How are vegetables kept fresh in the market? What are the recommended methods for keeping vegetables fresh at home?

In life, many people find that the vegetables they buy at the market or supermarket are very fresh, but they become stale after a while when they are kept at home. What methods do the market usually use to keep vegetables fresh? How should we preserve vegetables at home? Let's take a look!

How are vegetables kept fresh in the market?

1. Keep fresh in the freezer.

The meat vendors at the fixed stalls in the market are equipped with freezers, and any meat that is not sold out during the day is put into the freezer. The seafood is mainly kept fresh in water, and if it is found dead during the process, it is put into some ice cubes for cheap disposal.

2. Use foam box to keep fresh.

Vegetable market vendors have thermal insulation foam boxes, or bring their own when they purchase goods. Most vegetables are sorted and placed in thermal insulation foam boxes. For more expensive vegetables, there are ice cubes in the foam boxes to keep them cool and moisturized. Refrigerated seafood is also stored in foam boxes with ice packs.

3. Spray water to keep fresh.

The vegetables displayed outside are sprayed with water to keep them moist, which prolongs their freshness and slows down the wilting process. They need to be sprayed with water at least once every half an hour in hot weather. Due to limited conditions, the vegetables picked by vegetable farmers will also bring a large Coke bottle filled with water to prevent them from wilting, and poke some small holes in the bottle cap to facilitate watering. I see that these vegetable farmers basically spray water once every 15 minutes. If there is not enough water in the bottle, they will go to the public toilet in the vegetable market to fill it with water.

4. Soak to keep fresh.

Many stall owners in the vegetable market will soak the vegetables in water for 1 hour to keep them fresh. Firstly, the vegetables will not wilt easily, and secondly, it will increase the importance of the vegetables. Some vegetable farmers will soak the vegetables in water before carrying them to the market. I have seen some unscrupulous vegetable farmers soak the vegetables in the stinky ditch near the vegetable market for convenience.

5. Leave the roots with soil to keep fresh.

Coriander is also a vegetable that wilts easily. Stall owners often buy coriander with roots and soil. Even if this kind of coriander is not sprayed with water, it can be stored for a period of time in a foam box to keep it fresh. Vegetables like these with roots and soil, such as garlic and chives, also have good preservation effects.

Recommended methods for keeping vegetables fresh at home

1. The vegetables are freshest in the morning. It is recommended to buy vegetables in the morning, especially vegetables. Although soaked vegetables may look fresh on the surface, their taste is greatly reduced. In the morning, vegetables should be soaked in relatively less water.

2. If you buy coriander with dirt on it, don't try to clean it. Wash off the dirt. Unless you are going to eat it immediately, put the coriander with roots and soil in a plastic bag and refrigerate it. This can greatly extend the shelf life of the coriander.

3. In hot weather, do not expose vegetables indoors, especially leafy vegetables, as they will wilt immediately. Therefore, they should be kept in the refrigerator. To avoid taking up refrigerator space, pick them first, wash them, put them in plastic bags, and store them in the refrigerator. Generally, there will be no problem keeping them for three days.

4. If your refrigerator has a zero-degree fresh-keeping function, it is best to put the vegetables in a zero-degree fresh-keeping box. For example, wash the coriander, remove the roots, cut it into small pieces, put it into a fresh-keeping bag, seal it, and then put it into a zero-degree fresh-keeping box. It can be stored for more than a month without going bad.

Why do the vegetables wilt after a while?

The freshly picked green vegetables should be soaked in clean water for a while, dried, and then put into foam boxes. In the foam boxes, there are large blocks of ice in mineral water bottles, wrapped with newspapers. There are about two mineral water bottles in a foam box, and then the vegetables are put into the foam box. After arriving at the market, only one foam box is opened, and after the vegetables are arranged in the stall, they are watered about once every half an hour. The vegetables that are not sold for the time being should not be moved in the foam box. As long as the water in the vegetables is kept from being lost in time, the vegetables can maintain their freshness.