Salt water beats lemon juice for keeping fruit fresh

A quick soak in lightly salted water keeps cut fruit from browning for hours, and it won’t make it taste salty if you rinse it.

Lemon juice works, but it leaves a sour tang and fades faster. Salt water does the same job better because salt interferes with the enzyme that causes browning. Use about half a teaspoon of salt in two cups of water, soak the fruit slices for two minutes, then rinse lightly and pat dry.

For a whole morning in a lunch box, that’s enough. Apple slices, pears, peaches, even avocado will hold their color for five or six hours. Keep them in a sealed container so they don’t dry out.

If you don’t like the idea of salt, a honey-water soak (two tablespoons honey to one cup water) works nearly as well. But for a plain, no-flavor fix, salt water is the trick.

Future you won’t have to pick brown fruit out of the lunch box.