How to store your fruit and vegetables

 

In order for your fruits and vegetables to last as long as possible it’s important to store them correctly. Because our fresh produce doesn’t come with storage labels people can often get confused about the best way to store it, so we’ve put together some handy tips for you to follow:

Washing: Don’t wash your fruit and vegetables until you are ready to eat them. Moisture will cause them to spoil quicker. If you like to prepare your fruit and veggies to eat ahead of time, you can wash and cut them and store in an airtight glass container lined with paper towel to keep the moisture out.

Breathing: Fruit and vegetables need to breathe so give them room and avoid storing them tightly together. If storing in bags make sure they are either mesh or that plastic bags have holes poked in them to allow some fresh air in.

Ethylene Gas: Many fruits and vegetables produce a gas called ethylene as they ripen. This gas can prematurely ripen foods that are sensitive to it, so it’s important to store your fruits and vegetables separately and give them plenty of space to breath.

Ripening: If you want to speed up ripening of your fruit and vegetables store them in a paper bag on your kitchen bench. The ethylene gas will get trapped in the bag and cause the fruit and vegetables to ripen quicker.

Here’s a go to list of some of the most common/popular fruits and vegetables, where to store them and roughly how long they will keep fresh for:

Apples: Fridge, 3 weeks.

Asparagus: Fridge, 3 days Trim the ends and wrap in a damp paper towel, then store in a plastic bag or in a cup of water.

Avocados: Fridge, 3 days.

Bananas: Keep on bench, 5 days. Ripe bananas can be frozen or put in the fridge, the skins will blacken, but the flesh will be fine.

Broccoli: Fridge, 1 week.

Brussels sprouts: Fridge, 1 week.

Cabbage: Fridge, 2 weeks.

Capsicum: Fridge, 1 week (green); 5 days (red, yellow, and orange).

Carrots: Fridge, 2 weeks.

Cucumbers: Fridge, 5 days.

Garlic: Pantry, 2 months.

Grapes: Fridge, up to 1 week.

Green beans: Fridge, 1 week.

Herbs (leafy): Fridge, 3 to 5 days. Wrap the bunch in a damp paper towel before putting in a plastic bag.

Kale: Fridge, 3 days.

Kiwis: Fridge, 4 days.

Leeks: Fridge, 1 week. Cut off the tops before storing.

Lettuce: Fridge, 5 days.

Mangoes: Fridge, 4 days.

Mushrooms: Fridge, 1 week (in a paper bag).

Onions: Pantry, 2 months whole or 4 days in the fridge cut.

Oranges: Bench, 3 days. Fridge, 2 weeks.

Parsnips: Fridge,1 month.

Peaches: Fridge, 5 days

Pears: Fridge, 5 days

Potatoes: Pantry, up to 3 weeks.

Snow peas: Fridge, 4 days

Spinach: Fridge, 3 days.

Strawberries: Fridge, 3 days.

Sweet Potatoes: Pantry in a paper bag, 2 weeks.

Tomatoes: Bench, 3 days.

Turnips: Fridge, 2 weeks, separate leaves from roots before storing.

Watermelon: Fridge, whole 1 week, cut 2 days.

Zucchini: Fridge 5 days

Do you have any special tips or tricks for storing fruits and vegetables?