Is there a best time to harvest and consume your vegetables?

Is there a best time to harvest and consume your vegetables? The concept makes sense if you remember that vegetables are living entity. But what about after they are harvested… are they still able to change their nutritive dependent upon the time of the day, lighting, darkness, and other factors?

I decided to search for more information on the topic of the timing of when to harvest and eat vegetables based on the best nutritive value and found there really is limited information.  And this most likely is because the research is really just beginning.  Here is what I found on recent research by Janet Braam.    If you know of more information, please comment and share with us.

Is there a best time to harvest and consume your vegetables?

Vegetables Respond to a Daily Clock, Even After Harvest

Interview by Ira Flatow on NPR  June 21, 2013

“Vegetables plucked from grocery store shelves can be made to respond to patterns of light and darkness, according to a report in the journal Current Biology. Janet Braam and colleagues found that cabbages change their levels of phytonutrients throughout a daily cycle.  Read More…