Question: Why are Strawberries red?

Jess Wade answered on 16 Jun 2015:

Fab question football Fred. It’s all about their chemistry. Strawberries are so delicious because they are made from a special sweet sugar. When we mix this sugar with another chemical called ‘anthocyanidin’, they bond together. This bonding happens whilst the strawberry becomes ripe. When little strawberries are formed, none of the sugars have bonded to the other chemicals, and the strawberries aren’t very colourful. When they become ripe all the sugars get concentrated so they are more colourful and more delicious. The anthocyanidins are a bit acidic, which means that they reflect the red light that comes in the light from the sun. The red light then bounces into our eyes so we see red strawberries.