Does Eggplant Go Bad?

It may surprise you, but eggplants are technically fruits because they have seeds, it means that eggplants are one of the fruits with the most use in the kitchen because you can make a great variety of dishes with them. You can use it in sauces, stews, bake them, and roast them, whatever you want. All you have to do is enjoy them at lunchtime.

So you may be considering preparing a recipe that includes eggplant, but you don’t know how many it takes, and you decide to take a few and then ask yourself, how will the eggplants be stored? How long do they last in good condition? Don’t worry, and we will answer all your questions about it, you keep reading.

How to Store Eggplant

The key to the duration of fruits and vegetables when you store them at home depends on how good quality they are when you choose them in stores if you take eggplants that are not in very good condition, you may end up with some eggplants spoiled soon.

Like many other fruits and vegetables, eggplants need low temperatures to be able to stay in good condition for a couple of days, so the ideal thing to store them in the refrigerator, but in case you do not have one or you do not have space inside You can leave them at room temperature for a maximum of three days.

The proper temperature to optimally keep an eggplant refrigerated is 50 to 54 ° F. So if you have your eggplants stored at higher temperatures than these, it is most likely that they will end up going bad faster than expected.

If you plan to store them for a short time, such as from one day to the next for example, then you can store the eggplants in a place where there is good ventilation; also this place must be away from direct sunlight and ultimately also from any product with ethylene because this material accelerates the ripening process.

If you plan to store your eggplants for a period longer than four days or if you want to have them sliced ​​and chopped, you should store them directly in the refrigerator to properly preserve and avoid any problem at the time you want to use them for cooking.

Unlike other foods, eggplants do not need or should be kept in airtight containers when you store them in the refrigerator unless the cuts or slices or you have cooked them, otherwise avoid having to seal them in any container.

Can You Freeze Eggplant?

You may be one of those people who like to buy a lot to save in the long term and consume it little by little; if that is the case, you will be familiar with the process of freezing food to extend its duration for weeks, months and even years. Luckily, eggplants are one of those foods that can be frozen and kept very well in that state.

Among the methods you can find to freeze eggplants there are two that are relatively easy to do and that allows them to be well preserved for a long time:

The first is to make a dish, put it in an airtight container and leave it in the freezer. It may or may not work depending on the dish in question.

The second way is to prepare the sliced eggplant, boil them, dry them, freeze them quickly, put them in freezer bags, remove the air and leave them permanently to freeze.

How Long Does Eggplant Last

As you should already know, neither fruits nor vegetables keep their freshness forever, so if you have eggplants that have been in your refrigerator for a while, it is most likely that they are losing their peak of quality since you put them there.

Usually, the eggplants are sold individually and do not come with labels on the outside that indicate a date on which they spoil. The buyer must pay attention to the characteristics of the eggplant. It should not be too hard, but not too soft. Those are the good eggplants and the ones you should take with you.

How long the eggplants can last in good condition may depend on how it is, if it is complete, it can last three days at room temperature and a week in the refrigerator. When you cut the eggplant into slices, you should refrigerate it to last up to four days. If you cook the eggplant, it can last up to five days depending on what dish you have made.

How to Tell If Eggplant Is Bad

When fruits and vegetables like eggplant have been in the refrigerator for a week or two, they are likely reaching the point of spoiling if they haven’t already. So if your eggplants have been stored for a long time, then the most common sense is to discard them.

If the eggplants have not been stored for so long, but you are not sure then what you should do is look for the signs that indicate that it is in bad condition, if you see that there are rotten parts, no matter how small they are, you should discard the eggplant.

Other signs that may indicate that the eggplant is in poor condition is that it loses its firmness and becomes softer, that its seeds darken and that you see that the skin sinks on its own, if you see any of these situations happening to your eggplant then get rid of it.

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