Tips For Keeping Vegetables Fresh

Consuming large amounts of vegetables is essential in any balanced and healthy diet. But  how can we keep vegetables fresh?

To get our daily nutrients, these foods must be kept fresh and in good condition to ensure that they continue to be useful for our body, as this study published by the National University of Colombia points out. Read the following tips and find out how to do it.

Tips for keeping vegetables fresh

1. Avoid overselling

The most common mistake we make with vegetables is overselling. This is because we do not want to run out of supplies if we are hungry at night or if visitors arrive. However, this attempt to be cautious may be costing us large sums of money per month.

To avoid this, it would be advisable to make a list of the vegetables that we will use during the week and only buy based on that forecast. In this way, if one day visitors arrive and our quantity of vegetables drops too low, it will be enough to replace them.

This allows them to be kept fresh without wasting them. In addition, in this way, we can increase the variety of them.

2. Buy fresh vegetables

The second recommendation to keep vegetables fresh is to buy them fresh, forgive the redundancy, and, in some cases, green. This is recommended when we buy vegetables for the whole week and we know that we will use some at the end.

In this way, we will not have to make several purchases a week, but we will have the vegetables ready for when they are needed. It is also important to avoid those  that already show signs of aging or wilting.

3. Monitor the refrigerator temperature

One of the main enemies when we want to keep vegetables fresh is the appearance of bacteria that accelerate their deterioration and make us waste a lot of food.

To delay this problem is important that the vegetables are maintained between 1 and 4 ° C. This will prevent bacteria from appearing and, if there are already, will decrease their proliferation.

4. Use the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator.

All refrigerators have a drawer designed to keep vegetables cool. This drawer is designed to maintain the right temperature and humidity for every need.

It is important to group the vegetables according to the humidity they require, their characteristics and their type. So that the conditions of the drawer remain in their optimal state, it is recommended to keep ⅓ of its capacity free, ensuring that the air circulates easily.

5. Separate the vegetables into small bags

Some vegetables come in their own bag or packaging when we buy them and others are bagged at the time of purchase. Therefore, it is important to keep them separate. Some vegetables have a higher number of bacteria that can accelerate their decomposition and could affect the rest.

In addition, some of these packages are designed to keep the vegetables they contain fresh, allowing them to be properly ventilated. Otherwise, we will have to look for them ourselves.

According to data from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) each year, millions of tons of vegetables are wasted because they are in poor condition. This affects both our pocket and the environment. However, by following these simple tips we can keep vegetables fresh and save a lot of time and money.