# Bitter lettuce?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 14, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665 "2016-12-14T06:12:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665/1 "2016-12-14T06:12:29Z")

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Why is some lettuce (iceberg, romaine) bitter? Is it age? Just the crop?

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**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665/2 "2016-12-14T07:50:02Z")

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Lettuce develops a bitter flavour in response to stress during its growth cycle, e.g. not enough water, or fertilizer, or temperatures that are too high. It also gets bitter as it matures and starts to flower, so bigger lettuces are more likely to be bitter.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665/3 "2016-12-14T14:47:19Z")

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For me, any greens with a jagged edge and greens that have a red tinge are bitter to my taste.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665/4 "2016-12-14T16:44:54Z")

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I believe bitter is the natural state of plants. It discourages animals from eating the leaves of a plant in the wild. It takes farmers a lot of effort to breed the bitterness out.

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**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitter-lettuce/774665/5 "2016-12-14T17:16:35Z")

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So, to paraphrase seinfeld, "It’s a gamble going in’?