Storage Life of Foods- Home storage of food

Fruit and vegetables

The storage lives of fruit and vegetables vary enormously, being influenced by the maturity and quality of the produce at purchase and also the particular variety. Generally, the lower the storage temperature (but not below O°C), the longer the produce can be stored. However, some fruits and vegetables, particularly bananas and most other tropical fruits, are damaged when kept in a refrigerator. Many fruits and vegetables can dry out in a refrigerator and it is a good idea, once they are chi lied, to place them in the crisper or in a plastic bag with a few holes in it. If a refrigerator is not available, find a cool dry place for storage.

The storage times given in Figure 35 and Figure 36 apply to sound, mature, ripe produce. Changes in nutritional quality and palatability are gradual and there is often no sharp cut-off point at which the food is no longer acceptable. Consequently. storage lives vary consider ably, and those listed in the tables are for guidance only.

Fruits and vegetables not fully ripe when purchased will have a longer storage life. Fruits ripen best at about 20°C and the unripe fruit can be removed from the refrigerator and ripened as needed. For example, unripe avocados will keep in a refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, whereas the ripe fruit will keep for a few days only. Pears bought hard and green can be kept in a refrigerator for fairly long periods. those that are bought ripe will only last a few days. Potatoes keep quite well in a cool dark place. You should discard any potatoes with large areas of green skin as they contain a poisonous substance called solanine (see Figure 29). Potatoes with a small area of green are safe if they are deeply peeled and the peel discarded.

Other foods

The expected storage lives of foods other than fruit and vegetables are only approximate and depend very much on how the food was treated after purchase. If, for example, butter was left in a hot car for a short time, then the storage life until a deterioration in quality was noticed would be dramatically reduced. Similarly, if the packaging of breakfast cereals, for example, was damaged or opened, the storage life could not be expected to be the same as for an unopened package.