It's hard to get away from a ripe peach. Its taste is somewhat reminiscent of melon, but still remains special. Fruits are unusually good during the ripening season. But you can’t eat too many of them at once; you want to prolong the pleasure.

Information on how to store peaches will help you enjoy the juicy fruits of summer longer.

How to preserve ripe peaches longer

To ensure that the taste of peaches does not disappoint and they last for at least a few days, you need to choose the right fruits. When putting fruits in a basket, you should pay attention to the following:

• The fruits should not have dents, damage to the skin, spots of rot or greenery.
• Peaches give off a pleasant aroma.
• The fruit is covered with a red blush.
• There is no need to give up irregularly shaped fruits. If they are not damaged, then such peaches are considered to be the most delicious.
• When you lightly press the fruit, the pulp is slightly pressed out.
• The bone should not fall apart or be wrinkled. If this is the case, then the peaches have been heavily chemically treated and are not safe to eat.

In order for the fruits to remain in good condition longer, they need to be transferred to the refrigerator, choosing a place intended for fruits.

Peaches store best in paper bags. You should not use polyethylene ones, since they soak fruits in moisture and spoil faster.

Ripe peaches keep well in the refrigerator for a week or a little longer.

Unripe peaches: how to store

Peaches are one of those fruits that can ripen when picked from the tree. Therefore, most often slightly unripe fruits are used for transportation.

You shouldn’t avoid them, although they are slightly inferior in sweetness to their tree-ripened relatives. The reason is that when a peach is picked, sugar stops being produced. Surely, there are those for whom this feature of unripe fruits is positive.

For peaches to ripen, they should be placed in a cozy corner of the kitchen. They will only be able to turn into ripe fruit at room temperature. In the refrigerator, the fruits will either spoil or remain the same as they were at first.

Peaches ripen faster when mixed with other fruits. Therefore, apples, pears, and bananas can be placed next to unripe fruits. After a couple of days, the peaches begin to turn red and turn into juicy fruits that are ready to be eaten.

How to preserve your peach harvest longer

The following conditions must be met:

• Choose the right storage location. The temperature should be above zero, but not exceed two degrees. Optimal air humidity is 85–90%. Some peaches can be placed in the refrigerator, the rest in the cellar or pantry.
• Each fruit must be wrapped in paper. For indoor storage, boxes with or without compartments are suitable. Lay out the peaches in two or three layers. It is advisable that there is a small distance between the fruits.
• It is necessary to place containers with peaches away from other fruits, since they can “help” each other to deteriorate faster.

If these conditions are met, peaches can be stored for a month. It is necessary to periodically check the fruits and remove those that begin to rot.

Other long-term storage methods for peaches

• Sweet, sour and sweet fruits are suitable for dry. In this form, peaches can be stored for more than one year. You can dry the fruits in the sun or using a fruit dryer. For this procedure, peaches are cut in half or into four slices and the pit is removed.
• Storage in sand. Slightly unripe fruits of late varieties should be selected. They should be firm and free from blemishes. For three or four days, the peaches are left in a dark room with good ventilation. During this time, the fruit will lose a significant part of its moisture.

  Then the fruits are wrapped in paper and placed in boxes in no more than four layers. The space between the peaches is generously covered with dry and clean river sand. The fruits do not spoil for two to three months.

• Freezing peaches. It is possible that this is the most optimal way to preserve fruit for a long period (up to a year) without losing all its beneficial properties. The fruits are frozen both whole and in slices. Fruits with pits should be placed in a container or bag and placed in the freezer.

  Peach slices are frozen with syrup. To prepare the latter, mix four cups of cold water with three cups of sugar. Three tablets of ascorbic acid are added to the mixture.

There are more than three hundred types of peaches, and they bear fruit from June to September. If during the spring frosts their heat-loving flowers were not damaged by frost, then peaches usually produce a bountiful harvest. The last days of peaches ripening are characterized by a rapid increase in fruit weight. Therefore, you need to be very careful and responsible when harvesting.

