Why do vegetables bought in a grocery store last much longer?

Question

I've noticed that "fresh" vegetables that I buy in the store are starting to have a unusually long shelf life. I bought some "fresh" broccoli about two weeks ago and forgot about it in my refrigerator. Just today i checked it and its still as green as it was when i bought it. And that not only bothers me but it scares me..how are we supposed to eat "fresh" fruits and vegetables when the stores are spraying them with who knows what to make them keep their color. In Saint Louis, in the summertime we have a market called Soulard where people sell FRESH everything and its stuff they have grown themselves. With me living in the Midwest (saint louis, mo) what are some vegetables, fruits, and herbs i can grow in my backyard so that i can eat FRESH all year long.

Answer 1

preservatives

Answer 2

Some fruits and vegetables are sprayed but that is only a fungicide to keep mold off like the one person mentioned. Normally it is not due to a spray but moreso the packaging and them picking the fruit before they are fully ripe. For instance, take two bagged salads from a store. Open both salad bags. Then take and reclose the one salad bag in the original salad bag. Take the other salad and put it in a different plastic bag. Both bags have been opened, but the one left in the original salad bag will last 2-3 times as long. That's because packaging engineers such as myself make sure the correct plastic blend is used in the bag. A plastic bag though it may not look porous...is. By using the correct plastic structure in the bag the amounts of Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Carbon Dioxide that can pass through the bag can be controlled, making the produce last longer. If the bag was unopened, the salad would last even longer if left at a cool refrigerator-like temperature.

And if you notice like with bananas and tomatoes you'll sometimes see a number of ones that still have some green. They'll ripen some during storage or while at the store.

For stuff like apples they keep them in an oxygen depleted cool room during storage that contains mainly just nitrogen. The oxygen in the air is what mainly helps make the fruit go bad. Fruits and vegetables still need oxygen because they are "alive", but to make them last longer the oxygen can be reduced enough to keep the fruit cells alive but reduce the amount of oxidation. What it does is slow down the metabolism of the fruit and keeps the oxygen from oxidizing the natural chemicals inside the fruit. So basically the fruit is almost as fresh as the day it was picked.

You don't ever want to just walk into a room at an orchard where they store fruit. Remember it is oxygen depleted and I've heard stories where people have died due to walking in them and suffering from a lack of oxygen.

By the way, the nitrogen air doesn't chemically hurt the fruit or us in any way. We breathe nitrogen everyday it makes up the largest percentage of the air we breathe.

Answer 3

No, they don't add preservatives. They pick before the stuff is fully ripe. and they spray with some kind of fungicide. You cannot eat fresh all year in MO. Nothing grows all winter there. Get into canning and preserving. You can grow all you can use, can it, and eat the benefits until the next growing season. No one can pick what you want. Just go to a garden center and have a ball! Now's the time to get the best selection of seeds, and to get the help you need. The experts there aren't busy yet, and can take some extra time answering questions.

Answer 4

Yes, there are pesticides and chemicals in most fruits and veggies in the store, although I couldn't tell you what chemicals or what they do. Also be aware that a lot of them are coated to be shiny, and dyed so they look nice and bright. You can go for organic, which still has treatments, but under much stricter guidelines (I don't know what but I'm sure you can find it online somewhere). Also, there are books available (and probably websites) that teach you how to grow vegetables in pots, so if you have some room to spare, you could possibly grow things in the winter this way, just depending what you want to grow and what the plant needs. (Lighting, etc.) To grow outside, there are "zones" to tell you what plants are compatible with what climates... any label on a seed packet will have its proper zones, all you have to do is find out which one you live in.

Answer 5

I believe it's because the fruits/veggies at supermarkets are picked right before ripening. This makes their shelf life longer. They also might add preservatives/waxes, etc to extend shelf life. You can try this website where they tell you climates and conditions to grow many veggies (http://www.explore.cornell.edu/scene.cfm?scene=home+gardening&stop=HG+-+Find+a+Vegetable)

http://www.backyardgardener.com/veg/ offersmany other tips. Godd luck!!!