A kitchen-hack influencer has shared how to keep your sliced fruit fresh once it has been peeled.
The scoop
It takes a matter of days before your juicy peach slices start to go brown, even when you keep them in the fridge.
But in a popular Instagram video, Nicole Jacques (@itsnicolejacques) shows her 479,000 followers how to put off the browning process with a surprising preservative — a glass of club soda.
Jacques places her peach slices in a ceramic dish, then pours club soda over the fruit so that each slice is completely covered.
She then leaves the peaches to soak before draining the club soda away. The coated peach slices can be refrigerated in a plastic food storage container with a tight-fitting lid, without browning, for up to a week.
Nothing can replace refrigeration for preserving food, Jacques is careful to emphasize, but a little club soda can go a long way to give your chilled fruit some extra shelf life.
"Club soda can help keep the sliced peaches fresher and more visually appealing for a longer period," Jacques explained in a caption.
How it's helping
Peeled fruits like peaches, pears, and apples are especially vulnerable to spoiling. Once their inner flesh is exposed to the air, oxygen, and bacteria will start to break it down, which creates that yucky brown coloring and texture.
But Jacques' clever hack makes use of carbon dioxide, the ingredient that gives club soda its fizz.
The presence of dissolved carbon dioxide gas makes club soda slightly acidic, which creates a low pH environment that slows down the growth of bacteria. This means that mold is slower to develop.
The carbon dioxide also forms a protective layer that slows down oxidation, which is what makes the fruit's flesh turn brown.
Jacques' video focuses on sliced peaches, but this tactic can also be used to preserve similar fleshy fruits like apples, pears, and plums.
What everyone's saying
Instagram users have been quick to commend Jacques for her simple but effective hack.
"Mind blown," wrote one.
"Thanks for the info. I just had three peaches that I had to pitch and I wanted to cry. Next time I'll pull out the club soda," another commented.
"This post makes me happy that I invested in my own carbon dioxide tank from my local craft beer shop," added another.
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