How to store tangerines at home: description, recommendations and reviews. Temperature and conditions for storing tangerines at home

How to buy good citrus fruits

Buy a quality product without any errors.
The ripeness of a tangerine can be determined by its skin. If they clean well, the fruits are ripe. They will be very tasty, but they will not last long. For some future holiday, buy greenish fruits.

Pores should be visible on tangerines. Then you will be sure that they are from Abkhazia or Morocco. They have an incomparable taste and porous peel.

Try not to buy ones that are too smooth. Wax was used to process them. In order for them to last longer.

Be sure to wash all tangerines.

Varieties of tangerines for long-term storage

In order for tangerines to survive as long as possible, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for them. But not only air temperature, humidity, exposure to direct sunlight, and other factors affect the condition of citrus fruits. There are varieties that, even under properly created conditions, cannot be stored for long.

Once they reach maturity, if picked green, they will begin to spoil quickly.

Some fruits may begin to rot while still unripe. For this reason, so that tangerines do not begin to deteriorate a few days after purchase, you should know which variety is most suitable for long-term storage.

Tangerines can also be grown at home. In most cases, such fruits are stored on the bush, i.e. fruits are picked as needed.

The tangerines that have the longest shelf life include Moroccan and Abkhazian varieties. Citrus fruits grown in Turkey and Spain spoil faster. But store shelves do not always indicate the type of fruit or the country from which they were brought.

Moroccan and citrus fruits brought from Georgia have yellow or light yellow zest. Their skin is porous and matte. These tangerines have a distinct sweet taste. Turkish varieties have a glossy skin, while Spanish varieties can be identified by their large size.

Hybrid varieties such as clementines store well. The fruit was developed by crossing a king orange and a mandarin orange. They are often recommended to be purchased not only because you can buy citrus in stock and not worry about how they will start to rot. Such tangerines do not require additional treatment with special preparations that extend their shelf life. For this reason, they are considered the most beneficial and safe for health.

Benefits of tangerine peel

After you have peeled the tangerines, do not rush to throw away the zest. It has a wide range of applications.

Citrus peel can be dried, ground in a blender and added to tea, drinks, desserts, and baked goods.
Pour vodka over the zest and leave for 2-3 weeks. Use tangerine tincture to flavor cupcakes, desserts, and dough.
Use as a moth repellent and aromatizer. To do this, dry the peel and place it on shelves in the closet.
Use instead of a cosmetic scrub, pour a small amount of ground zest with warm water.
Prepare candied fruits or add zest to jam.
Use as a spice when frying meat. This will add a piquant taste to the finished dish.

Providing yourself with supplies of tangerines is not such a difficult task. It is important to create the required temperature, humidity level, and choose the right fruits and storage containers. Compliance with all requirements will significantly extend the shelf life of orange fruits.

Video: health benefits and harms of tangerines

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Video: benefits of tangerines

MANDARINS BENEFITS | mandarin beneficial properties, what are the benefits of tangerines, benefits of mandarin,

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How to store tangerines at home

If you have a large number of tangerines or their varieties at home - tangerines and clementines - then in order to preserve their taste and beneficial properties as much as possible, take care of their proper storage:

Select ripe or unripe fruits, but only whole and healthy ones with tight-fitting skin. Tangerines that are too soft, have damage, dents or stains are best eaten immediately.
Where to store tangerines? Place the tangerines prepared for storage in a net, basket or perforated box so that they do not “suffocate”. Plastic bags are absolutely not suitable! Do not lay tangerines very tightly and in no more than 3 layers, otherwise the lower layers will wrinkle under the weight of the upper ones.
You can store tangerines at home on a glazed balcony or in the basement, where there are suitable conditions: temperature 4-6 ℃, humidity 80-90%, ventilation.
You can also store tangerines in the refrigerator in the fruit and vegetable compartment for 3-5 weeks.
From time to time, review your stock of tangerines and remove from it all fruits that show signs of spoilage.

Helpful tip: you can check the quality of the tangerine by lightly pressing the peel. Ripe and fresh citrus fruits will produce oily, aromatic juice.

Different varieties of tangerines differ from each other in shape, color, size and taste. If you like sweeter ones, then choose round, medium-sized, bright orange, heavy fruits - for example, those brought from Abkhazia. Tangerines, which are grown there on calcareous rocky soils in a subtropical - warm and humid - climate, contain up to 10.6% sugars. Large, flattened, thick-skinned fruits often have a sweet-sour or even sour taste.

Adviсe

If necessary, the shelf life of ripe tangerines can be extended. To do this, use the tips listed below.

