Tips for keeping fruits and vegetables fresh for longer

Sometimes you buy a lot of vegetables and fruits but you don't need to eat them yet or can't finish them all, the following tips will show you how to preserve them to keep them fresh longer.

1. Be a smart shopper

The easiest way to keep fruits and vegetables from spoiling is to only buy them when you are sure you will use them within a few days. Obviously, you will find it more convenient to go shopping on the weekend and stock up on food for the whole week. But if you do so, by the end of the week some fruits and vegetables may become inedible due to wilting or rotting.

Therefore, you should go to the market at least twice a week to ensure that your family always enjoys the freshest meals.

More importantly, going to the market or supermarket also requires a “strategy”. You should only buy fruits and vegetables right before you check out at the supermarket or after you have bought all other food at the market. Finally, when planning meals for the week, eat the highly perishable vegetables first, such as cauliflower, corn, mushrooms, and asparagus. Next are cucumbers, squash, and peppers. Carrots, onions, and red radishes can be kept the longest.

2. Be aware of ethylene gas

There are some types of fruits and vegetables that you should not keep close together, even in the refrigerator. The reason is that ethylene gas present in some fruits can cause them to ripen, but other fruits and vegetables are particularly sensitive to this gas. Therefore, if kept close together, the decomposition process of the aforementioned sensitive fruits and vegetables will occur faster than usual.

Some fruits that produce a lot of ethylene are apricots, bananas, pears, peaches, plums, tomatoes, and cantaloupes. The vegetables that can be affected by ethylene are cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, string beans, peppers, winter squash, and lettuce.

3. Use the refrigerator properly

When placed in the refrigerator, fruits and vegetables fall into a coma-like state because they are still living organisms that are “breathing”. The cold temperature will limit the respiration process of fruits and vegetables and keep them fresh longer. Most refrigerators should be set at 2 to 3 degrees Celsius to keep food fresh without freezing it.

However, you also should not put fruits and vegetables too close to the cooling fan at the back; the bottom drawers are always the safest place for them.

Wrapping fruits and vegetables in plastic bags will “suffocate” them, so poke a few holes in the storage bags. Keep mushrooms in paper bags because they will spoil faster when kept in plastic bags. Never pluck the stems or peel the skin as this causes changes in the cells inside the fruits and vegetables. Moisture is also a cause of rapid spoilage, so you should not wash them, or if you do, they must be completely dry before storing them in the refrigerator.

4. Fruits and vegetables that should be placed on the ground

Potatoes, onions, squash, and garlic should not be put in the refrigerator. You should keep them in a cool, dark place like a pantry or kitchen cabinet, especially potatoes as they will turn green when exposed to light. Be careful to prevent rodents from getting close when storing fruits and vegetables on the ground.