November 2022 

Selecting the freshest fruits and veggies you can find is the first step to getting long storage life and the most for the money you spend at the farmers market or grocery store. If you rely on grocery delivery, you don’t have much control over the quality of what you buy.

Once you have your produce you have to consider these factors – the “Big Three” -- to keep things as fresh as possible:

— Temperature

— Ethylene

— Airflow

Temperature is the most important. A lot of produce has to be kept in the refrigerator. But others – tomatoes, potatoes, onions and garlic, for example – are best left at cool room temperatures.

Ethylene is next on the list. It’s a gas that some fruits, like apples and banana, naturally release to hasten ripening. Then there are others that are ethylene-sensitive and will be damaged by the gas -- cabbage, leafy greens, lettuce, and broccoli, for example. Ethylene-sensitive fruits and veggies should be kept separate from the gas-emitting ones.

Any produce that keeps best at room temperature needs air circulation. Storing them in plastic bags will cause premature spoilage. Even if the bananas, potatoes, or onions you bought came in a perforated plastic bag, they’ll last longer if you take them out and let them breathe.

Most refrigerated produce stays fresh longer in zip-top plastic bags, reusable silicone pouches or containers with tight-fitting lids. These containers hold in moisture, preventing produce from dehydrating and help protect sensitive produce from the effects of ethylene gas.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes

·  Don’t refrigerate.

·  Store in a cool, dark place with relatively high humidity.

·  Allow air circulation.

·  Keep separate from onions, bananas, and other ethylene-producing items.

Potatoes keep for a few weeks when stored in a cool, dark place such as an air-conditioned pantry or a cellar and away from large appliances, which generate heat. At warm temperatures, potatoes they’ll sprout and decay. At refrigerator temperatures, they convert some starch into sugar and can brown too quickly and scorch when fried.

Even under ideal conditions, potatoes eventually sprout or turn green. Advice about whether they’re still safe to eat then is conflicting. The general belief is that as long as the potato is still firm, you can cut off the sprouts and eyes and be just fine. Green skin or flesh, however, is an indication that the potatoes have developed toxins and should be thrown out.

Sweet potatoes and yams do well in similar storage conditions but might have a shorter shelf life -- about one to two weeks in all -- than regular spuds. Refrigerated sweet potatoes develop a hard center and can take longer to cook. Sprouted sweet potatoes are safe to eat; just trim off the sprouts before cooking.

Other roots, tubers

·  Remove leafy green tops.

·  Refrigerate in a closed plastic bag for the longest life.

·  For a shorter term -- up to two weeks -- store loose in your crisper drawer.

Beets, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, parsnips, and ginger are long-term storage keepers. Because they don’t release much ethylene gas, you can store root vegetables next to more gas-sensitive produce like leafy greens, cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower. Ginger is especially hardy.

If you buy carrots, beets, or turnips with their greens still attached, remove those tops down to the root before storing, since they pull moisture out of the vegetable. The roots will stay fresh for at least a few weeks sealed in zip-top bags or airtight containers in the refrigerator.

(Save the beet and turnip greens. They’re delicious in soups or stir fries. Store them separately as you would other leafy greens, and they should stay fresh for about a week.)

Radishes are technically part of the cabbage family, but they act a lot like other root vegetables. They stay fresh for a long time in the fridge—sometimes up to three weeks—when stored in an airtight.

Onions and garlic

·  Don’t refrigerate.

·  Store in a cool, dark place with low humidity.

·  Allow some air circulation.

·  Keep separate from potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Common onions and garlic store well if you keep them away from moisture. Store them in a cool, dry, dark place with air circulation—never in a plastic bag or airtight container. You can store onions and garlic together, but keep them separate from potatoes. Onions and garlic thrive in low humidity (65 to 75 percent), while potatoes love cool, humid (85 to 90 percent) air.

Refrigerate leftover cut onions wrapped in plastic or beeswax wrap or sealed in a food storage container.

