The best places to store fruits and vegetables to make them last through the winter: tips

This winter, the issue of food supplies has become particularly acute. Since you can't get enough of canned food and pasta, many Ukrainians buy long-lasting fruits and vegetables.

However, they can quickly deteriorate if placed in the wrong conditions. OBOZREVATEL tells you how to preserve the fruit as long as possible.

Onions

Make sure your stocks are free of rotten and spoiled vegetables - this is a general rule for all fruits that you send for storage. So sort through the onions and leave only those that are whole and undamaged. The ones with the "neck" - the part of the dried stem that protects the vegetable from excess moisture and bacteria - keep longer. So don't cut it off. It is better to store onions in nets that allow air to penetrate well. For example, old tights are suitable for this purpose. These nets can be hung on a hook for better ventilation.

The ideal temperature for storing onions is 18-24 degrees. It is better not to put more than 20 kg of vegetables in nets, boxes and other containers at once. The layer height should not exceed 30 cm. Provide the fruit with free access to air and no fluctuations in temperature and humidity. And make sure that they do not freeze - this will make the onions spoil faster.

Garlic

To prevent garlic from sprouting during storage, the roots of each head can be cut and set on fire. You can also smear the cut roots with melted wax. The dry stem protects garlic from spoilage in the same way as onions, so leaving a 20-30 cm long seed stem is also a good technique. If you notice that some of the cloves have started to deteriorate, separate them immediately and use them for cooking.

Carrots

Since carrots are juicy root vegetables, they are not easy to store. They need cold temperatures of about 1 degree Celsius and high humidity of 90-95%, as well as limited air access with good overall ventilation. Before being stored, carrots must be well dried in the air and the tops cut off flush with the head to prevent sprouting.

It is better if the box in which the carrots are stored has thick walls and a lid. However, in the absence of a container, carrots can be stacked in pyramids up to 1 m high, with the heads facing out, sprinkling the rows with fresh, slightly moistened sand. It should form a layer so that the fruits do not touch each other. The ideal thickness of this layer is 1 cm. As the top layer of sand dries, it will need to be easily sprinkled with water from the top and sides. Instead of sand, you can take coniferous sawdust or store carrots in clay. To do this, stir the clay in water until it becomes sour creamy and immerse the root vegetables in it for 2-3 minutes, then take them out and dry them. At home, plastic bags are suitable for storing carrots. In such containers, you can put them in the refrigerator. But the bags must be open.

Beetroot

Unlike carrots, beets are well stored - it is enough to provide them with a temperature of 1 to 4 degrees and humidity of 90-95%. Boxes with ventilation holes in the walls are suitable as containers.

Apples

In storing apples, a lot depends on the variety. The main rule is that they should not be washed before being stored, so as not to damage the natural wax coating, which protects against evaporation of water from the fruit and drying out, as well as the penetration of microorganisms. Additional protection for apples will be provided by special oiled paper for storing fruit - the fruit should be wrapped in it. You can also sprinkle them with sawdust when placing them in boxes. Small batches of apples should be placed in thin plastic bags of a maximum of 3 kg each and stored in a suspended state. The optimal storage temperature for apples is 0-4 degrees Celsius.

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