How to preserve fruits and vegetables

Are you one of those who keeps everything in the fridge? Or does that only happen in summer? Do you leave the fruits on the table and the vegetables in the refrigerator? In each house, and in particular in each kitchen, there is a certain way of organizing the pantry, especially conditioned by the available space and the usual number of diners in the house.

Some homes may not have adequate space to store everything in the ideal place, but it is interesting to know what is the best option for preserving fruits and vegetables to prevent them from spoiling early and ending up in the trash, increasing the appalling numbers of in the most economically developed countries.

Vegetables in the fridge! Or not?

It seems that as a general rule vegetables We should keep them in the fridge, right? Well, that's not always the case. Most could be kept at room temperature if it is cool and not especially humid. However, it is true that most will increase their useful life if they we keep in the refrigerator. Where in the fridge? In what conditions?

Well, while vegetables such as aubergine, zucchini, pepper and cucumber will keep well in the vegetable drawer, Without any protective wrapping, other vegetables, such as the roots, will be better in plastic bags that will allow to keep the water that they give off and to reabsorb it, preventing them from drying out so much. This is the case of lettuce, chard, spinach, celery, carrots, radishes, etc.

Other vegetables? Those, such as broccoli or asparagus, will also keep better in the refrigerator, but in this case they will extend their useful life if we put them in a glass of water, as if it were a bouquet of flowers.

So what greens or greens go out of the fridge?

Some vegetables they will be better out of the refrigerator, avoiding the humidity that this appliance provides. For example, potatoes and garlic are not going to benefit from being stored in the refrigerator, but it will be much better to keep them in a cool, but dry place, and especially away from light.

Another example of vegetable What we should keep out of the fridge is the tomato, and even more relevant is the way we are going to place it to preserve it. We will put the stem of the tomato up so that it is well ventilated, since it is the first part that usually deteriorates. In addition, the tails should not touch each other to avoid damaging each other, both physically due to pressure, and in case the tail or branch of the tomato begins to bloom.

What do we do when we have the vegetables already cut?

Until now we were talking about how to proceed with whole vegetables, but once we cut them, either because we have used one part, one half, for example, and we have the other half, or because we have already cut into strips or given a food to make a preparation or consume it but we are not going to spend it yet, the conservation will be different.

For example, while we keep a whole onion in a cool cupboard, but in a dry environment, outside the fridge, once we use one half, we will wrap the remaining half in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge, although it is possible from use reusable plastic or glass containers if we don't use the film. When what we are going to keep are, for example, carrot sticks, celery, cucumber, zucchini ... it is a very good option to put them in a glass container with water and close them hermetically.

Fruits, a more delicate world

Although there are fruits of all kinds and most they keep well in the fridge With the exception of summer days when the sun is very hot, we must take into account not to place them one on top of the other to avoid crushing them and to better maintain their structure. In addition, there are more perishable fruits that will benefit from the freshness of the refrigerator. Delicate fruits such as cherries and figs are put in a container in the fridge, with absorbent paper underneath and without cutting the stem. They can last up to two or three days like this.

Other fruits of the summer season, such as apricots, nectarines or peaches, if they are quite ripe they can increase their shelf life by keep them in the fridge. In this case, it will be ideal that when acquiring them we keep them in a paper bag, in a cool place in the kitchen, and if we see that they are maturing we put them in the refrigerator. And, yes, if we peel or chop the fruits we must keep them in the refrigerator.

Ethylene gas and climacteric fruits

This gas is considered "the fruit ripening hormone", it is a gas released by some fruits and causes that, once harvested, they continue to ripen.

• In this case we are talking about climacteric fruits. This is the case of apples, pears, bananas, melons, avocados, apricots, figs, nectarines, peaches, plums, tomatoes, mangoes ...
• In the opposite direction we find non-climacteric fruits, that is, those that will not continue to ripen once harvested, therefore, if they are collected too green they will spoil before reaching a suitable point of maturity. We are talking about cherries, grapes, oranges,, watermelons ... and vegetables such as broccoli, pumpkin, carrot, lettuce, aubergine ...

What is the use of knowing if they are climacteric or not then? Well, to know if we are keeping diverse together climacteric fruits and / or vegetables we are going to accelerate their maturation, and this can be positive or negative. For example, if we store apples next to apricots, the latter may very quickly reach a higher ripening point than desired. On the contrary, if we have bought very green bananas, it will be good for us to store them together with all the fruit so that the ethylene of pears, apples, etc., contributes to their ripening.

• Some fruits and vegetables will be better in the refrigerator, but not all, since cold and humidity are not good allies in all cases.
• We must take into account the ripening point of vegetables, and especially fruits, to decide whether to keep them in the refrigerator or outside.
• There are vegetables that give off ethylene gas and others that do not, so it is convenient to know which ones to keep them separate.

Bachelor of Food Science and Technology Diploma in Human Nutrition and Dietetics Advance Medical Consultant Nutritionist