Properly stored, apples will usually keep well for 1 to 2 months in the fridge. The shelf life of apples can be extended to 6 months or more if the apples are stored in an area where the temperature is between 30°F and 40°F with high humidity (difficult to find in most households).

Although not a perfect test, your senses are usually the most reliable instruments to tell if your apples have gone bad beyond the shelf life. Some common traits of bad apples are a grainy, soft interior and wrinkled skin along with discoloration and bruising. Avoid any apples with mold on the bottom.

To keep apples “fresh” for an average of 12 months, they are spraying them with 1-MCP and antibiotic fungicides before waxing. And the new cold storage is controlled atmosphere storage where they manipulate the levels of CO2 and O2 in the air to help stall the apples’ production of ethylene.

Apples keep longest when held at 31-36 degrees Fahrenheit. So, you want to keep them in the coolest part of the refrigerator. Most home refrigerators don’t get that cold because the rest of your food would freeze, but the colder the better.

It is caused by Alternaria and other species of fungi, which enter the fruit and grow in the seed cavity. Dry, spongy brown lesions extend from the core, but rotting symptoms do not develop. The mite Tarsonemus confusus can carry the fungal spores into the fruit through the calyx. The spores germinate during rain.

Here’s the short version: The best way to prevent browning is to soak the cut fruit in a saltwater solution (half a teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of water) for 10 minutes, then drain and store until ready to use. The mild salt flavor can be rinsed off with tap water before serving.

The longer the enzyme is exposed, the browner each slice will become. Lemon juice contains citric acid, which is a natural anti-oxidant. Therefore, when you apply lemon juice to apple slices, it helps to prevent the oxidation process. This simple step should keep your apples from browning for several hours.