Dried fruits have always been considered an important vitamin supplement to the diet, especially in winter, when the amount of fresh fruits and berries is minimized. It is not necessary to select a more useful fruit among dried fruits, because each of them is good in its own way.
The benefits of prunes
- Prunes are rich in vitamins B1, B2, P, C, A, and also contain potassium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, calcium, magnesium.
- It contains glucose, sucrose, pectin, citric, malic and oxalic acid, tannins.
- These dried fruits are useful for anemia and vitamin deficiency.
- If you take several plums a day, your digestion will improve and your constipation will stop tormenting you.
- Prunes are used in cooking, adding it not only to pastries and compotes, but also to meat dishes.
Since prunes are not sold in any store, they go to the market or to a large supermarket. Therefore, try to buy it more immediately, so as not to waste time searching for it. But after buying from the hostess the question arises: how to store these fruits so that they do not dry out or become moldy.
How to store prunes at room temperature
Prunes, like any dried fruit, are well preserved at room temperature. The main thing is that the premises were suitable for this condition.
- Prunes are stored in a cool place without access to light.
- The room should not be damp.
- It is impossible to keep products and other substances with a smell (herbs, household chemicals, pickles) next to dried fruits, because prunes easily absorb their aroma.
- You also need to be sure that insects do not like it - moths or ants.
If the conditions are suitable, prunes can be stored in paper bags or in cotton cloth bags. To make the material inaccessible to insects, the bags are soaked in a concentrated saline solution, lightly wrung out and dried well. They turn out to be starched.
Prunes are sorted, removing unreliable fruits. If the dried fruits are not sufficiently dried, they are dried. Then folded into the bags, tied and sent to storage. In such a container, the dried fruits get the optimum amount of fresh air and do not suffocate.
If there is a lot of prunes, then it is stored in special wooden boxes.
If the room is wet, then prunes store in a hermetically sealed container. This can be a glass jar or plastic food container.
- Prunes are picked, removing fruits that have even a minor defect.
- Then they are additionally dried in a weakly heated oven for half an hour.
- Cool well.
- The jar and lid are thoroughly washed, doused with boiling water and dried.
- Dried fruits are packed in containers and sealed.
- Cleaned for storage.
- Banks periodically check the contents in order to notice the fruit that began to deteriorate in time and remove it.
How to store prunes in the refrigerator
If the room is not suitable for storing dried fruits due to high humidity or temperature, they are stored in a refrigerator.
Some hostesses for this purpose use packages with zip-clasp.
- Prunes are picked and dried if necessary.
- Fold in sachets.
- The clasp is closed, leaving a small hole for ventilation.
- The bag is placed on the door of the refrigerator.
But this method has disadvantages. First, in the refrigerator most often the air humidity is increased. Secondly, there is a mass of products with a smell (sausage, cheese, ready meals). And so prunes through the hole in the package easily absorbs not only the smell, but also excessive moisture.
But if you close the bag tightly, then condensate will accumulate on its inner walls, and prunes may become moldy. To prevent this, it is regularly checked, removing the tainted fruit. If the dried fruit is wet, then they must be dried, and then re-stored.
In a glass container placed in the refrigerator, prunes are stored better. To do this, it is dried, and then put in a jar. Tightly closed. But if the fruit is fleshy and moist, it is advisable to eat them as early as possible, as they are poorly stored.
Total
- Prunes are stored in paper bags, canvas bags, glass jars at room temperature in a dry, dark, well-ventilated room.
- In the refrigerator, prunes can be stored in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid, periodically checking its quality.
- It is undesirable to use plastic bags as prunes quickly disappear.
- It is necessary to buy prunes in small batches so that it can be eaten soon.
