How did fruit transported from colonies to the capitals during the colonial era stay fresh enough during shipping trips lasting months at sea?

Question

You often hear in history how fruits such as pineapples and bananas (seen as an exotic foreign produce in places such as Britain) were transported back to the country for people, often wealthy or influential, to try. How did such fruits last the months long voyages from colonies back to the empire’s capital without modern day refrigeration/freezing?

In: 7801

Answer 1

Bananas for example don’t require refrigeration or freezing and those deteriorate the fruit. The trick is picking them way before they are ripe and then you have quite a bit of time to transport them. Grocery store fruit and vegetables are still managed this way. Which is why garden/local grown are quite a bit better tasting. There are also quite a bit of varieties that don’t travel well but taste better that you would never find in a grocery store.

Bananas taste much better ripened off a banana tree. You can often find green bananas in a grocery store which again were picked quite a bit before ripening.

Edit for grammar 🙁