Chef divides opinion after confirming where fruit and veg should be stored

5 June 2020, 17:05 | Updated: 9 June 2020, 08:44

Keeping your fruit and veg stored properly will make it last longer.

Making sure your food goes far is current more important than ever due to lockdown.

Many have been stockpiling on essentials and other are making sure to use everything so that nothing they have goes to waste.

However, we're all guilty of throwing out gone-off fruit and veg at some point aren't we?

The Mirror spoke to Senior Chef from HelloFresh, Mimi Morley, who gave her advice on making sure the food is stored properly so that it's preserved.

Funnily enough, she's said that we're all storing our bananas incorrectly.

Mimi said: "It's a common misconception that bananas should be kept out of the fridge.

"Placing them in a cool environment once at your preferred level of ripeness can actually help prolong the shelf life. "While the skin will continue to brown, the flesh of the banana will remain the same and can extend shelf-life by one week."

Nadiya Hussain reveals she cooks up banana skin

Mimi then went on to point out that It’s not just bananas that give off ethylene gas, which ripens fruit. Apples and avocados will also help speed up the process too.

The chef also explained cucumbers shouldn't be kept in the fridge: "Instead, keep them in a cool but not too cold environment as cucumbers react badly to extremely cold conditions."

Oranges should be kept in a fruit bowl and fruits which fall under the berry category, such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and cherries, should always be kept in the fridge.

However, other fruits can require different conditions at different stages in the ripening process.

Mimi added: "Fruits such as apricots, kiwis, and mangoes are best left to ripen outside of the fridge, however once at the level of preferred ripeness, it's ideal to then put these in the fridge in order to increase their shelf-life and slow down the ripening process.

"While many believe that keeping all fruit and veg in a fridge is the best way to keep them fresh and flavoursome, it's clear that there really is no one size fits all approach and assessments must be made on a case by case basis as well as considering one’s own taste preference."