify this question, the asparagus was also examined in the laboratory. The result lets consumers breathe a sigh of relief, as the bacterial load was found to be harmless in all samples. Not even mold spores were found on the samples.
The peeled asparagus from Aldi turned out to be the winner of the test series . This convinced the testers both in terms of freshness and quality - at a price of 6.49 euros.
Also read:
Thanks to this unusual tip, asparagus stays fresh for a long time
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Royal vegetables with a difference: asparagus in pesto and dumplings
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* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