When purchasing, give preference to fruits with a branch. Such citrus fruits are stored longer and have an attractive appearance throughout their entire life.
When storing fruit at home, rub the peel with vegetable oil or wax, dry it and place it in a prepared container. This will increase the shelf life by 1-2 weeks.
Once a week, go through your supplies and immediately remove fruits that show signs of spoilage.

Preserving supplies of tangerines at home is not a difficult task. The main thing is to maintain the required temperature and humidity, use the right containers and promptly remove fruits that have begun to deteriorate. If these conditions are met, you will be able to enjoy the taste of fresh and juicy citrus fruits for 1 to 2 months.

How to prepare fruits

To prepare the fruit, you need to select fruits of the same size to place in one batch and select rotten or damaged citrus.

Simple rules will help you preserve fruit at home for up to one month. For a longer period, it is recommended to place them in the cellar or freeze them.

Preparation for storage

Review all the fruits.
Wipe each with vegetable oil. To do this, use cotton wool.
If there is a defect on a tangerine, set it aside from healthy fruits. It will not last long and will spoil its neighbors.

Optimal conditions

Before purchasing fragrant fruits, you should take into account a few simple rules. All of them are presented below.

Choose only strong tangerines without any damage or stains.
If you are purchasing fruits for future use or for a festival that will not take place soon, give preference to unripe fruits.
Remember that if voids are felt under the skin, it means that the tangerines are ripe and cannot be stored for long.
When buying citrus fruits in winter, make sure that they are not frostbitten.
Ripe and juicy tangerines are much heavier than those that have been stored for a long time. Therefore, when choosing, be sure to pay attention to the weight of each fruit.

Conditions, factors and storage rules

The search for methods that allow you to preserve tangerines for a long period of time is due to the fact that sellers significantly increase their prices before the New Year itself. Most varieties, when properly stored, can remain in excellent shape for up to 3-5 months. Before providing conditions for long-term preservation of the freshness of citrus fruits, certain factors such as variety and peel color should be taken into account. After this, you can already select the temperature regime, humidity level and lighting in the room, as well as containers for storing them.

Varieties of tangerines

Their shelf life is affected not only by temperature conditions and location, but also by variety. Usually it is indicated on the tag when selling, but if it is not visible, then this can be easily done visually:

Abkhazian, Moroccan - the peel is porous, light orange or yellow. They are usually very sweet and can last longer than others;
Spanish - distinguished by their large size, lack of seeds and sweet taste. However, they can quickly deteriorate;
Turkish - have shiny, smooth, yellow skin. They have no seeds at all and have a slight sourness. But just like the Spanish ones, they begin to rot quite quickly;
Israeli - they have a very thin peel and a sweet taste.

Peel color

You can also determine the degree of ripeness of a tangerine by the shade of its skin:

green – unripe fruits, can be stored for 3-4 weeks at a temperature of 3-7 degrees;
yellow – fruits with this skin color can be stored for about 2 weeks at -2 to +2 degrees. Citrus fruits in this form are already quite ripe and juicy.

Important!
To check ripeness and freshness, you can press on the peel of the fruit; if juice splashes out of it, then you can safely buy it.

Humidity

It should be borne in mind that with severe dryness, citrus fruits will begin to dry out and lose their quality quite quickly, and with strong humidity, rot will begin to form. Therefore, the best level of moisture in the air when storing these fruits is 75-80%.

Temperature

At room temperature, fruits can retain their freshness for no more than 14 days. In order for tangerines to remain in good condition for a longer time, they should be stored at a temperature of +4 to +9 degrees. This way they can stay fresh for 1 month.

Illumination

It is not recommended to leave tangerines in a place where they will be exposed to sunlight. If there is no other place to leave them, then it is better not to close them so that there will be no air flow. It is better to cover with parchment or cloth. It is advisable to periodically inspect the fruit for spoilage. After all, if this is not done in time, they will be able to infect each other and will not be able to hold out until the New Year.

Storage containers

Before placing the fruits in the apartment, they must be placed in the correct container. Cardboard and wooden boxes are perfect for this. However, you should take care in advance about the holes on their bodies so that air flows well. When laying tangerines, do not make more than 3 layers. Otherwise they might all get crushed. You can use plain paper and wrap each fruit in it, and also put the fruits in an enamel bowl. It is not advisable to use plastic bags or wrap them in cling film, as they lead to rapid spoilage due to the accumulation of moisture in them.

Recipes for preserving tangerines for a long time

Now let’s move on to how to preserve the harvest not just for a couple of weeks, but for a year or more. I hasten to surprise you that such options for blanks also exist. I am sharing with you the recipes that I use most often.