Basically, fruits begin to be picked when they change their basic color. For varieties with white flesh, the optimal moment to start harvesting is the period when the green color turns to creamy, for varieties with yellow flesh - to a yellowish color. Taking peaches off the tree too early is as big a mistake as harvesting them too late.

Early removal will cause the fruits to have a wrinkled appearance, and if the fruits are overripe, they will quickly rot.

If the fruits are consumed locally, they must be picked as fully ripe fruits.

If you plan to transport fruit, then you need to take into account its duration and delivery method.

If the harvested peach crop will be transported in refrigerated conditions, then the fruit must be removed 5 days before full ripening. Only hard fruits that are not yet very brightly colored are suitable for long-distance transportation.

Peaches do not all ripen at once, so harvesting occurs selectively in several stages. Peach fruits are very delicate and are easily damaged when pressed with a finger. Therefore, it is better to pick them with gloves and the whole hand. This will help avoid damage to the protective fleecy cover. First you need to turn the fruit, and then simply break it off from the ring with the “tail” and put it in a container.

Features of storing peaches

Where and how to store peaches at home? This question interests all lovers of these amazingly tasty fruits. Peaches cannot be stored for very long. They tend to quickly wither, lose moisture and rot. However, there are a number of certain conditions, subject to which the shelf life of fruits will be significantly extended:

Plastic bags are not suitable for storing peaches due to condensation and lack of air.

In such conditions, tender fruits will quickly deteriorate and begin to rot.

How to make peaches ripen faster at home?

Typically, the ripeness of a peach is determined by its color. But sometimes this opinion turns out to be erroneous, since the side of the fruit that has been in the sun for a longer time is the first to receive a more saturated red color.

The presence of small green or white spots may indicate that the fruit is not yet ripe. These fruits are quite hard to the touch, the skin is not elastic. However, even when picked, this fruit can acquire the degree of maturity it needs. If the peaches are still completely unripe, this is not a problem. The issue can be solved quite easily without resorting to particularly complex devices.

Peaches should only ripen at room temperature. You should not put them in the refrigerator, as they will not be able to ripen there, but will quickly spoil.

Method number 1 - use a paper bag

In order to quickly ripen peaches, you should use a bag of brown wrapping paper. Plastic bags are not suitable for this, as fruits spoil too quickly in them.

The fruits must be placed in a bag. You can also place a banana or an apple there. They will speed up the ripening process of peaches. Next, the peaches are placed in a dry, dark place at a temperature of 22-24 degrees Celsius for a day.

If after this time the fruits have acquired a pleasant aroma and become softer, it means they can be eaten. Otherwise, they must be placed back in the bag for another day. This must be repeated until the fruits are ripe. They should then be stored in the refrigerator.

Method number 2 - use linen fabric

You need to lay out a clean linen napkin or towel (you can use a cotton one) on the kitchen countertop. Peaches are placed with the cuttings tightly downwards, maintaining the same distance between the fruits.

The fruits should not touch each other, otherwise they will quickly deteriorate. Then the fruit should be covered with another linen napkin on top. They must be completely covered so that there is no influx of fresh air anywhere.

The peaches will be ready in a few days. If after 2-3 days they are not ready, repeat the procedure again. Fruits prepared in this way will be especially aromatic and soft to the touch.

Many fruits, such as peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots, do not keep well. To preserve their marketable appearance, these fruits are often picked unripe. Thus, they last longer, but do not have maximum taste properties. As part of this current topic for gardeners, it is useful to know whether peaches ripen at home.

Determining the ripeness of peach fruits

Both gardeners and buyers face the problem of fruit ripening after picking from trees. Within this topic, you need to understand several basic aspects: signs of green and ripe peaches, methods of ripening.

General properties of the peach fruit:

1. The shape is round, sometimes slightly elongated, with a groove on one side.
2. Size - medium.
3. The peel is velvety and silky. The color depends on the variety and type, most often bright yellow with a reddish tan.
4. The pulp is yellow, juicy.
5. The stone is large, with a wrinkled surface.

