It can be frustrating to reach for an apple and realize that while it was once fresh and crisp, it's now wrinkled, weathered and soft. How can grocery stores appear to keep fruits and vegetables looking their best, yet their lifespan starts to tick away once we put it into our grocery cart?

It sometimes becomes difficult to justify spending a small fortune when it doesn't seem to last long enough in our kitchen. There are some tricks worth knowing when it comes to choosing which fresh fruit and vegetables to buy and where to store them.

You want to think twice before you load all your fruits and vegetables together in the crisper in your refrigerator. Where you keep the fruits and vegetables can have a big impact on whether or not they will stay firm to the touch or turn soft and wrinkled.

The general rule-of-thumb is to keep fruit at room temperature if you need to ripen it, but put it in the refrigerator if you need to slow down the ripening process.

For the juiciest taste and flavour though, it is usually best to let the fruit sit at room temperature for a few hours before eating it. The longer it sits out, the softer and juicier it becomes.

Some fruits are particular, though. If the peaches are ripe, then they can be stored in the refrigerator to slow down the ripening process, but you don't want to put firm peaches in the refrigerator. It will cause the flesh to go soft and mushy.

Apples are known to soften 10 times faster if they are kept at room temperature so it is wise to refrigerate them. Bananas don't like the cold and need to be kept at room temperature. Kiwis also ripen best at room temperature, and you can really speed up this process if you put them in a paper bag with a banana or apple. To slow down the ripening process, store the kiwi in the fridge and they should last several weeks.

Berries and grapes do best in the refrigerator in shallow containers which let the air circulate around them. But it is wise not to wash these until you are ready to eat them since mould can spread quickly when they are damp.

You also want to be careful where you keep your onions. Onions give off a gas that can make the hardest potato turn soft and sprout. So although they both prefer a dark and cool spot, you want to make sure they kept far enough apart. Garlic, ginger root, shallots and tomatoes also like to be kept cool and dry. Refrigerating tomatoes can often make them lose their flavour and texture.

Although mushrooms are often sold in plastic containers, they can last much longer in our refrigerators if they can breathe in a paper bag. Corn also should be able to breathe; it shouldn't be stored in plastic bags.

Unlike most fruits, avocados don't ripen on the tree. They must be picked before the ripening can begin.

It can be tricky buying avocados, since they often appear too hard or are too overripe. If you have to buy unripe avocados, you can speed up the ripening process by putting them in a paper bag with a ripe apple or banana.

Probably one of the best tips for buying produce is to always buy in season. The closer you are to the natural growing season, the fresher your produce will taste and the better it normally will store.

Although we can purchase almost any fruit or vegetable 12 months of the year with our global markets, it is wise to stick to the seasonal approach. Buying frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes save a lot of wastage since we can simply take out what we want, when we need it.