Bought too much grapes and need them to last as long as possible? You’re probably wondering how to store grapes to keep them fresh the longest.
Or maybe your grapes tend to go bad quickly, and you want to make sure you’re doing everything right storage-wise.
If that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place. In this article, we cover:
where, how, and how long you can store grapes
how to make them last as long as possible (hint: it’s about picking the best ones)
signs that your grapes are spoiled
Read on!
How To Store Grapes
Store grapes in a ventilated plastic bag in the crisper drawer in the fridge. Keep them attached to the stems, and don’t wash them until you serve them.
Grapes usually are sold in perforated plastic bags, and that’s the optimal way of storing them ([OH]).
If yours are in such a bag, leave them there. If not, consider poking some holes to allow airflow, or at least leave the top open.
The veggie drawer is the best place to keep grapes because they like high humidity ([OH]). If you don’t have one in your fridge, put them in the back of a shelf, where it’s colder than in the front.
To store your grapes as long as possible, postpone washing them until right before serving ([OH]). This way, you’re sure there’s no moisture on the fruit that might speed up spoilage.
If you’ve already washed your grapes, or need to store leftovers, make sure they’re dry before you put them in the refrigerator. Use paper towels or a kitchen towel to get rid of any wet spots and water drops.
Last but not least, don’t remove grapes from stems until you serve them. Or, better yet, serve them in small bunches so that everyone takes care of that on their own.
How Do You Keep Grapes Fresh Longer?
To keep your grapes fresh for as long as possible, you need to:
buy the best ones available
store them properly
We’ve already covered the latter. Now let’s talk aboutpicking fresh grapes.
For starters, you need to know thatthe grapes you buy are ripe. They don’t ripen or get better after they have been harvested ([OH]). In that way, grapes are more like apples and pears, not bananas or mangoes.
Try to choose grapes that are (still) at peak quality. They won’t get any better after you buy them.
When you examine grapes in the supermarket, look at both the fruit and the stems. The best grapes ([OH]):
Are plump and firm to the touch.Shriveled, bruised, or soft grapes will soon go bad.
Have a full, rich color.Brownish or discolored fruits mean they’ve started to spoil already.
Are firmly attached to green stems.Dry and brown/black stems usually mean grapes will soon start to drop off them, and that’s no good.
If you plan on storing grapes for more than a week, give them a check every three days and get rid of those that have turned brownish or started to grow mold.
How Long Do Grapes Last?
Grapes last for up to two weeks in the crisper drawer, or a day or two at room temperature.
Like with all fruits and veggies, the better quality ones you buy, and the better you take care of them, the longer they’ll keep for.
If yours look like they’ve sat in the supermarket for a few days, don’t expect them to last longer than a week. But if you’ve bought them fresh from a local grower at the farmer’s market, they should easily last for 10 to 14 days.
The most common scenario for grapes is that after a few days of storage, there will be a few ones that are starting to brown or grow mold already, and the rest will be just fine.
How To Tell When Grapes Are Bad?
Throw out grapes that:
Are soft, shriveled, or oozing water.They’re old and no good quality-wise.
Are brown, discolored, or moldy.Of course, some slight discolorations here and there is okay.
Smell or look off in any other way.When in doubt, throw them out.
The rule here is that you should discard grapes that are plain spoiled (moldy, brown, shriveled) or their quality is no longer acceptable (soft, starting to brown). And the latter is up to you to decide.
For me, eating somewhat softish grapes is okay, as long as they aren’t shriveled or have large sunken spots already. And I don’t mind minor discolorations.
But if I serve grapes to any friends or family, I’m much stricter about what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Frequently Asked Questions About Grapes
Can grapes be stored at room temperature?
Yes, but only if you plan on eating them the same or the next day. Grapes quickly deteriorate at ambient temperature, so leaving them in a fruit bowl on the counter isn’t a good idea.
Can you eat grapes left out overnight?
Yes, but check for any signs of spoilage first, and wash them before eating. If you’re not sure they’re safe to eat, throw them out.
Summary
Keep grapes in a perforated plastic bag in the veggie drawer in the fridge. Don’t wash or remove them from the stems before serving.
Grapes can last for up to two weeks in the fridge, and a couple of days at room temperature.
Throw out grapes that are soft, shriveled, brown, moldy, or smell off.
How to Tell if Grapes Are Bad? You can tell that grapes are bad if they're soft to the touch, shriveled, have brown (or discolored) spots or bruises, or are moldy. The same is true if they give off a funny (often vinegar-like) smell.
Is it possible for grapes to go bad? Grapes are extremely perishable. They are not as long-lasting as apples, pears, and oranges. Grapes rot quickly because they are extremely sensitive to moisture and heat.
Unwashed fresh grapes will last in the fridge in the plastic bag that came in from the grocery store for about three weeks, give or take. If they are not consumed after that time and they have already been in the fridge, they should be placed into the freezer to prolong their integrity.
Some common traits of bad grapes are a soft texture, a brown discoloration and they will begin to smell a little like vinegar when they are left too long and begin to ferment. Mold will eventually start to appear, so be sure to discard any rotten grapes.
Infected leaves develop reddish-brown, circular spots (lesions) on the upper leaf surface. As the lesions mature, the center becomes brown and small, black, pimple-like fruiting bodies called pycnidia appear in the center. They are usually arranged in a loose ring just inside a dark border.
