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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Zahna Eklund

Clever food storage hack will help your vegetables stay fresh for five days

Let's be honest, we've all been guilty of throwing away fruit and veg that we haven't been able to eat before it's gone off.

And as we try our best to cut down on food waste in order to save money, one food expert has shared a useful food storage hack that could see your veggies stay fresh for almost a week - meaning you won't have to chuck them out before you get a chance to use them.

The experts claim that you can use water to prolong the life of vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus, keeping them fresh for up to five days for no extra cost.

Putting certain veggies in plastic containers will prolong their life (stock photo) (Getty Images)

Food gurus at GoGo Fruit Basket - one of the UK's leading manufacturers and distributors of fruit baskets and juice boxes - explained: "Keep the stems of vegetables such as broccoli, celery and asparagus in water to help them stay fresh and crisp for as long as possible. By doing this and keeping the water fresh, your veg could last up to five days."

The experts also recommended separating any fruit and veg that produces high amounts of ethylene gas, as this promotes ripening and can cause the rest of your fresh produce to ripen too quickly if left close together.

They said: "Separating foods that produce more ethylene gas from those that don't is a great way to reduce food spoilage. Ethylene promotes ripening in foods and could lead to rotten food. Foods that produce ethylene gas while ripening include bananas, tomatoes, peaches and pears."

You should also keep citrus fruits and fresh ginger in the fridge, but you should be careful which items you place on the top shelf, as the experts claimed it can be prone to temperature swings so isn't ideal for delicate produce such as herbs.

They also stated that some fruit and veg should be kept out of the fridge at first, but can be moved inside to stay fresh after a couple of days.

"Allow stone fruit, such as nectarines and mangos, to ripen in a fruit bowl and then move them to the fridge once they’re soft enough to eat to help preserve them," they said.

And if you buy bags of salad, the food gurus claim you can make the lettuce last longer by transferring it from the bag into a storage container - as this prevents the leaves from wilting.

They added: "You can make bagged salad last longer by transferring the leaves into a storage container and placing a couple of sheets of kitchen paper on top to exclude as much air as possible. This will help it to stay crisp and prevent the leaves from wilting in the fridge."

For their final tip, the experts told people not to be "afraid of the freezer", as it can be a great place to store things such as onions so that they're always ready for when you need them.

They said: "If you find that your onions and spring onions are going bad before you get the chance to use them, chop them up and freeze them in a plastic bag. Once they are frozen, simply shake or take out what you need and return the rest to the freezer.

"Some fruit and vegetables will lose their texture when frozen - you can deal with this by freezing them pureed or stewed."

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