Produce: Fresh Fruits

Fresh fruit ripens and spoils at different speeds, and some fruits release gases that ripen, and spoil, others faster when stored together. Berries and soft fruits are the most delicate, while apples and citrus tend to hold up much longer.

Food	Pantry	Fridge	Freezer
Apples	3 weeks	4 to 6 weeks	8 months
Applesauce(2 kinds)		3 weeks	8 to 12 months
Apricots	Until ripe	2 to 5 days	Not recommended
Avocados	Until ripe	3 to 4 days	Not recommended
Bananas	Until ripe	3 days	2 to 3 months
Berries(2 kinds)		7 days	12 months
Blueberries		1 to 2 weeks	8 to 12 months
Cantaloupe	2 to 4 days	5 to 15 days	12 months
Cherimoya	Until ripe	4 days	10 to 12 months
Cherries		2 to 3 days	8 to 12 months
Citrus fruit	10 days	10 to 21 days	Not recommended
Coconut	1 year		1 year
Coconuts	1 week	2 to 3 weeks	Not recommended
Cranberries		2 months	12 months
Dates	2 months	12 months	1 to 2 years
Grapes	1 day	1 week	1 month
Guava	Until ripe	2 to 4 days	Not recommended
Honeydew	2 to 7 days	3 to 4 days	12 months
Kiwi fruit	Until ripe	3 to 6 days	Not recommended
Kumquats	Until ripe	3 weeks	Not recommended
Melons	Until ripe	2 weeks	1 month
Papaya, mango, feijoa, passionfruit, casaha melon	3 to 5 days	1 week	6 to 8 months
Peaches, nectarines, plums, pears, sapote	Until ripe	3 to 5 days	2 months
Pineapple	Until ripe	5 to 7 days	10 to 12 months
Pitaya/dragon fruit	2 to 5 days	2 to 3 weeks	10 to 12 months
Plantains	Until ripe	3 to 5 days	10 to 12 months
Pomegranate	2 to 5 days	1 to 3 months	10 to 12 months
Prickly pear	2 to 5 days	1 to 2 weeks	10 to 12 months
Raspberries		2 to 3 days	8 to 12 months
Star fruit	1 week	1 to 2 weeks	10 to 12 months
Strawberries		2 to 3 days	8 to 12 months
Watermelon	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 days	12 months

Signs produce: fresh fruits have gone bad

Soft, mushy spots that were firm a day or two before
Visible mould, often fuzzy white, green or grey
Leaking juice or a fermented, alcohol-like smell
Wrinkled, shriveled skin on fruit that used to be firm
Sour smell replacing a fruit's normal sweet scent

Storage habits

Keep most fruit in the fridge's crisper drawer, but leave bananas, avocados and stone fruit on the counter until ripe. Store ethylene-sensitive fruit, like berries, away from apples and bananas to slow ripening. Wash fruit just before eating, not before storing, since early washing speeds up spoilage.

Signs produce: fresh fruits have gone bad

Storage habits

Questions people ask