Storing Fresh Herbs
Many herbs are young, delicate stems and
leaves, and so more fragile than other
produce. Because their stems have been cut,
they’re likely to be producing the wound
hormone ethylene, which in a closed container
will accumulate and trigger general
deterioration. Most are best stored in the
refrigerator in partly open plastic bags,
loosely wrapped in cloth or paper that will
absorb moisture and prevent microbes from
growing rapidly on wet leaves. Because they
come from warm climates, basil and perilla
suffer chilling injury in the refrigerator and so
are best kept at room temperature, with
freshly cut stems immersed in water.
The flavor of many herbs is well preserved
by freezing, though the tissues suffer damage
from ice crystals and become unattractively
dark and limp when thawed. Immersion in oil,
which protects the tissue from oxygen, also
works for a few weeks, after which much of