Quirk Heaven takes pride in managing to not throw away food. Throwing fruit and vegetables away as they become inedible is a waste that can be prevented by better planning, more home-cooked meals and more trust in yourself than in what’s written on the label. After all, we’re talking about expiration dates accompanying fresh fruit and vegetables, why is that even necessary? You own already the best tools to assess whether a produce is still good or not: your eyes and nose. Unfortunately we now live in an era when  salt and sugar in the supermarket come with an expiration date label.

To better understand how today’s quirk works let’s look into what’s happening with the fresh fruit and vegetables. Ethylene gas is given off naturally by fruits and vegetables as a signaling mechanism in order to coordinate uniform ripening. However, once concentrated in refrigerator or other storage areas, the presence of ethylene gas continues to speed up ripening and hasten spoilage. The ethylene gas molecule is very reactive and is readily oxidized into a state harmless to fruits and vegetables. A simple and safe method of neutralizing ethylene is to “oxidize” it with sodium permanganate. Oxidation refers to a method of changing a molecule to something else. Sodium permanganate (NaMnO₄) is a safe, inert compound used in a number of familiar applications such as in drinking water treatment systems, and when combined with ethylene gas it reacts and changes into a harmless manganese oxide (a sort of “rust”) and carbon dioxide.

The Bluapple® is designed to provide effective ethylene gas absorption for three months in a typical home refrigerator produce bin or storage container. The active ingredient does not “wear out”, but continues to absorb ethylene until it has reached its capacity. To check whether the active ingredient is still effective, simply open carefully the sacket and look at the granules: if the grain looks purplish even after being smashed (watch out, the permanganate stains), then Bluapple is still doing it’s job. If the grain is brownish, then it’s time to replace it. When one pack is used up, don’t throw it away but sprinkle it in your garden or in flower pots because it’s an excellent natural fertilizer. Here’s a detailed guide on how to best store fresh fruit and vegetables.

Bluapple in bulletpoints:

• 82% satisfied customers
• extends fresh life of fruit and vegetables up to 3 times
• one pack lasts around 3 months
• saves money, reduces waste, is completely ecological
• best used in closed environments: in the refrigerator crisp drawer, in closed bags, but also in open spaces like the fruit bowl and dry storage area (keep in mind: open spaces wear out the package faster)
• one combo set of 2 refillable holders and 2 sacks of active ingredient cost about €7,5; one year refill kit is €12
• some buyers successfully replaced the Blueapple plastic holders with metal tea infusers; actually anything that closes up and has holes to let the sacket “breathe” is suitable

Quirk Heaven’s opinion: this is exactly the kind of product we open the gate for, its utility expands beyond the obvious by replacing the need of adding food preservatives or buying fresh fruit and vegetables chemically enhanced to last longer.