How to store:
Fruit, vegetables and herbs
Fruit
Buy fruit that is in season – it will be full of flavour, more nutritious, less expensive and will last longer. Most fruit should be kept in the fridge once it is ripe, except bananas.Some fruit, like bananas, produce ethylene gas – a hormone that accelerates the ripening process. To help fruit stay fresher longer, separate ethylene-producing fruit from ethylene-sensitive fruit - see the Table below
Vegetables
Buy vegetables in season – they will be full of flavour, more nutritious, less expensive and will last longer. Vegetables stay fresher for longer if you store them in the fridge. Once cut or peeled, most vegetables are best kept in the fridge crisper. Avoid leaving cut or peeled vegetables at room temperature for more than two hours
Herbs and other leafy greens
The best way to store herbs is to keep them in a glass jar with water. Leave them on the kitchen bench and add water as needed. Store lettuce, cucumber and baby spinach in an air-tight container with a paper towel at the bottom to soak up moisture. Replace every now and then.
| Ethylene producers | Ethylene sensitive |
|---|---|
| apples | asparagus |
| apricots | broccoli |
| avocados | brussell sprouts |
| ripening bananas | cabbage |
| blueberries | carrots |
| citrus fruit (not grapefruit), | cauliflower |
| figs | cucumbers |
| grapes | eggplant |
| green onion | green beans |
| honeydew | kale |
| ripe kiwi fruit | kiwi fruit |
| mangoes | leafy greens |
| mushrooms | lettuce |
| nectarines | parsley |
| papayas | peas |
| passion fruit | peppers |
| peaches | potato |
| pears | romaine (cos) lettuce |
| peppers | spinach |
| pineapple | squash |
| plums | sweet potato |
| prunes | watercress |
| rockmelon | yam |
| tomatoes | |
| watermelon |
How to store different foods -