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Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of vitamins and minerals that offer many health and nutritional benefits. The following tips on buying, handling and storing will help you and your family enjoy maximum benefits from eating fruits and vegetables.
For more information on selecting and storing common vegetables, please refer to the guide.
- Buy from reliable sources where you can be assured of quality.
- Choose fresh and clean produce. Select fruits with aromatic smell and vegetables with crispy, fresh leaves, as well as tender and fleshy stems.
- Avoid fruits and vegetables that are bruised, shriveled, blemished, spongy, or mouldy.
- The package used to store packed produce will help to retain freshness as well as minimise contamination and damage from poor handling.
- Place fruits and vegetables at the top of the grocery bags to prevent bruising.
- Head home immediately after buying fruits and vegetables. Keep them away from direct sunlight, heat or a hot environment (e.g. inside the car) to prevent wilting.
- Buy only what you can eat within a few days.
- Remove the soiled portions of vegetables, cut off the base and wash away any residual soil in a basin of tap water.
- Soak the vegetables in fresh tap water for 15 minutes. Special detergents or washes are not needed.
- Before cutting and cooking, rinse the vegetables once more under a tap or in a basin of fresh tap water.
- For harder items like potatoes, scrub the skin gently with a brush to get rid of any dirt.
- To preserve the nutritional value, avoid cutting and shredding fruits and vegetables too early during preparation they may lose some of their nutrients when exposed to air.
- Store fruits (except banana) and vegetables in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
- Do not mix fruits with vegetables in the same storage compartment as fruits produce ethylene gas during their ripening process.
- Remove any soil off vegetables (especially root vegetables) before storage.
- Pack vegetables in plastic bags or containers before storing them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.
- Store hardy root vegetables and raw fruits that need ripening at room temperature.
| Baicai |
Dark green, thick broad leaves |
Up to 7 days |
| Bayam (Chinese spinach) |
Tender stems and leaves |
Up to 5 days |
| Caixin |
Big glossy leaves. Flowering caixin should have buds that have not bloomed |
Up to 7 days |
| Ceylon spinach |
Tender and fleshy stems with broad leaves |
Up to 7 days |
| Chinese white cabbage |
Compact and firm head with flat midribs. Free from black specks |
Up to 3 days |
| Gailan (Kai Lan) |
Powdery waxy thick leaves |
Up to 7 days |
| Kangkong (Water spinach) |
Tender stem without side shoots |
Up to 7 days |
| Lettuce |
Crisp and firm. Free from tip burn |
Up to 7 days |
| Peking cabbage |
Crisp and light green / yellow leaves |
Up to 5 to 7 days |
| Spinach |
Dark green, wrinkly but crisp leaves |
Up to 7 days |
| Xiaobaicai |
Big leaf with green and thickened leaf stalks |
Up to 7 days |
| Bean |
Green and firm |
2 - 5 days |
| Broccoli |
Compact green head with no discolouration of bud clusters |
2 - 3 days |
| Capsicum |
Ripe, uniform colour, firm |
Up to 7 days |
| Cauliflower |
Compact head with no black spots |
Up to 7 days |
| Chilli |
Ripe, uniform colour, firm. Free from black spots |
Up to 3 weeks |
| Cucumber |
Light green, firm and smooth |
2 - 5 days |
| Egg plant (Brinjal) |
Uniform colour, firm, well shaped |
2 - 3 days |
| Head Lettuce |
Compact green head. Free from reddish brown spots and tip burn |
Up to 7 days |
| Okra (Lady's finger) |
Well shaped, tender with tip readily broken when snapped |
2 -3 days |
| Tomato |
Ripe, firm, regular shape, uniform colour |
Up to 7 days |
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