How To Store Your Fruit

Here at Fruit For The Office HQ, we know just how important it is that your office fruit delivery lasts you through the week. But do you find your apples wrinkling before Friday? Avocados ripening too quickly (or not quick enough?) Do your berries stand the test of time?

We've hunted for the best ways to store your fruit, to help you make the most out of your fruit delivery.

How to store bananas
The fruit delivery staple, bananas are one of the easiest fruits to grab and eat. However, these cheeky yellow fruits emit ethylene gas, which cause other fruits to ripen quicker. We suggest that to keep all of your fruit delivery ripe for longer, you store the bananas away from the other fruit.
You can also wrap the stems in plastic wrap to buy you several more days of ripening time. You can also separate and wrap them individually to slow down the process even more.

Image credit: Lifehacker

On the flip side of this, if your bananas are a little too green, and you prefer them a bit riper, you can pop them in a plastic bag for a day or two. The gas that the bananas produce will help ripen them quicker, leaving them perfect for munching for elevenses.


How to store apples
Apples, another fruit staple, are another fruit that gives out gases.  Remember the old adage: "One bad apple rots the whole bunch." Like bananas, apples give off a lot of ethylene gas, and so just one bruised and rotting apple will give off enough to swiftly ripen (and rot) the others. If you have any bruises or soft spots on an apple, set it aside for eating. Don't store with the other apples.
Apples are one of the few fruits that really do benefit from being stored in the fridge as quickly as possible.

How to store avocado
Avocados are delicious, and can be used in a variety of ways (check out our recipe for Eggs Baked in Avocado here).
How you store your avocados depends on how ripe they are when they are delivered. If you have selected ready to eat avocados, they should be just ripe for eating. These can be stored in the fridge until needed - refrigeration halts the ripening process. If you know they are going to be eaten within a day or two, they can be stored on the counter.
However, if you have selected unripe avocados, you will need to bring them on to ripeness before you can eat them. The best way to do this is to store them in a paper bag (the bags you recieve with your fruit delivery are perfect for this) on the counter, until they are ripe. You can tell if an avocado is ripe by pulling at the stem - if this comes away easily, the flesh inside is ready for eating.

How to store berries
Berries are a breakfast staple, and are great for snacks throughout the day. Berries aren't the cheapest of fruit - so it's disappointing if they don't last as long as you would like. Washing them before storage usually accelerates the deterioration, however, you can try washing your berries in the following way, to make them last longer in storage:
Wash the berries in a diluted vinegar bath (1 cup vinegar plus 3 cups water) and spin them dry in a salad spinner lined with paper towels until they are completely dry. Store the cleaned berries in a sealable container lined with paper towels, leaving the lid open a little to allow moisture to escape.
The vinegar destroys bacteria and mold spores on the berries, helping them stay fresh longer.
If you do not want to wash your berries in this way, keep them unwashed in the fridge.

How to store grapes
Grapes are best stored in a paper bag (or perforated plastic) in the refrigerator. They will last 1 to 2 weeks.

How to store kiwi
 Kiwi will continue to ripen after picking. If your kiwi is underripe, leave it on the kitchen counter for a few days. Ripe kiwi's can be kept in the refrigerator for several weeks.

How to store pears
Pears are always picked underripe as they do not benefit from ripening on the tree. They should be stored at room temperature. You will know a pear is ripe because it will give slightly when gently pressed and smell wonderfully aromatic. The stem will have a little give when jiggled slightly.

How to store lemons
Lemons are great to put in hot water as a cleanser for your digestive system. Lemons stored in room temperature conditions last for about a week before hardening. However, if they are sealed in a plastic bag, they can last up to four times as long.

You can find all of these fruits to buy here.

Do you have any tips on storing your office fruit delivery? Tweet us @office_fruit