I'm looking for a general time frame by which to consume fruits that have been sliced, chopped, added to recipes, or etc.! :)
If anything lasts especially long, or if there are safe ways to preserve the quality and freshness of sliced fruits over time, please let me know. Anything that does well alone or in recipes or drinks would be great, too. :)
Replies
Optimally you'd want to just bite in the fruit for best nutrition, even refrigerating it depletes some nutrients. Of course, the longer you keep it cut up, the more nutrients will be lost. But in this busy day, it can be more time efficient to prechop. Your taste buds will tell you when food has gone bad. You can extend the life of different types of fruits by adding lemon juice, orange juice or pineapple juice. Also, dehydrating under the food under 113 degrees is a great way to preserve.
How long does cut up fruit/veggies keep in the fridge?
Tomatoes, Stone fruits (Peaches, plums, ect) - They'll taste awful within 1 day if they're nice and ripe (They taste fermented) 2 days if they're less ripe
Lettuce - Depends on what variety, but usually 3 days max
Celery - If it's left in water, 7 days
Melons - They'll last a while, 4 days maybe
cucumber, zucchini - 2 days
Banana - Never pre cut, oxidizes too fast.
Apples - Add lemon juice to slow oxidization process. Not sure how long they last since I dislike apples.
Mango - The longest I've had mango in the fridge is 2 days, it could go even longer.
Berries - 1 day
Dates - Very long time
Pineapple - Quite a while, 5 days perhaps
Thank you! :)
I do hate that nutrients will be lost, but with something like pineapple or mangoes, it simply isn't feasible to bring the entire fruit. :( Would dehydrating the fruits be more or less damaging than chopping? I do want to do whatever is best for keeping up nutrients!
Maybe I can make sure to also include whole, unpeeled figs and other smaller, more dense fruits in my meals, as well.The list by fruit is fantastic, and helps me so much, thank you!! I will definitely center all of my recipes around these staples and veggies.