Lettuce is the perfect crispy addition to your sandwiches or salads, but it can be incredibly frustrating when it begins spoiling only after a few days.
If your leafy greens are going brown, slimy or soggy before their time then it may be because you are storing them wrong.
Lettuce is a delicate vegetable with a high water content and will begin to spoil quickly due to loss of moisture when exposed to very cold temperatures.
They also may begin to spoil when exposed to certain fruits and vegetables which produce ethylene gas, a growth hormone that can speed up the ripening process.
If you are storing lettuce near your tomatoes this may be causing both the tomatoes and lettuce to deteriorate before their time, and there is a much more effective way to keep both of these veggies fresher for longer.
READ MORE: Best place to store tomatoes to keep them fresh – stop them rotting or moulding
Stop Food Waste, an environmental organisation, has recommended wrapping lettuce in a dry towel, cloth or paper if you do not want to use foil.
They wrote: “Roll the head of lettuce in a dry towel (cloth or paper), which will absorb extra moisture over time, then store in a sealed bag or container in the refrigerator.”
The organisation also recommended never washing your lettuce ahead of time, and only washing leafy greens when you are about to eat them. They said: “Do not wash lettuce leaves until they are ready to be eaten.”
This can cause lettuce and other vegetables to become more vulnerable to bacteria growth and also leave them more likely to go soggy or even mouldy.
However, if you have a head of wilting lettuce that you are considering throwing away, then you can bring it back to life by soaking it in cold water for 30 minutes.
This should help revive the leafy green for you to use up that day, helping you save money on your food shopping in the long run.