Canned tangerines

Everyone is familiar with canning tomatoes and cucumbers. Have you tried closing exotic fruits for the winter? I think no. Then I'll tell you my favorite recipe.

Grocery list:

tangerines - 700 g;
filtered water - 350 ml;
sugar - 300 g;
lemon - 1 piece;
cinnamon - 2 sticks;
star anise - 2 pcs.

Cooking sequence:

Wash the fruits and peel them. Remove the white veins as well as possible - they interrupt the taste.
Wash the jars with soda solution. Pour boiling water over the spices (star anise and cinnamon).
Place tangerine slices and spices in prepared glass containers, add lemon juice.
Boil the water. Fill the jars up to the neck. Leave to steep under the lid for 15 minutes.
Then drain the liquid into the pan. Add sugar and boil for 2-3 minutes. Refill the citrus jars with syrup. Roll up the lid.

After cooling, you can put the workpiece in a cool, dark place. It can be stored for a year or more. Calorie content per 100 g - 205 Kcal.

For another recipe for canned tangerines, see the video below:

In addition to the topic about exotic fruits, see how to grow carambola at home. These tree fruits are also suitable for harvesting for the winter.

Citrus jam

I also like to make tangerines in the form of jam. In winter, this preparation can be used in different ways: spread on bread, drink tea as a snack, or make pies with it. There is no limit to imagination.

So, we will need:

tangerines - 10 medium pieces;
lemon - 1 pc.;
sugar - 2 tbsp;
ginger root (fresh) - 2 g.

Step by step recipe:

Wash and peel the citrus fruits. Also try to remove as much white streaks as possible. Remove the seeds if there are any. Otherwise the jam will taste bitter.
Wash and peel the ginger and lemon, cut into small slices.
Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour granulated sugar into it and run it in the blender again.
Place the resulting slurry in a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
Divide the jam into sterilized jars. Roll up the lid and store for storage after cooling.

Calorie content per 100 g - 230 Kcal. Shelf life: 12-16 months.

You can add other spices to the jam at your discretion.

Do you make citrus jam?

Not really

Tangerine jam in peel

Do you want to surprise your guests and relatives? Then prepare an unusual jam from whole tangerines in their peels. It looks quite interesting.

Grocery list:

tangerines - 600 g;
filtered water - 350 ml;
sugar - 0.5 kg;
lemon - 1 piece;
star anise - 3 pcs;
cinnamon stick;
clove buds - 6 pcs;
allspice peas - 3 pcs.

Sequencing:

Rinse the fruits well in water. Take the process seriously, as the peel will not be removed.
Pierce each specimen in several places with a wooden stick or needle. This is necessary so that the syrup penetrates inside.
Boil water with sugar and spices. Boil for 5 minutes.
Add tangerines and lemon cut into several large pieces to the syrup. Cook for 30-40 minutes.
Remove the lemons and discard them (they were for flavor). Using a slotted spoon, place tangerines in sterilized jars and pour in syrup.
Roll up and store.

The fragrant jam is ready. Calorie content per 100 g - 250 Kcal. Shelf life - up to a year.

Tangerine jam is best stored in small jars

FAQ

Natalia Papanova

Blog author

Ask your question

Now let's move on to frequently asked questions that arise from readers. I think the answers to them will help you preserve tangerines correctly.

How to preserve tangerines until the New Year?

You can preserve tangerines until winter either in the form of preparations (or in the cellar/on the balcony.

How to ripen unripe tangerines?

To ripen citrus fruits, place them in a sunny place at room temperature. In such conditions, the fruits will be ready for consumption in 1-2 days.

Where is the best place to store tangerines at home?

How to preserve tangerines - put them in the refrigerator. But they must be in a special compartment for vegetables. The microclimate of the household appliance is created in such a way that the most suitable conditions are maintained in these special boxes.

If the fruit will be used to prepare cakes, pies, desserts, compotes or other similar dishes, the shelf life of tangerines will help extend the freezer.

Before deep-freezing the fruits of a tropical plant, it is recommended to wash them, let them dry, and then peel them. Each fruit is divided into slices, placed in a bag or a special container and sent to the freezer.

You don’t have to peel the peel, but immediately after washing and drying, freeze the tangerines. But this method has a number of negative aspects. Fruits frozen with their skins may have a bitter taste. After defrosting, the peeling process may be difficult because... the fruit becomes soft.

Tangerines: is there any harm?

Despite their benefits, these fruits, like other citrus fruits, are strong allergens and can harm the body.
Therefore, they are recommended for nursing mothers in the first three to four months of lactation. Some pediatricians advise delaying the introduction of such a product until the baby is six months old. If a child is not prone to allergies, it is permissible to introduce tangerines into their diet as early as one year old. If there is such a problem, fruits should not be produced before three years.

