6 GENIUS Ways To Prolong Produce Freshness

Dec 05, 2018 by apost team

Many people avoid eating a healthy lifestyle, but one of the most common reasons is that buying and preparing healthy foods can be costly.

Although you may be surprised at the grocery store when you add up the cost of all of your healthy foods such as fresh produce, it’s more likely that you get upset by how much you’re going to end up throwing away when it goes bad.

Thankfully, there are some effective methods that will keep your healthy alternatives staying fresh for longer. You will no longer need to worry about lettuce that becomes limp, mushrooms that become moldy, or potatoes that start sprouting. We’ve found six ways to cure this terrible issue!

These easy methods will keep a few of the most common healthy ingredients from spoiling and ensure that you get your money’s worth at the grocery store!

Easy solution: Keep the tops of your bananas wrapped in plastic wrap.

Bananas are one of the rare fruits that give off ethylene gas in order to become ripe. This means that they will go mushy long before you’re able to finish them all. If you want to keep bananas at their peak for longer than several days, you can wrap the top of the banana at the stem in some plastic wrap.

The stem is where the gas is released, so it slows down the emissions and reduces the process of becoming ripe.

This will allow the fruit to stay fresher for longer. An added bonus is that this trick will keep other products that you have lying nearby from ripening further as well due to the prevention of gas emissions.

Other fruits that go through this process are cantaloupe, nectarines, plums, pears, and even tomatoes. This means that you should keep these fruits stored separately from other produce if you don’t want the entire group to rot.

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Easy solution: Keep the celery wrapped in aluminum foil inside of your fridge.

Celery is a type of vegetable that will seem to go from crispy and delicious to rubbery and distasteful overnight. By storing it properly, you can avoid this phenomenon. After you wash and dry each stalk carefully, you can wrap them in aluminum foil to prolong their lifespan.

This reduces the amount of air and moisture that can get into them. Storing in plastic bags isn’t as effective as a solution, as the ethylene gas will become trapped inside and make them rubbery. This process can keep your celery fresh and delicious for a few weeks as opposed to a few days!

Easy solution: Use paper towels to line the underneath of the crisping drawer in your fridge.

Everyone goes to the store and buys heads of delicious lettuce in order to make healthy salads for lunch or dinner, but before you know it the lettuce you’ve just bought becomes limp and unsatisfying. But by taking a few paper towels to line the underneath of your crisping drawer from the fridge, you can keep your vegetables fresh longer.

The culprit that is turning your lettuce soggy is moisture, so by adding paper towels to cut and absorb the moisture from the vegetables can be a solution to ensure that you’re able to use the entire head of lettuce for a longer period of time.

Easy solution: Wash all of your berries in vinegar before placing into the fridge.

Delicious and colorful berries may be tempting to pick up at the store, but you might neglect them because of how fast they become moldy in your fridge. But when yummy fruits like raspberries and strawberries come into season, you may be tempted to stock up due to the lowered prices. How can you keep them fresh for longer periods of time? Wash them in a bath of vinegar!

This can be created by using three parts of water to each part of vinegar used. Rinse them all carefully, and after drying, keep them stored in the fridge. Vinegar is used here in order to kill unnecessary bacteria that is lying on your fruit. This will prevent mold and ensure that your berries stay fresh for an extended period of time.

Easy solution: Store one single apple inside of the area where you store your potatoes.

Having bags of potatoes can save the day when you don’t know what to make for dinner or are too busy to whip up something complicated. You can use potatoes to make sides like baked potatoes, french fries, or even delicious hash browns for breakfast. The unfortunate thing about keeping a large bag of potatoes in the house is that they can begin to grow sprouts.

 The truth is that potatoes should be stored in a dry and cool area of the house in order to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching them which causes sprouting, much like moisture does.

A simpler trick can also be to store an apple with the potatoes. Many people claim that this apple will prolong the life of the potatoes before they begin sprouting. Are you going to give this life hack a try?

Easy solution: Use paper bags instead of plastic to store your mushrooms.

Mushrooms are not only healthy but can be added into almost any dish, such as salads or stir-fry. But often times when you’re ready to use them, they've already become mushy or slimy.

To keep them wholesome and fresh for a longer period of time, you have to be mindful of how you store them. You may be storing your vegetables and ingredients in plastic, but paper bags should help keep mushrooms fresh for longer.

Paper packaging will reduce the moisture that gets trapped when you use plastic, allowing the vegetables to breathe and reducing the rate of decay.

With these tips, you’ll have no problem keeping your costly produce fresh for extended periods of time! No more excuses for not eating healthy when you know all the tips and tricks! Are you going to try these methods? What are some of your best tips to keeping produce fresh for longer? We want to know - and don't forget to pass these amazing tips to your friends and family!