Wondering what the signs of spoiled grapes are? The telltale way to sniff out spoilage is by doing just that — using your sense of smell. According to oneHOWTO, if grapes have a sour and almost vinegary aroma, that's a strong indication that they've gone bad.
Store it at room temperature if you plan to eat the fruit soon, because citrus fruits are always juicier when slightly warm. If planning to store grapefruit for a longer period, place the fruit in a plastic bag and store in your fridge crisper. Stored this way, grapefruits will last up to 6 weeks.
Mildew usually appears first as whitish or greenish-white powdery patches on the undersides of basal leaves. It may cause mottling or distortion of severely infected leaves, as well as leaf curling and withering. Lateral shoots are very susceptible. Infected blossoms may fail to set fruit.
It is possible to get food poisoning from grapes. Red, black, and green grapes could become contaminated in the field and if they aren't handled correctly and washed thoroughly before eating, they can give you food poisoning.
Mold can penetrate and grow inside the soft flesh of fruit where you can't see it. Consuming moldy food can cause allergic reactions, as well as respiratory problems. When you find a few moldy pieces of fruit inside a container, throw out the moldy fruit and any pieces of fruit that are directly touching them.
Most people would not choose to eat spoiled food. However, if they did, they probably would not get sick. Spoilage bacteria can cause fruits and vegetables to get mushy or slimy, or meat to develop a bad odor, but they do not generally make you sick. Pathogenic bacteria cause illness.
Do grapes last longer if stored on the stem? Short answer: Yes. Grapes spoil faster once they're plucked off the stem. This is because removing the stem leaves a hole in the grape's skin.
Volatile compounds in the smoke from wildfires can be absorbed by grapes and produce an unpleasant taste known as “smoke taint” in wines made from affected grapes.
If you plan to serve the grapes within a week, place the bunch in the back of the fridge or inside a crisper drawer with a high humidity setting (away from fruits and veggies requiring lower humidity). To store the fruits for longer, placing them in a freezer at around thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit is optimal.
As the experts from the California Table Grape Commission explain, the optimal storage conditions for grapes is 30-32°F with high humidity, about 90-95 percent. This is why the best place to store grapes is in the high humidity crisper drawer in your fridge.
Known as the "bloom," the waxy, silvery-white substance on the surface of grapes, blueberries, and certain plums acts as a barrier against insects and bacteria and helps to seal in the fruit's moisture. The bloom is also a sign of freshness, since it fades with time and handling.
Lenticel. These appear as small, freckle-like dots. While they don't impact grape safety, some people may consider them a defect because they affect the appearance of the grapes.
Leaf infection reduces plant vigour. When fruits are infected they split as they expand and this allows secondary infection by grey mould (Botrytis cinerea). Grey mould: this pathogen produces abundant airborne spores on dead plant material, where it is able to grow as a saprophyte (feeding on dead organic material).
However, as grapes are high in fructose, a natural sugar that can cause gas, and also contain a lot of tannins that can lead to stomach upset, grapes might be giving you nausea and diarrhoea.
Grape represents a natural reservoir of bacterial species that may influence wine production and storage. Different bacteria may be transferred from grapes into the winery and perturb the vinification process (2).
Though it may not be visibly evident, mold spores may have contaminated adjacent grapes. Because some molds can cause illness, it's best to err on the conservative side and discard all the grapes.
Grape growers often find black rot to be an insidious disease: the grape clusters will appear to be developing normally until suddenly —as late as mid-summer — the fruit will start to turn brown, then black, with numerous round, black spheres called pycnidia on the surface.
If a small amount of grapes or cherries in a container show mold or begin to wither or wrinkle, do not discard the entire container. Grapes and cherries crush and bruise fairly easily and sometimes can appear to be spoiled when they have simply been crushed.
In most cases, surprisingly, the grapes with brown spots are just as edible as regular normal grapes. However, if they have a severe infection, it is better to discard them.
Most people would not choose to eat spoiled food. However, if they did, they probably would not get sick. Spoilage bacteria can cause fruits and vegetables to get mushy or slimy, or meat to develop a bad odor, but they do not generally make you sick. Pathogenic bacteria cause illness.
Stored dry in a well-ventilated container in the crisper drawer of your fridge, grapes can last up to three weeks. They won't last nearly as long at room temperature, and they'll lose their crispness more quickly.
If a grape is wrinkly, mushy, or leaking juices, it's beginning to spoil. Technically, you can eat them, so long as they're not moldy. But it won't taste nearly as good as a ripe, firm grape. For best taste, I would keep the shriveled grapes out of recipes like this.
Symptoms. Leaves: Roughly circular yellowish discolorations, called oil spots (a). White down (sporulation of the fungus) (b), particularly on the lower leaf surface. The spots turn brown with time (c) and severely infected leaves may drop.
When berries of white cultivars become infected, they turn brown, while berries of the purple cultivars turn red. Infected berries then shrive and become “mummies” which drop off. Symptoms of gray mold can appear also on the leaves, as dull green spots which turn brown and necrotic.
Black spot, also known as anthracnose in grapes, is a serious disease, particularly in areas which experience cool wet springs which favour disease outbreak. Currently it is successfully managed with fungicides, however prior to their introduction, blackspot was a major problem.
Introduction: My name is Merrill Bechtelar CPA, I am a clean, agreeable, glorious, magnificent, witty, enchanting, comfortable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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