It is worth mentioning separately the properties of two varieties of peach. Nectarines have larger fruits with a smooth, glossy skin. The flattened (onion) peach is distinguished by the shape of the fruit, which is flattened at the poles. This variety is often called fig peach.

To determine ripeness, you also need to know all the varieties of peach fruits. There are four types depending on the degree of separation of the stone from the pulp and the characteristics of the peel:

1. Real peaches are velvety, with a slight pitting.
2. Pavias are velvety, with an inseparable stone.
3. Nectarines are smooth, with easy separation from the pulp.
4. Breunions are smooth, the stone does not separate.

Peaches also have a different pulp structure - it can be fibrous or cartilaginous.

Taking these features into account, it is worth understanding that difficult pitting or the hardness of the pulp does not always indicate the degree of ripeness of the fruit. For a competent assessment, you need to know the specific characteristics of the variety.

General signs of ripeness of peach and nectarine:

• pleasant aroma;
• softness;
• the peel acquires a rich red tan.

Properties by which green peaches can be easily identified:

1. Peel color. Unripe fruits have a green skin color. But you need to know that some hard red varieties acquire a rich yellow color with a red tan before the flesh ripens. In such cases, you need to pay attention to other signs.
2. Dimensional characteristics. The fruits reach standard size in the last two weeks of ripening. Knowing the peach variety by the average size of the fruit, you can determine its ripeness. This property serves as an indirect factor, since the size of the fruit is also influenced by other factors - the degree of load on the tree, growing conditions, climate characteristics during the harvest season, and the level of plant care.
3. Flesh hardness. Unripe fruits are usually tougher and harder. It is worth considering the characteristics of the variety. In hard varieties with gristly flesh, even ripe fruits are hard.
4. Sugar content. Fruits that are not ripe have a very different taste for the worse. It is more fresh, because sugar accumulates in the pulp in the last weeks and days of ripening. Due to the fact that there is little sugar, the taste of green fruits is often sour, because it is not interrupted by sweetness.
5. Green fruits do not have a persistent aroma. The fruit may have a plant-like aroma, but it does not have the specific aroma of a peach.

Possibilities of ripening peaches at home

Ripe fruits deteriorate quite quickly and lose their presentation. For this reason, the fruits are often picked from trees when they are green. This is not a big problem. Peaches picked from trees can be ripened at home without any problems if certain requirements are met. Often the fruits ripen during long transportation.

During the cultivation of fruit trees, people have developed many different methods that accelerate the ripening of fruits. Let's look at several effective methods that will help bring peaches to the desired condition.

The easiest way to ripen peaches is to keep them indoors. But this method is suitable when it takes time.

In the refrigerator, at a lower temperature, the ripening process slows down, but does not stop. The fruit will still be ripe. At the same time, the shelf life is extended. You should not place completely green fruits in the cold.

With a slow ripening process, the risk of rotting of green fruits increases. It must be remembered that ripe fruits in the refrigerator quickly wither and rot.

Gardeners do not recommend leaving green fruits on the windowsill, where direct sunlight penetrates. Such conditions contribute to fruit rotting. To help the fruits ripen faster, it is effective to use methods using paper bags or linen cloth.

Speeding up ripening with a paper bag

1. Brown paper packaging bags are great for ripening fruit. Dry and clean unripe peaches should be placed in a bag. It is recommended to add an apple or banana to them. These fruits produce ethylene, which speeds up the ripening process. Peaches themselves also release this substance, but an apple or banana produces it with greater intensity.
2. The package must be placed or hung in a dry place. The average temperature should be maintained at +24 °C.
3. The ripening time depends on the degree of ripeness of the fruit when placed in the bag, as well as on their quantity.
4. The degree of ripening should be checked every 24 hours.
5. If, according to external signs, the fruits are not ripe, they are left for another day.

