Most people end up throwing up to 14 percent of grocery items that they buy, mostly due to spoilage. Reducing wastage begins with proper storage.
Take in these tips to prevent spoilage of your fresh market purchases!
Segregate. Do not store fruits and vegetables together. Fruits emit a gas called ethylene, a ripening agent that can prematurely spoil veggies near it.
Keep some in the fridge, some on the counter. Some fruits, like avocados, tomatoes, mangoes, melons, apples, and pears can be left on the kitchen counter to ripen (if they haven’t yet). But others—like bell peppers, grapes, oranges, and berries—will rot if you don’t keep them in the fridge.
Bananas are notorious for ripening right away, but once ripe, you can prolong their life by placing them in the refrigerator (the peel will turn black, but the inside should stay edible for up to two weeks). Unripe bananas should be stored on the countertop, as placing them in the fridge will stop the ripening process.
Don’t wash them. At least, not right away. Keep the stems intact, and only wash the fruits and veggies when you’re ready to use them. Washing can damage the skin, causing a faster rate of decay.
Remove all packaging. Ditch the cling-wrap and sealed plastic bags. While they were stored that way in the supermarket, it’s important to remove them in order to let the fruits and veggies “breathe” better. Keeping them sealed will spoil them quicker. Don’t forget to remove all rubber bands and ties.
Give them some room. Don’t just throw in all your vegetables in the crisper—give them some room to breathe. The closer together vegetables are packed, the quicker they rot.
Freeze it! When you see veggies that are beginning to lose their freshness, pop them in a pressure cooker, then puree the cooked veggies, and put in ice cube trays. When frozen, transfer them to ziplock bags and mark the date when you pureed them. These will generally last up to six months, but it’s best to consume them before that (you can also do this with fruits, minus the cooking part). Alternatively, you can cook them in a vegetable broth and freeze the broth for later use.
Don’t buy more than you need. If you eat fruits daily by the crate, then by all means, buy crates of fruit at a time. If, however, your rate of fruit intake a day is just one banana or half an apple, it wouldn’t make sense to still buy fruits in bulk. Most of these will just end up as wastage. Plan your market trips accordingly to prevent an overpopulation of veggies in the fridge.
Shop according to a planned menu. Before you go to the supermarket, plan your menu for the week. Then buy only the fruits and vegetables that your menu asks for. This way, you can efficiently use up then replace your produce in your kitchen regularly.
Sweet corn
Use sweet corn as soon as you can—after harvest, it loses its sugar content quickly. It can still last from four to eight days in the refrigerator, but towards the end, sweet corn will already be starchy.
By Maui V. Reyes for Yahoo! Southeast Asia | Consumer Tips : Smart Shopper – Thu, May 16, 2013 12:07 PM PHT
How many times have you ended up throwing away produce from your fridge?
