Shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables at your local farmer’s market means not only are you getting a great deal, you are supporting the local economy and you now have a bounty of food that must be eaten posthaste. You can save big on produce that is currently in season; the problem lies in how to keep those vegetables and fruits from spoiling before you can consume them.
You definitely can stretch the life of your perishable produce if you follow a few storage tips. Here are a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to your vegetables and fruits:
Cantaloupes, Watermelons and Honeydews
Melons are a rich source of beta carotene, lycopene, potassium and a variety of antioxidants. If you purchase your melons slightly under-ripe, you should store them at room temperature for several days to ripen them. Do not store them in the refrigerator because this retards the ripening process. Once ripened, you can place your melons in the refrigerator, preferably in a humidity-controlled produce drawer.
Do not store your cantaloupes, watermelons or honeydew melons near other fruit. Melons are susceptible to the ethylene gases released by other fruits such as apples, bananas, plums, tomatoes and kiwi during their ripening process. Prolonged exposure to ethylene can hasten melon deterioration.
All Grape Varieties
When you purchase grapes, they often come in a ventilated plastic bag. Remove any grapes from the bunch that are damaged or bruised as they can encourage mold growth. Wrap the grapes in a paper towel before placing them back in the ventilated plastic bag for storage in the refrigerator, preferably in a humidity-controlled produce drawer. Do not wash your grapes until right before you consume them. If you wash them ahead of time, you create an environment conducive to mold growth.
Leafy Green Vegetables
You can wash your leafy vegetables such as lettuce, kale and other greens before you store them in the refrigerator or wash them right before consumption. Regardless, you must pat your leafy vegetables dry with an absorbable paper towel to remove the excess moisture as it can promote decay. Wrap clean, dry paper towels around the leafy greens and place in a plastic bag before storing in the produce drawer of your refrigerator. Do not store your leafy vegetables in the same drawer as fruits that release ethylene gas.
Berries
Berries, when purchased at the height of their growing season, are often cheap and available in abundance. If you purchase berries in a plastic clamshell ventilated container, keep them in there; just remove the moldy, bruised or damaged berries first as they can promote rapid deterioration of all the berries in the container. Do not wash the berries until right before consumption to avoid producing an environment conducive to mold.
Tomatoes
Grape and cherry tomatoes are often sold in ventilated plastic containers or bags so they can be stored in them. However, if you have larger tomatoes, you should ripen them at room temperature on your kitchen counter before placing them in the refrigerator produce bin. Tomatoes, like several other fruits, produce ethylene gas which speeds up the ripening process, which may affect other produce. By ripening first, you can benefit from a tasty tomato rich in nutrients. Storing tomatoes in the refrigerator before ripening means you do not get the full nutritional value and taste the tomato is capable of.
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