And don’t stress if alliums sprout green shoots from the top. Both the bulbs and shoots are safe to eat, but you can also cut away the green parts and proceed as normal.

Cabbage and its cousins

·  Refrigerate in sealed containers after they’re sliced.

·  Uncut heads can be refrigerated without a bag.

Cabbage is useful in soups, braises, salads, slaws, and stir fries. It can be pickled, fermented, broiled, or grilled. And it lasts for what seems like an eternity in the fridge.

Although a whole head is bulky, you can store one naked in your crisper drawer. If space is an issue, you can store it quartered in a zip-top bag. The cut edges may start to oxidize after a week or two, but you can shave off the discolored parts and be back in business.

Like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are hardy and versatile. Whole crowns stay crisp for up to two weeks in plastic bags or in containers with lids.

Winter squash

·  Store at room temperature.

·Keep away from bananas and other ethylene producers.

You don’t need to waste refrigerator space on hard winter squashes like butternut, acorn, and kabocha. Store these thick-skinned gourds in a cool, dry spot and away from direct sunlight until you slice into them.

If your recipe doesn’t use the entire squash, peel, cut, and store the remaining portion in a sealed container or plastic bag.

Summer squash

Store fresh squash in the refrigerator crisper in plastic storage bags or rigid containers to retain moisture. Stored in this manner, squash will maintain quality for 5-7 days. Avoid storing fresh squash in areas that might freeze.

• Store summer squash by gently wiping the fruit clean with a damp cloth and then placing it in a perforated plastic bag (to maintain humidity) in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator.

• Do not store summer squash in the refrigerator for more than 4 days.

• Avoid storing summer squash at temperatures below 50°F (10°C); the fruit is susceptible to chilling injury at temperatures below 50°F; chilling injury symptoms include surface pitting, water loss, yellowing, and decay.

Leafy greens

·  Refrigerate unwashed.

·  Seal in zip-top plastic bags.

Loose leaf lettuces, kale, endive and escarole can last for several days, sometimes even a couple of weeks if handled properly.

Excess moisture causes all leafy greens to rot faster in the fridge. Because of this, most experts recommend keeping these vegetables unwashed until you’re ready to use them.

If you prefer prewashing so your greens are ready to use, you can wrap them in a clean towel, paper towel, or butcher paper to absorb the excess moisture. But keep in mind that this may overdry the greens and cause some wilting, so they won’t keep quite as long.

These methods also work for firmer head lettuces such as romaine.  And then there’s always iceberg lettuce, which can endure weeks of neglect in your crisper drawer.

Celery is in a class of its own. It’ll stay crisp for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator sealed in a zip-top bag. Or you can cut the stalks into sticks and refrigerate them submerged in water, sealed in a food storage container.

Apples and pears

·  Refrigerate in a plastic bag.

·  Ideally, use a crisper drawer that you’ve designated for non-ethylene-sensitive fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries, navel oranges, and raspberries.

Apples don’t belong in an oversize ceramic bowl set on an impeccable Italian marble kitchen island. At room temperature, they quickly degrade into sad, mealy fruit. Apples prefer the cold; after harvesting, producers keep them at near freezing temperatures to maintain their crispness year-round. The plastic bag is important because apples, like onions, release ethylene gas, which makes the other fresh produce in your fridge spoil faster.

Pears are a slightly different story. Underripe pears should stay out at room temperature in a bowl or a paper Once they soften up a bit, you can stash them in the fridge, where they’ll stay ready to eat for a couple of weeks, sometimes even three.

Citrus fruit

·  Store on the countertop for up to a week.

·  Refrigerate loose for longer storage.

You can store citrus fruits out on the countertop (so you remember to use them) or keep them fresher longer in the fridge. Oranges and grapefruits aren’t ethylene-sensitive, so you can store them with apples and pears, but be sure to keep lemons and limes separate from those ethylene producers.