How do I pick the best summer fruit?

To pick the best, juiciest summer fruit you need to learn to rely on your senses and knowledge of the varieties and seasons, experts say. We visited Auckland's wholesale fruit markets to get the intel on how to make sure you get the pick of the bunch.

Strawberries and blueberries

Dave Berry says it's usually the strawbs that are dark red and almost look overripe that will have the best flavour, but they won't keep long.

Seek berries with firm skin and no wet patches. Some may suggest the biggest of the bunch is best, but they are often sorted into sizes when packed so that they're sellable.

Nigel Krone has been selling all sorts of berries at T & G for about 10 years and says shoppers should look at the bottom of the punnet to see if there's any leaking (which should be avoided).

This year's strawberry supply will likely last longer than last year, with about four million more plants on the ground, he says. Colder nights and mornings may cause the white colour on the tips and tops, which are signs of a less mature fruit.

For blueberries, you'll want the ones with more bloom - a natural pale coating on the outside. Darker ones can be a sign of age or of the berry holding water, however sometimes the way they're picked and handled will rub the bloom off.

Mangoes

Alastair Turner of Auckland wholesalers Fresh Direct says the blush colour, firmness and fruity aroma are among the ripeness cues for mangoes. Dark spots on the ends may indicate over-ripeness.

Kevin Munroe, who imports and sells mangoes, says the Australian supply will last until January, by which time the South American ones will continue to come through.

Turner says we can look forward to a flush mango supply this season.

"Whenever there's a lot around, the quality is always the best … right now is a good time anyway because now is the middle of the season so the flavours are the best."

Pineapple

Green skin with a yellow base (indicating the sugar content) is ideal if you want some shelf life to your pineapple. Munroe says by the time it gets to the supermarket it should have a little give at the base, which indicates ripeness.

Turner says an orange tinge that takes over the entire skin or ones with a "spongy" touch likely mean they have gone too far.

You may have come across some online suggestions that pulling at loose leaves at the centre top of pineapples will be a giveaway sign on ripeness, but New Zealand stopped pineapple imports with leafy tops about 20 years ago.

Cherries

Dhiran Chhita, who has been selling cherries for eight years at Turners and Growers, says the current Hawke's Bay's season has been one of the best, but this variety doesn't get as hard as the South Island variety, which is firm to the touch.

"The light red fruit is probably not as sweet as dark fruit. But the firmness out of Hawke's Bay shouldn't really matter as much as it does out of the South Island.

"When you've got really good South Island fruit, [it's] really firm and it's deep dark sort of maroon colour … there are varieties that are lighter in colour and will have the same taste profile."

Find a punnet with green stems, as opposed to brown ones - this indicates freshness.

"Condensation is not a bad thing because it means it's been chilled and been held at the right temperature … when the stems start drying out it means fruits' possibly been sitting around or it hasn't been kept at [the right] temperature in transit."

Tim North, who has been selling cherries wholesale for 10 years, says this season's supply could wrap up by February.

Pomegranates

Choosing one with flattened and angular sides will mean its reached full maturity. Look for less skin markings and deeper colours, Munroe says. But he adds the colour won't always be a reliable indicator due to varieties.

The crown is unlikely to give you any cues because New Zealand gets their supply from overseas and these would have rumbled around in crates for a few weeks in shipping. Avoid ones that are cracked or with soft spots.

Sweetcorn

Mark Middleton, who has been selling corn for 20 years, says the husk should be reasonably dark green. Have a feel to find one with kernels that go all the way to the top for a fully mature cob.

"Most importantly, is that all these tassels here are browned off, that's when you know that the kernels are matured. Every one of these little tassels goes to a kernel and that's the photosynthesis through to each of the kernels. If this is all blonde … that corn is not right."

The supply this year looks reasonable through to Christmas but you can expect a bigger volume in January as the weather gets warmer and harvesting moves further south, he says.

Avocadoes

Jamie Laufiso, who sells a range of produce including avocadoes at T&G, says shoppers are bruising the fruit when they press on it to check ripeness, resulting in those dark patches you often see when you cut into it. Instead, try giving the stem at the top a nudge. If it falls off or is quite loose, then it's ripe.

But it will also fall off for overripe ones, which you can tell by looking at their very dark skin.

Apricots

Jamie Bateman, who sells apricots, says knowing which ones are ready to eat will depend on the variety and your taste preference. Generally, at the start of the season, they will be a bit more sour and as the blush comes through, they are sweeter.

"I always say to people buy half green, half yellow because then you can always eat the ones with colour at the start then over the next couple of days your next fruit will start to ripen up."

He's expecting this season's North Island supply to last until about February, with the South Island ones coming in January.

"This central or North Island product is usually pre-summer and then South Island gets that little bit later of a summer start, their apricots will start up in that whole mid-January time, same with their plums."

Watermelons

Jay Clarke of Woodhaven Gardens, a family business that's been growing watermelons in Horowhenua for three decades, says he knocks on the watermelon to see if it has a ring to it - what you don't want to hear is a dull sound. However, he does acknowledge this could be a bit hit and miss and some see it as an old wives' tale.

More reliable cues you can look for are the uniformity of shape - if you see some major indentations or concaves this could be a sign of soft spots which could mean rotting, he says. Often New Zealand's watermelons are oval or egg-shaped.

Ground spots - also known as sun spots - are another hint, he says. These are the plain coloured areas distinct from the stripes - you want a deep yellow ground spot which shows it's been left to ripen under the sun and in the field long enough. If picked early, the ground spot will be a pale colour.

Look for evenness of vivid green colour, he says, rather than shimmery pale skin that indicates watermelon sunburn. Their supply usually comes through from about February to March.