Page 28 - Simply Veg 3.21

Fruit and Vegetable Storage
This article may have been more appropriate in the October edition but would then be a bit late for some crops and it least at this time of the year you have time to prepare for storing and it will be useful for later this year when you are harvesting your crops. Many fruits and vegetables have to be used fairly quickly after picking (within 2 to 3 days) otherwise they deteriorate beyond use. They can be stored in the fridge for a bit longer or some can be frozen. Other crops can be stored for 6 months or more without special treatment and are useful over the winter period. Some fruits and vegetables can be “stored” or preserved by freezing, canning bottling or drying but in this article, I want to look at more low tech methods that are usually cheaper.
If it is possible the crop could be left in
the ground or on the plant for as long as possible to save any type of storing. Sprouts can be left on the plant for a long period
in the winter and carrots left in the ground until at least Christmas in many parts of
the country. Other winter crops that do
not need storing include leeks, parsnips, and to some extent winter cabbage and sprouting broccoli. Root crops can be covered in a layer of straw to prevent frost damage and make lifting easier if the ground becomes frozen. Other crops harvested in late summer / early autumn can be stored fairly easily for up to 6 months, these include onions, potatoes, winter squash, beetroot and carrots providing the storage conditions are correct.
One advantage of storing crops is that it helps you to become self-sufficient for most of the year and reduces the amount of food we need to buy and import. Good storage also reduces the waste food especially if gluts are produced; if crop losses were reduced considerable it is estimated that we produce enough food now to feed the world! Storing fruit and vegetables is a more sustainable way of living and reduces our carbon footprint as well as being a healthier way of living. Correctly stored
food is still of good quality
and nutritious. The increased
realisation that fruit and
vegetables are an important
part of the human diet and
the fact that we should be
eating our 5 a day (used
to be 3 a day!) has made it
more important that good
quality food is available all
the year round. Going further
off at a tangent I was reading
the other day that the World
Health Organisation (WHO)
recommends a minimum
of 400 grams of fruit and
vegetables a day excluding starchy crops like potatoes and that this should prevent the chronic diseases associated with our sedentary lifestyles. Also that one group
of nutritionists were recommending eating
7 servings of fruit and vegetables a day to provide nutrients and fibre! The WHO have been promoting the using of home-grown fruit and vegetables to combat vitamin
deficiency in many regions and there are areas of the U.K. that could do better.
Poor storage can result in crops rotting in store which as well as being a waste of good food is a waste of time and effort in growing it. The main causes of loss in storage are pests, diseases and mechanical damage. Damage results in access for rots and dehydration
and texture changes in the produce making
it less palatable. Commercially the storage
of fruit and vegetables is called Post Harvest
Technology which has come on leaps and bounds over the last 30 years.
It is important to remember that all produce is still living when in store, unless it has been preserved in some way by cooking / freezing. As it is still living it means it can still deteriorate as it continues to respire taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide; as well as transpire water and possible give off some heat.
Storing fruit and vegetables for winter use is nothing new and we have
been doing it for hundreds of years – we had to before the invention of fridges and freezers! We just don’t do it as often as we used to, the supermarket is too easy! In this article I will look at a number of techniques used but also some of the theory behind them. One of the factors that dictates the length of time produce can be stored is the overall rate of metabolism which is related
Storing fruit and vegetables is a more sustainable way of living and reduces our carbon footprint as well as being a healthier way of living
28 Simply Vegetables