Ripening Peaches Using Linen Cloth

1. To ripen the fruit, you will need a dry, clean place in a warm room. A countertop or window sill in the kitchen is perfect.
2. A linen cloth or cotton napkin is carefully and evenly laid on the surface.
3. Carefully place the peaches, one at a time, on a napkin or cloth. The cuttings should be directed downwards. The fruits should not touch each other.
4. The laid out peaches are covered with another napkin or cloth.
5. It is recommended to tuck or press the edges of the fabric and napkins with some objects. Such measures will limit the flow of fresh air to the fruit.
6. The ripening period will take from two to four days. The check should be carried out every 24 hours. This method allows you to get juicier and ripe peaches.

Once ripe, the peaches can be eaten immediately or placed in the refrigerator for storage. These methods work for ripening nectarines, apricots and plums.

When working with peaches, don't squeeze them too hard with your fingers. If there is a dent or mark on the peel, the fruit will be prone to rotting quickly. The fruits must be picked carefully and gently.

Peaches should not be left to ripen or be stored in open spaces (open balcony, veranda). The aroma of the fruit will attract the attention of insects and birds, which will quickly begin to spoil the fruit.

You can find recommendations for wrapping fruits in paper. This method can be used, but you should not use dirty paper for wrapping material, that is, paper on which something is printed or drawn. During the aging process, fruits will absorb harmful chemical elements from the paint.

It is worth remembering that the fruit has taste and juiciness when it is picked from the tree at the optimal ripening period. Any green fruit, even if it is brought to the desired stage in the future, does not acquire its full taste and aroma properties.

Gardeners who have peaches growing on their property are advised to harvest the ripe crop. Green fruits are removed to prolong storage or for commercial purposes.

The safety of the crop is influenced by the correct harvesting of fruits from the tree. It is worth considering the following recommendations for picking peaches:

• you need to pick the fruits carefully, without strong pressure or sudden jerks;
• picked fruits should not be thrown on the ground;
• the fruits are carefully placed on a special surface covered with clean material;
• you can put peaches in a basket or other convenient container;
• if the fruit has damage to the peel or pulp, it is set aside;
• After harvesting, the fruits are sorted, eliminating all damaged samples.

Options for long-term storage of peaches

At home, at a temperature of +18-22 °C, ripe peaches retain their properties for 2-3 days.

Factors affecting the shelf life of peaches:

1. Variety and type of fruit.
2. Degree of light access. It is better to leave food in a dark place.
3. Humidity. The storage area must be dry.
4. Temperature.

The best place to store peaches is a dark, dry, cool place. Fruits must be placed in special containers - baskets or boxes. Each fruit can be wrapped in paper, but it must be clean, without printed text or images.

Some sources call the refrigerator the optimal storage location. This statement is controversial, because some forums indicate the negative impact of storing ripe peaches in the refrigerator. In such conditions, the fruits begin to lose their quality after a week.

Unripe peaches, regardless of storage time, lose their taste and usefulness, so it is better to use them for processing: make jam or preserves, prepare a drink or juice, use them as a filling for baked goods.

Previously, peaches were considered exotic, but now they have become available to everyone. This sweet fruit has a lot of vitamins and minerals and is very beneficial for the body. It is not always possible to buy ripe, ready-to-eat fruit, so many are interested in whether peaches ripen at home.

Storing unripe fruits

Semi-ripe peaches may ripen after they have been picked. Because of this, green fruits are chosen for transportation.

It is worth remembering that the taste of such fruits will be slightly inferior to those that have ripened on their own. This happens because the picked fruit stops producing sugar.

To ripen peaches at home, they must be placed in a dry paper bag and left in the room. You should not put them in the refrigerator because they may spoil there.

To make unripe peaches suitable for consumption faster, they need to be stored next to other fruits. The best neighbors for them are bananas, pears, apples and nectarines.

Bananas are one of the best storage companions for unripe peaches.

In order for peaches to ripen and not spoil, it is important to follow some rules.

1. When storing large quantities of fruit, you should not stack them on top of each other. This way they will be stored much less.
2. It is better to keep peaches in special boxes with separate cells for each fruit. It is important that the fruits do not touch. This way the ripening will be faster.
3. If there are a lot of peaches, you can store them in boxes, sprinkled with sand or wrapped in paper. This way the fruit will ripen faster and stay fresh longer.

