The short answer
Bread, potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, unripe fruit, bananas, honey and olive oil. All of them are damaged by cold in one way or another.
- Potatoes: cold converts their starch to sugar, which affects taste and browning. Somewhere dark, cool and airy.
- Tomatoes: the cold destroys the aroma compounds and the texture goes mealy.
- Onions and garlic: they go soft and mouldy in humidity. Dry and dark, and not next to the potatoes, which make each other spoil faster.
- Bananas: the skin blackens and the ripening stops.
- Honey: it crystallises solid.
- Olive oil: it clouds and solidifies.
What will ruin it
Once a tomato or a banana has been in the fridge, the damage is done. Taking it out again does not reverse it.
Why it works
Chilling injury is a real and specific thing in plants that evolved in warm climates. Cell membranes are damaged below a certain temperature and the enzymes that make flavour stop working.
Tipking is general household information, not professional advice. Test anything on a hidden patch first. Full disclaimer.
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