Will this plastic bag trick help to preserve fresh herbs?
Users online claim this technique involving only a few household items will keep your greens fresh
The problem More times than I can count, I’ve bought fresh herbs and tucked them away safely in the refrigerator — only to find them wilted two days later.
As someone who hates wasting food, this drives me crazy.
Lucky for me, the Internet tells me there’s a solution to this wilted-herb madness: the plastic bag method. It requires minimal effort and only a few household items. So I put the method to the test. The tools Fresh cilantro A tall glass or Mason jar Water A thin plastic bag A rubber band The test Day 1: After purchasing fresh cilantro, I split the cilantro sprigs into two bunches. I placed half the sprigs stem-down into a Mason jar partially filled with tap water. Then, I draped the thin plastic bag over the cilantro and Mason jar, securing it to the jar with a rubber band before putting it in the fridge.
I then chucked the other bunch of cilantro into the refrigerator crisper drawer. The result Day 5: There was a stark difference between the two bunches of cilantro. The refrigerator cilantro was wilted and had lost its bright green colour. By comparison, the cilantro in the glass looked as fresh as it did on Day 1. Why this works There are a few reasons why this works, said Xiaonan Lu, a professor in department of food science at the University of British Columbia.
The first is reduced exposure to oxygen. “Once you reduce the exposure of the oxygen to those herbs, the oxidation reaction speed will slow down,” Lu said. By slowing down oxidation, the enzymatic activity in the herbs may also decrease, in turn slowing the wilting process and keeping the herbs fresher longer, he said.
The second is maintaining moisture levels. “If the moisture is too low . . . then it’s very easy for the herbs to dry out,” he said. “But if the moisture content in the air or the environment is too high, this is also bad, because this can contribute to the rapid growth of mould.” By placing a bag over a glass of the water, you create a microenvironment of sorts that both impedes evaporation and stabilizes moisture levels, he said.
Herbs can stay fresh for up to three weeks using the plastic bag trick, Lu said.
Note: For ultimate freshness, replace the water every few days.