Taste the fruit carefully and carefully observe the reaction of the small child.

In addition, tangerine should not be consumed if there is inflammation of the intestines, gastritis and ulcers, or high acidity of the stomach, since the fruit strongly irritates the mucous membranes. They put a heavy load on the kidneys, so they are not recommended for kidney diseases.

Due to their high sugar content, tangerines should be consumed with caution if you have diabetes or dental problems. To preserve tooth enamel, after eating fruits or related drinks, it is advisable to rinse your mouth or brush your teeth

It is better to drink tangerine juice through a straw.

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Storage locations

When thinking about how to store tangerines at home, it is worth considering that they require a certain atmosphere.

Prepared citrus fruits are stored in places where the average temperature is around six degrees Celsius and the air is not dry, but not very humid - up to 80%. At temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius, black dots begin to appear on the peel of tangerines.

Therefore, you need to decide where to store tangerines. Each room has its own nuances when storing citrus fruits. You can choose the place that suits you to conveniently store:

Fridge.
Glazed loggia or balcony.
Frost-free cellar.
In apartment conditions.

In a refrigerator

It is recommended to store tangerines in the refrigerator on a common shelf. It is more advisable to deep freeze peeled or processed fruits. A few rules:

Do not place fruits in plastic bags; if moisture gets in there, the citrus fruits will begin to spoil.
Store in a cardboard box with air holes.
Lay them out in one layer.
Do not place fruit next to other vegetables: this will speed up spoilage.

It would be ideal to have a separate shelf or drawer for tangerines. If one fruit has gone bad, check the preparation and select the rotten one.

At room temperature

At room temperature, the shelf life of tangerines is reduced by 4 times. In a room with a temperature of about 20℃, fruits are stored for a week.

In addition, there is a risk of damage from external factors. Therefore, this method is not recommended for long-term storage of fruits.

On the balcony

Only healthy fruits can be stored

You can store tangerines at home on a glassed-in balcony. In this case, you need to monitor:

Temperature. If the balcony is not insulated, the fruits will freeze.
Humidity. It can be increased or decreased. In the first case, the fruit will rot, in the second, it will dry out.
Cleanliness. Fungi multiply faster in a dirty environment.

The rules for laying citrus fruits are the same as in the previous methods.

In the cellar

The cellar is specially designed for long-term storage of fruits and vegetables. It must be equipped according to all the rules, then it is easy to prepare a large volume for the winter.

Features of storing tangerines in the cellar:

optimal temperature 2℃;
It is recommended to wrap them in tissue paper and place them in boxes on pallets;
Do not store citrus fruits and other fruits in the same box.

Under such conditions, citrus fruits will not spoil for 3-4 months. They are also coated with vegetable oil or wax and stored in plastic bags. Grapefruits, lemons, and apples are also prepared.

How to preserve tangerines until the New Year

In order for tangerines to last until the New Year, you should learn how to choose fruits correctly. When purchasing, you can give preference to those fruits that are sold on branches. The overpayment for the weight that will fall on the leaves and branches will be worth it. During storage, tangerines will be fueled by the substances that remain in the trunk. In addition to an increased shelf life, they will have an attractive appearance, so they will serve well as an addition to a New Year's gift.

If tangerines have been stored for a long time with insufficient moisture, you can feel how they have shrunk inside the peel. When you press on the fruit, the skin will bend, but may not reach the segments. These voids are an indication that the fruit should not be purchased. The weight of such fruits will be less than fresh ones with the same diameter.

You cannot buy goods that have been frozen. This product will not last more than 2-3 days. It will begin to deteriorate, and the rotting process will spread to nearby fruits. After thawing, their taste is also lost.

For long-term storage, only those fruits whose peel integrity is not damaged are suitable. It should also be free of other defects, such as traces of mold or rot. Such damage may be the result of the activity of the humpback fly. It not only damages the fruit, but can also cause an intestinal infection. Squashed fruits should also not be purchased. If you ignore this recommendation, you should not expect the citrus fruits to last until the holidays.

During storage of tangerines, they must be inspected regularly, 1-2 times a week. If traces of mold or rot begin to appear, the affected fruits must be removed. Otherwise, they will begin to infect neighboring ones, and the entire box will be lost.

Top articles: How to keep fresh tomatoes longer

Methods for storing citrus fruits without refrigeration

When the question arises of how to store tangerines at home, if it is not possible to put them in the refrigerator, you can consider other options.