Shelf life of peaches

These fruits stay fresh for several days even when stored at room temperature. It is important that they are kept in a cool place protected from the sun. If the fruits are damaged or there is rot on them, you need to throw them away, otherwise whole peaches that are nearby will also begin to spoil.

It is better that they are stored at a temperature of 0 to +5 °C. This mode is provided in special sections of the refrigerator. The higher the temperature rises, the faster the fruits spoil. At 0 °C they will remain fresh for 2-3 weeks.

These fruits can remain fresh for longer than three weeks if they are stored in special warehouses. Therefore, immediately after purchase, it is important to determine the degree of freshness of the fruit and take the necessary measures for their storage.

Cut unripe peaches can only be stored in the refrigerator. If they are stored at room temperature, then after a few hours they will begin to lose their taste and rot. To extend their shelf life by several days, put them in a container and close it tightly with a lid.

Rules for choosing peaches

It is important to know how to choose the right peaches. Then they won't be overripe or green.

It is worth paying attention to the details if the fruit is unripe:

• no damage or dents on the skin;
• nice smell;
• slight blush;
• When you press the fruit with your finger, the pulp should be pressed out a little; you should not choose fruits that are too hard and hard.

When choosing peaches, you should pay attention to the condition of the skin - it should be intact.

You need to be careful if the bone falls apart. This suggests that the fruit was treated with chemicals several times. Also, don’t give up irregularly shaped peaches. If they have no damage or signs of rot, they can be eaten.

To keep peaches longer, they need to be placed in the refrigerator in a special fruit compartment. In this case, they will remain fresh for several days.

Ways to keep peaches fresh

Few people know, but these juicy fruits are suitable for drying. It is necessary to wash them well, remove the pit and cut them in any convenient way. Then put it on a baking sheet and put it in the oven over low heat, and then bring it to readiness. In this form, they are stored for up to a year and retain most of their beneficial properties.

There is also a known method for storing peaches in sand. To do this, choose unripe fruits; it is better to take representatives of late varieties. It is important that they are dense and without flaws. First, they are left in the basement for several days, during which time they will lose some of their moisture.

Then each fruit is wrapped in paper, placed in a box and the space between the fruits is filled with sand. With this storage method, they will remain fresh for at least 1-2 months and will be able to ripen.

The most convenient way to preserve peaches and their beneficial properties is to freeze them. The fruit can be frozen whole or cut, and it can also be candied. Peaches are placed in containers, tightly closed and sent to the freezer. In this form, their taste will remain well for up to a year. But you should not refreeze these fruits.

Conclusion

It is not always possible to choose good ripe fruit in the store. But peaches ripen well even at home. It is enough to leave them for several days in a room at room temperature. The fruits ripen quickly without losing their beneficial properties.

There are many ways to keep this fruit fresh for a long time. A large number of fruits can be stored in boxes by wrapping each fruit in paper. This way they will reach maturity and retain all the vitamins. But you should not put green peaches in the refrigerator to ripen them, as they will quickly spoil there.

Breeders have developed many peach varieties that have different ripening times. When choosing a seedling, consider this parameter. If you don’t know what type of peach grows in your area, pick the fruits only when they begin to change color.

Ripe peaches give off a distinct aroma

Fruiting time for peaches

Depending on the region, you need to choose a variety suitable for planting, then there will be no problems with harvesting and caring for the tree. You can always check the gardener's reference book and determine the exact time to pick peaches.

When peaches ripen, it all depends on the early maturity of the species. If you want to harvest in July, plant an early variety on your plot; if it is preferable to do this in August or September, plant a middle and late variety.

Early

This variety of varieties includes peaches: Kiev Early, White Swan, Grisboro and Redhaven, Morettini.

The peculiarity of early ripening fruits is that they vegetate faster and enter the fruiting stage. Even seedlings at the age of 2 years produce a small but good harvest. Peak fruiting occurs in the 5th year after planting in open ground.

