The Hidden Cost of Over-Refrigeration

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Throughout history, humans have had to find creative ways to keep food from spoiling using whatever resources were available—from holes in the ground to cold water in nearby lakes and rivers. Although artificial refrigeration began in the mid-1700s, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that what we now know as refrigerators gained traction and started appearing in homes across the United States.

Now that refrigerators are a staple appliance in every home, many of us tend to store as much as possible—especially fruits and vegetables—within them, believing it will retain freshness and preserve quality, texture, and taste.

However, some produce thrives on the counter or in the pantry and shouldn’t be stored in the fridge. Others should wait on the counter until they’re ripe, at which point the fridge can maintain them at peak freshness until they’re ready to eat.

Refrigeration slows down how quickly fruits and vegetables breathe and ripen, said Macarena Farcuh, an assistant professor of plant science who received her doctorate in horticulture and agronomy at the University of California, Davis.

Plant respiration is the way plants use stored sugar and oxygen and convert it into usable energy needed for cellular processes.

Refrigeration also reduces enzyme activity that causes softening and spoilage, prevents moisture loss that leads to shriveling, and slows the growth of microbes that can cause rot, she told The Epoch Times.

However, keeping produce in the fridge can also change its nutrient content.

With this in mind, eat more delicate, vitamin C-rich foods first, such as citrus fruits and leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli, as this will help you maximize their nutrients. It’s also a good idea to save hardier produce for later, as it retains its nutrients longer.

“Some crops are chilling-sensitive, meaning that cold damages their texture or flavor,” Lynette Johnston, an assistant professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, told The Epoch Times.

If your avocados ripen before you are ready to eat them, they can be placed in the fridge to slow down the ripening process and keep them at their peak until you have a hankering for that spicy guacamole or avocado toast.

Refrigerating ripe avocados will cause a gradual loss of sensitive vitamins C and E, but the levels of monounsaturated fats remain relatively stable.

If you have overripe bananas that you would like to save for making muffins or banana bread at a later date, they can be refrigerated or frozen—note that this will cause the skins to turn brown.

You can freeze bananas with the peel, which reduces the risk of freezer burn. However, it makes it harder to extract the fruit when you’re ready to use it, which can make it a messy affair. To make things easier, freeze whole peeled bananas or cut them into slices before freezing.

Freezing changes the texture of bananas, making them mushy—a consistency that makes them ideal for recipes like breads, muffins, or smoothies—although less suitable for eating on their own.

Bananas are also prolific producers of ethylene, a gas and plant hormone released by many fruits and vegetables that controls ripening. When placing bananas on the counter, be aware that any fruit nearby will ripen more quickly in response to the abundant ethylene they emit. For fruits you want to ripen more rapidly, you can place them next to your bananas. Otherwise, keep bananas separated from other fruits.

Mangoes can be stored in the fridge once ripe if you are not ready to eat them. Whole, ripe fruit can last for up to five days, and cut mangoes, when kept in an airtight container, can last in the fridge for up to a week.

Although stone fruits may lose some nutrients, such as vitamin C and antioxidants, when stored in the fridge, the most significant setbacks are the loss of flavor and changes in texture.

Once onions are peeled or cut, however, they should be stored in the fridge to prevent contamination, where they will last seven to 10 days if kept in an airtight container. Cooked onions should also be refrigerated and can last up to four days.

Whole garlic cloves should be kept out of the fridge, as the cold and humidity can cause them to sprout, become bitter, rubbery, and spoil more quickly. Like their root vegetable brethren, garlic cloves should be kept in a cool, dry, well-ventilated spot until needed.

While the fridge plays an essential role in keeping many of our foods fresh, it shouldn’t be the default when it comes to produce.

According to Farcuh, storing fruits and vegetables at the wrong temperature is one of the most common things people do at home that accelerates food spoilage.

With grocery prices soaring, we want to make every dollar count. How and where we store produce matters—it keeps food fresh, preserves nutrients, and perhaps most importantly, ensures it tastes great.

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