In a private house, the basement is used for such purposes. The temperature in the cellar will depend on its depth. The deeper it is, the better the conditions for fruit. In the basement, tangerines can be placed in a cardboard box. Additionally, several holes should be made in it to ensure good ventilation.

If you have a lot of free space in your basement, you can wrap each fruit in tissue paper and place it on shelves, trays or other surfaces. It is not recommended that the fruits come into contact with each other or with other vegetables.

When there is no basement, you can try storing fruit on the balcony. They are placed in a paper box, in which holes are previously made. The top of the container must be covered to avoid direct sunlight. To do this, you can use a piece of fabric or paper. It is not recommended to use a thick lid, such as an iron lid.

A wooden box with gaps between the boards (for ventilation) is good for storage. You can lay shredded paper on its bottom, for example, after a shredder. If you don’t have such a device, you can cut or tear up old notebooks yourself.

When it is not possible to arrange the tangerines in one row, you can hang them in a mesh bag. But due to the fact that the fruit will be in contact, they will need to be inspected more often.

The duration of storage on the balcony will depend on the time of year. In autumn, when the temperature does not yet drop below 0°C, fruits can remain suitable for a long time. If the balcony is well insulated and heated, i.e. the temperature in winter does not reach minus, there is no need to be afraid that tropical fruits will freeze. In the warm season, the balcony is not considered a good place to store vegetables and fruits. If it is not glazed and does not have an additional cooling system, then the tangerines will quickly deteriorate.

Shelf life

When storing tangerine stocks for the winter, understanding how to properly store tangerines at home, you need to consider how long these tropical fruits can be stored. This is usually influenced by factors such as:

Mandarin variety.
Peel color shade.
Degree of maturity.

To prevent them from drying out and deteriorating, the following temperature regime is observed:

Color varieties Storage Temperature

Yellow	14 days	No more than 2 degrees Celsius
Green	From two weeks	From +2 to +6 degrees

Tangerines from Abkhazia, as well as Moroccan ones, have light yellow and darker shades of peel, porous quality and sweet juice, can be stored for a long number of months. The largest varieties are “Spanish” and Turkish, with smooth skin - much smaller.

Fruits of medium ripeness are stored for storage, this increases their shelf life, but unripe ones, oddly enough, are not stored for long at all. It is better to make jam from them or place them in conditions where the temperature is +3 degrees and humidity is 90%.

Tip: to store juicy and fragrant tangerines for a long time, you should use some tricks. For example, you can wipe the surface of a tangerine peel with vegetable oil, it will remain fresh.

The option of applying wax to the skin of tangerines is good for storing them, but it is somewhat worse for subsequent cleaning of the fruit, since the wax remains on the hands and is difficult to wash off. Tangerines that are sold with a sprig last longer.

On refrigerator shelves intended for storing vegetables, it is recommended to place tangerines in a net.

If you are interested in how long tangerines retain their beneficial qualities when properly stored, then, according to standards and statistics, an imported product is up to three months, and a domestic product is up to four.

Having gained experience in how to store tangerines at home, you can safely buy the sunny fruits of the tropics for future use. Favorite citruses will create a holiday on any day.

Storing unripe citrus fruits

It is not recommended to store unripe tangerines at home in an apartment.

They need different temperature conditions:

If the green area occupies less than half of the fruit, it requires 2 to 3℃ and 80% humidity.
If the fruit is not more than half ripe, it is kept in a place with a temperature of 4℃ or 8℃ and a humidity of 90%.

During storage, the fruits do not ripen. In order for them to ripen, they are transferred to a warm place.

Is it possible to save citrus fruits until the New Year?

If you plan to buy fruit in advance for the holiday, then it is important to first think about how to preserve tangerines until the New Year at home. After all, their approximate shelf life is only 10-14 days.

However, if you choose the right place to store them and when purchasing, give preference to the best fruits, you can extend their lifespan.

There are several methods on how to preserve any tangerines for the longest time:

It is better to give preference to fruits on a branch. They are less common, but if you are lucky enough to find one, they can even last at home for up to a month, if stored correctly.
You need to select fruits on the counter that are free from stains, dents and scratches. If the seller himself puts them in the package, you should definitely check if there are any spoiled ones.

If among those purchased there are fruits with signs of rotting, you need to remove them from the rest. Otherwise, others will also begin to deteriorate.
Since tangerines ripen well at home and do not spoil longer, it is better to choose fruits with a greenish crust.
To keep the appearance attractive for a long time, you can rub the skin with vegetable oil.

Attention! The Internet often advises to rub citrus fruits with wax. This way they are well preserved, but cleaning them later is inconvenient, since the wax sticks to your hands and is difficult to remove.