Advantages of early varieties:

• have a wide, naturally well-formed crown, no more than 5 m high;
• the fruiting phase begins quickly;
• You can harvest the tree from July to August;
• The fruits are tasty and aromatic and have excellent characteristics.

Almost all early varieties of peaches tolerate transportation well, with the only exception being the Morettini peach.

Middle term

This variety includes plants: Collins, Cardinal, Golden Moscow, Sibiryak, Saturn, Kremlevsky, Donskoy, Crimean.

Mid-ripening peaches are resistant to various diseases, winter-hardy, and do not require special care.

They bear fruit later than the early varieties - fruiting is active from August to September, and they tolerate transportation well.

Late

Ideal for cultivation in the southern regions, they have excellent taste and stable yield. Late varieties include Frost, Veteran and Fury peaches.

Abundant fruiting begins only 5 years after planting in open ground, but such a wait pays off with interest. The tree can be harvested in early September and until the end of the month. The ripeness of this variety is determined by the change in color of the fruit to bright with blush.

Peach variety Fury

When to pick peaches from the tree

Experts say that the most delicious peaches and their varieties are nectarines and the Crimean variety. Their collection begins from July to August.

Peaches do not all ripen at once, so harvesting occurs selectively, in several approaches.

Early harvesting of fruits is no less destructive than picking overripe peaches. In the first case, they will wrinkle and take on an ugly appearance, in the second, they will quickly rot.

If this fruit crop grows on your site, then you have definitely wondered when to pick peaches correctly. The question here is ambiguous, it all depends on the characteristics of the variety. Some breeders claim that fruits can be picked when a color change occurs and a delicate aroma appears, others refer to the age of the tree and the region. But there are also general characteristics of ripe fruits, based on which you can harvest:

• strong aroma and bright color, a peach filled with color is almost always ripe, but there are varieties for which this is not an indicator;
• if the peach is easily separated from the stalk and there is a bright side, it’s time to pick, but there is an exception to this rule - there are varieties where the peach is not securely attached to the stalk even before it is fully ripe;
• when pressing on the pulp, it is slightly dented, the skin returns to its place - the fruit is elastic, but not hard.

When deciding on the ripeness of peaches, compare all the general characteristics and individual characteristics of the variety at once. This way you will avoid early harvesting and rotting of the crop, which is destructive for the fruits.

Peaches must be picked by hand and carefully placed in boxes.

What to do to make peaches ripen faster

If you picked the fruits early and they turned out to be unripe, use popular advice. They will help the peaches ripen and instead of disappointment you will get pleasure.

Paper bag

Craft paper is an ideal option for green peaches to ripen correctly. You cannot use plastic bags - ethylene from the fruit in them will lead to rapid rotting. But paper breathes and absorbs unnecessary moisture.

Place the peaches in a craft bag along with the record holders for ethylene production - a banana or an apple - this way they will ripen much faster. Place in a dark place for 24 hours. After this time, check if the fruits have a pleasant aroma and are noticeably pink - you can eat.

Repeat the procedure several times until the peaches are completely ripened. The method is also suitable for nectarines, apples, plums and kiwis.

Important: you should not crush the sides even of green fruits - in this place the pulp ripens faster and begins to rot.

Linen fabric

Spread the napkin on a flat surface and arrange the fruit with the places where the stalk is attached, facing down. Each fruit should not touch the other, but do not put too much distance between them. Cover the fruit with the other end of the fabric, you need to tuck it in on all sides so as to stop the flow of air.

Fruits do not ripen as quickly in a linen napkin as in a paper bag - the process will take several days. After they become soft and fragrant, they can be eaten.

Ripening peaches using a linen napkin

Conclusion

The ripening time of peaches depends on the variety. There are general recommendations that allow you not to make a mistake with the moment of withdrawal, but they are not universal. Additionally, you need to include horticultural reference materials with a description of the variety and characteristics of ripe fruits. If you still harvested early, you can use a special method to make the fruits become fragrant and ready to eat.