Vegetable and fruit season is in full swing, but soon we will miss their fresh taste that jams and preserves can’t compensate for. However, there are tricks that prolong the freshness of vegetables and fruits.
The end of summer and the beginning of autumn is a time appreciated by those who love fresh fruits and vegetables. You can then purchase many products picked straight from the bush. In this season we sometimes buy more vegetables and fruits than we can eat. What to do with them? A good solution is to freeze them. Most of the products taken out of the freezer, however, do not look so impressive and are less tasty. Fortunately, we can help ourselves with simple ways to prolong the freshness of fruits and vegetables
The desire to keep tasty fruits at home longer also applies to products from countries with a warmer climate. For example, bananas. The tastiest bananas, with their yellow skin and sweet interior, are at the same time rather perishable. An alternative is to buy fruits that are still slightly green and hard, but these in turn are not such a feast for the palate. What to do then? A good solution is to wrap their ends in aluminum foil. It is from the tips, which excrete ethylene, that these fruits begin to spoil. It is best to cover the stalks after separating them, one by one.
Some fruits and vegetables are very sensitive to the ethylene that other fruits and vegetables give off. Hence, proper segregation of produce is necessary. Bananas, pears, apricots, melons, apples, mangoes, plums and peppers give off large amounts of this gas. So it is worth keeping them away from watermelons, pumpkins, potatoes, eggplants, watermelons, lettuce, radishes, asparagus and broccoli.
In contrast, storing potatoes with apples together will be a good combination. With onions, however, they will sprout more quickly and become inedible, or rather, poisonous
It is well known that tomatoes are best stored with the stalk facing upwards. Potatoes and onions have certain similarities in this respect. First of all, they can tolerate being kept in dark rooms – excess light speeds up their decomposition. The ideal room should also be cool, but not as cold as the inside of a refrigerator. There should also be a constant supply of air. It is best to braid onions and hang them up
Berries, strawberries or currants are undoubtedly one of the favorite seasonal fruits. It’s just a pity that their harvest time is very limited. You can prolong their useful life with a few simple tricks. First of all, you need to store them with stalks, because without them, the shelf life is shorter
They should also be removed from plastic bags. Ideally, they should be evenly distributed on a platter or in a container. You can prolong the freshness of berries by soaking them in a solution of water (70%) and vinegar (30%). The flavor will remain the same and the storage life will be up to a week longer.
Greens in the form of spinach, arugula or lettuce are also very perishable, although tasty. Their freshness can be prolonged in a simple way – just wrap their leaves in a paper towel. It will absorb excess water, which will delay rotting and thus prolong their freshness
