Keeping sliced fruit fresh

corblimey

Anybody got any tried and tested methods for keeping sliced fruit fresh. I'd like to give my son some sliced fruit (apple, for example) in his lunchbox, but by the time it's lunchtime, the pieces would of course have gone brown and nasty.

Any tips? I'd like to avoid cling film, if possible.

bambam

here's a commercial product: http://www.natureseal.com/
don't know about availability though...

catspring

i know that if you squeeze lemon juice over advocadoes it stops them going brown. you could try that. it might affact the flavour though. the reason that fruit goes brown is because the sugars start to caramelise, i think that the lemon juice works on this principle...

Alun

I'm not sure whether this would work, but the people who make those vacuum thingies you use to extract the air out of wine bottles, VacUVin, also make plastic food containers that you can suck the air out of in the same way. It's the oxygen in the air that makes fruit go brown (oxidisation), just like it makes wine go off, so maybe that's worth a try? Try vacuvin.co.uk

rubadub

Yes, lemon juice works on apples, it is oxidation. The best way is to give him a jam jar full of slices and water which he can drain off by opening the cap slightly. This is the best way to stop browning of apples or potatoes. Or better still submerge them in apple juice which he can pour off and drink and then fish out the apples, he may like the "gimmick factor" of that if he is young. If he is very young he could drink it with a straw instead of trying to drain.

corblimey

rubadub wrote:

Yes, lemon juice works on apples, it is oxidation. The best way is to give him a jam jar full of slices and water which he can drain off by opening the cap slightly

Just normal tap water, rubadub?

I'll give it a go, thanks all.

rubadub

Normal tap water is fine if you fill that morning and eat that day, or you could pop it in the fridge the night before in the closed jar.

Magic Monkey

Some varities of apples, like Fuji or Gala, are more resistant to browning, so you could try them. Maybe a very light coating in cider vinegar would also do, while preserving the taste of the apple slices.

ApeXaviour

probably the cheapest would be very light (mild) green tea. 2 or 3 leaves in a small glass of boiling water.. spray or dip or whatever. Cos the tea is practically flavourless it doesnt mess with the sliced fruit's flavour as much as say a lemon.

There are a ridiculous amount of anti-oxidants in green tea..