Soak damp cloth with vinegar With this tip, leaf salad stays fresh longer

In a damp cloth with vinegar, lettuce stays fresh and crisp longer
Over half of Germans eat salad several times a week. The green leaves are not only delicious, but also healthy. However, leaf salad is often discarded because it is no longer crispy. Experts explain how to keep it fresh longer.

How lettuce stays fresh longer
Leaf salad is not only delicious, but also very healthy. In the green leaves include, among other vitamin C, minerals such as iron and various healthy phytochemicals. In addition, salad is low in calories. Some even refer to him as a "domestic superfood": Salads are popular with the German citizens. Nearly 60 percent of Germans eat it three to five times a week. However, salad only tastes good if it is crisp and fresh. The green leaves often end up in the garbage when they have become limp. The initiative "Too good for the barrel!" Of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) explains a trick how salad stays fresh longer.

With some simple tricks, the salad stays fresh longer. (Image: Daniel Berkmann / fotolia.com)

In a damp cloth with vinegar or lemon juice
As the experts explain, the vegetables do not dry out so quickly if you put them in a damp cloth. So leaf salad can be picked up for a few days. This works even better when the damp cloth is drizzled with a little vinegar or lemon juice. Another option is to place the sheets in foil bags with small holes or plastic boxes in the refrigerator. If the lettuce leaves have already been washed, they will not last as well. In this case you put them still wet in a plastic box. In this way, they usually stay in the fridge for a few more days.

How to avoid food waste
Like almost all vegetables, leafy lettuce should be packed in the vegetable compartment in the fridge. Withered leaves should be removed beforehand. A storage should be avoided in addition to vegetables and fruits that produce much ripeness. These include apples, pears, apricots, bananas, avocados and tomatoes. Salads react to the maturing gas ethylene with yellowing, brown rust spots and withered leaves, the experts said. "Too good for the barrel!" Shows how food waste can be reduced. According to the initiative, we throw away every eighth food we buy. That's around 82 kilograms of food waste per person per year. About two-thirds of this could be avoided. (Ad)