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

Besides what a lot of people already said (picking early, losing a lot in the process, iceboxes, greenhouses, etc.), many of those fruits were transplanted to places with tropical weather that are closer to Europe than the colonies, for example, the Canary Islands – they still grow A LOT of bananas to this day