How to Pick and Store the Best Fruit

There was a time in my life when I used to buy unripe fruit, which were always hard as a rock and tasteless. I would keep it inside a plastic bag, store it in the fridge, and forget about it until it they molded all over and had to be thrown away. This scenario happens in many households, especially for those who were never shown how to buy and store fruit. This also explains why some of us eat so little fruit and instead gravitate towards refined sweets.

So here’s the 101 on what fruits you should buy ripe and what fruits you should wait to ripen at home:

Fruits that should be bought as ripe as possible:

Once they are picked, some fruits stop producing ethylene (a natural gas and hormone that ensures the fruit’s ripening), which means that these fruits will not ripen further once they are picked: berries, cherries, pineapple, grapes, lychee, pomegranate, citrus fruits and tamarillo.

Fruits that can ripen at home:

Fortunately, many fruits do produce ethylene even after being picked. These fruits can be purchased before they are ripe because when stored properly at room temperature, they will ripen in your home: apple, apricot, avocado, banana, cherimoya, guava, kiwi, mango, nectarine, papaya, passion fruit, pear, peach, persimmon, plum, quince, sapodilla, sapote.

When buying certain fruits, here are some signs to look for that will indicate whether the fruits are ripe:

Pineapples turn yellow to orange when fully ripe. Because of their fragility during transport, they are often picked when they are still green. These pineapples often have low sugar content, high acidity, and have paler looking flesh on the inside. The aroma alone can be a marker of the pineapple’s ripeness.

Bananas are ripe when they lose their green color, turn yellow and gain little brown dots on the skin. This signifies that their sugar content is at their highest and they are ready to be eaten. Bananas that are half green can taste almost bitter. Always store bananas at room temperature. You can speed up their ripening process by placing them with other ripe fruits (apples, etc) inside a paper bag or you can slow down their ripening by putting them in a fridge.

Watermelons that are ripe should feel firm as well as have a yellow underside indicating it ripened under the sun. If it's yellow underside is pale or missing, the watermelon is probably not ripe enough. Ripe watermelon will also be heavier than unripe ones. When a watermelon is soft to touch, this often means it is too ripe and is beginning to ferment.

Pears will ripen in your home outside the fridge. There are a number of indicators that will signal when pears are ripe. Some change colors from green to yellow (e.g. Barlett or Forelle) to even red (e.g. Red pears). Other types of pears do not change color, but will become softer, especially around the stem area (e.g. Seckel, Comice, or Bosch). 

Persimmon varieties can be astringent (e.g. Hachiya, which is conical shape) and non-astringent (e.g. Fuyu, which is flat shape). Both varieties can ripen in your homes. Hachiya as well as most other varieties can only be eaten when fully ripe; they’ll be soft as jelly. Fuyu can be enjoyed hard like an apple and mildly sweet or soft like jelly and will be very sweet.

Grapes come in many varieties. Some are sweeter than others, but because they only ripen on the vine, their sweetness will depend on how early they were picked. You can tell how ripe grapes are based on the richness of their color and flavor. Black grapes are fully ripe when they lose their red color. Red grapes should not have any green in them, and green grapes should not be too hard.

If you are at a farmer’s market, consider asking the vendor for a grape to sample to help you find the grape you will enjoy as some people prefer sweeter grapes while others prefer more sour grape varieties.

Papayas are ripe when they are soft and yellow. Mexican papaya is mostly green-orange when ripe. Their skin is very thin such that when they are soft and ripe, they can bruise easily. Caribbean papaya becomes mostly yellow during the ripening stage and will be softer to touch. Hawaiian ‘Solo’ papaya is the size of an adult hand and they have thicker skin. They turn yellow and soft when ripe. These papayas contain GMO, so those who wish to avoid such products should consider the other two types.

When ripe, peaches, nectarines, plums, avocado, cherimoya, mango appear soft to touch and lose their green color. However, the intensity of their colors is not the best indicator of ripeness. Some peaches become deep purple when ripe, but white or donut (a.k.a. Saturn) peaches turn pale yellow-red.

Some mangoes keep green when ripe, while others, like Ataulfo mangoes, become yellow. Cherimoya’s green-grey color darken when ripe. They can easily become too ripe, so enjoy them immediately, as soon as they become soft to the touch. Softness of these fruits is their best ripeness indicator.

How to store fruits:

If your fruit is not ripe yet, store them at room temperature on your counter where they will slowly ripen on their own. To facilitate a faster ripening process, you can place your unripe fruit in a loosely closed paper bag, which will help trap the ethylene and speed up the ripening process. You can speed up the process even more by adding a ripe or overly ripe fruit to the bag. Doing so will further increase the amount of ethylene in the bag.

If your fruit is already ripe, it should be eaten immediately or stored in the fridge so you can enjoy them within a few days. If you have too much ripe fruit, freeze some and use them later for refreshing smoothies and fruit sorbets. Bananas with berries or pineapples are a wonderful choice.

Proper storage:

When exposed to humidity and lack of airflow in fruit bags or plastic containers, fruit is highly prone to molding. Lack of airflow inside either storage increases humidity, which in turn enables the growth of mold. Some smaller fruits (berries, grapes, etc) can already contain moldy fruit pieces without us noticing, which will spread to other fruits. I’m sure most of us have experienced an unpleasant moldy surprise when we opened a fruit bag or container we’ve placed on our kitchen counter or inside the fridge several days ago.

If you want your fruit to last longer, consider removing any moldy, rotten or damaged pieces of fruit before storing the rest in your fridge. When you purchase your berries inside plastic containers, which have openings for airflow, you can put a fresh paper towel inside.

A paper towel is wonderful in absorbing excess moisture, which helps prevent mold. You can also place your small fruits inside any open bowl you have at home. Large fruit pieces can sit on the shelves on their own. This way your fruit can last longer and will be more visible for family members to consider it for breakfast and snacks.

Katja Breceljnik is a Clinical Nutritionist who runs the blog More Than An Apple. She graduated from the California College of Natural Medicine and has received a certificate in NeuroEndocrine Regulation & Anti-Aging. She is a passionate advocate for healthy living in a dirty city. She has helped many people with both reversing their symptoms and gaining understanding of the connection between their symptoms and the cause.

Photo Credit: Ripe Pineapple by Fran Hogan at allfreedownalod.com and Watermelons by Petr Kratochvil at allfreedownload.com.