To “macerate” a fruit means softening it by soaking it in some medium such as sugar or honey, fruit juice, wine or even a dressing based in oil and vinegar. “Macerate” comes from the Latin macerare, meaning “to soften.”

The medium draws out moisture from the fruit and thereby softens it. That can be good if the fruit, such as a plum or a pear commonly bought at the store, is slightly hard or unripe. But it’s a bother if the fruit is already ripe and, hence, as juicy as it will get. For example, most berries are sold ripe, as are grapes, citrus fruits, and pineapple.

The point of macerated fruits is to be a sort of sauce or dessert that is easy to approach and enjoy, tasting the individual fruit pieces now softened. But maceration of ripe and already-juicy fruits often merely ends up with glop. Sweet and tasty glop, but glop nonetheless.

When macerating fruit, it helps to know the difference between the two big families of fruits. These two families of fruits ripen — or, more simply, sweeten — differently.

Climacteric fruit family

What are called “climacteric” fruits can ripen — that is, gain flavor and get sweeter — even when separated from their parent plant. Inside themselves, they contain enough starch to change over time into sugar. Examples are stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums. Other climacteric fruits are apples, tomatoes, bananas, pears, mangoes, and avocados.

Climacteric fruits will ripen apart from their plant after they have been harvested. For this reason, climacteric fruits often are picked and shipped when under-ripe because they’re not easily damaged in transit. But, if so shipped, note that they require ripening time, at the grocer’s or on your kitchen counter.

Also note that’s macerating unripe climacteric fruit in sugar is not a substitute for ripening them. Macerating softens them, but neither ripens them nor develops their flavors. Sorry.

The science behind climacteric fruits is the ethylene gas that they produce and respirate while ripening; it occasions the ripening process in each piece of fruit and all those in its neighborhood.

For this reason, it is ill-advised to store climacteric fruits (or climacteric vegetables, such as potatoes) in the vicinity of the other family of fruits, those from the non-climacteric family. The former spoil the latter in short order, as you will find if keeping apples or stone fruits in the same bin next to lettuces or cucumbers.

Non-climacteric family

“Non-climacteric” fruits must obtain all their sugar from the parent plant and consequently ought to be bought only when fully ripe. Non-climacteric fruits ripen only when attached to their plant, before being harvested. Examples include most berries and citrus fruits, cherries, grapes, most melons, pineapples and the pomegranate and cucumber.

If fruits are nonclimacteric (and not picked under-ripe), they’re already pretty juicy. Preparing them with sugar — in, say, a fruit salad — might result in an excessive amount of juice in only a few minutes’ time. That may or may not be desired by you or those whom you serve, but it’s important to keep in mind.

Side note: in recipes for cobblers or crumbles, be watchful for excessive juice from the commonly called-for addition of sugar. All that juice can spoil any crunch in a crust.

It’s a good idea, then, to compose summer fruit salads from ripe fruits from within one family only, or to be careful, when mixing fruits from the two families, for excessive moisture in the finished salad.

Summer stone fruit salad recipe

Adapted from Kim Laidlaw, chowhound.com.

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe nectarines or peeled peaches, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch slices
6 ripe apricots, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch slices
6 ripe plums, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup pitted, halved cherries
2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, water, and lemon juice. Add the vanilla extract. Bring to a soft boil to dissolve the sugar, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the mixture becomes syrupy, about 5 minutes.

Set aside to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled. In a large serving bowl, toss together the fruit. Drizzle the fruit with the syrup. Toss gently, garnish with the pistachios, and it is ready to serve.

Reach Bill St. John at [email protected]