Brussel Sprouts

[WendyS]

We bought loose ones before Christmas and also a stalk containing sprouts still growing in situ in the hope that these might stay fresh longer. In fact those on the stalk have gone yellow very quickly. They were both stored in a cool place. Anyone know why the latter should not keep so well?

[angelap]

could it be something to do with the stalk of the sprouts trying to take nutrients back out of the sprouts in an effort to stay 'alive'?

[logman]

A tough question but a good one, would have expected the stalk sprouts to keep longer, after all is'nt that the whole idea of it ? It could be those stalked ones had been around longer than the shops would like you to beleive.But what sometimes seems obvious to us does'nt allways seem to add up, for example i once bought some watercress and decided it would keep longer if i put it in water, to the contrary it all flopped when i went to get it only about 1/2 an hour later!

[PhilBy]

Any gardner will tell you that sprouts are best picked when there is a hard frost, leaving them on the stalk is nothing more than a sales gimick to sucker folk into thinking they must be fresher or better.