Summer is peak season for most domestically grown fruit. It doesn't have to travel as far, so it can mature longer on the tree before being picked and take less time to ripen at home. Fruit tastes sweeter, too, when it ripens on the tree. (There are exceptions: Pears and bananas ripen better off the tree). Not all fruit ripens after harvest. It may become softer, juicier, or less acidic, but its starches stop converting into sugar after it has been picked, so it's important to select good quality at the store. Fruits that don't ripen further at home include berries, citrus fruit, grapes, and pineapples. They must be refrigerated or they will rot.

Of the fruits that do ripen at home, some reach their peak faster than others, provided they were picked after what growers call the "mature green" phase. Common ones include: bananas, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, and kiwi. These fruits naturally emit ethylene gas, which accelerates the ripening process. Placing fruit in a paper bag and closing the top helps concentrate this gas, causing fruit to ripen faster. Bananas are particularly prolific ethylene producers, so if you enclose one in the bag with other ripening fruits, it will accelerate the process even more. Check them regularly, though, to catch them before they rot. After ripening, most fruits like it cold and humid. But they also need to breathe, so don't store them in a closed plastic bag. Open the supermarket plastic bag in which you bought the fruit before you place it in the refrigerator. Transfer fruits that need ripening into a paper bag, close the top, and let them sit at room temperature.

Those are the lessons i learnt while talking with the guys who hired me for their webdesign you can see above. One of the biggest fruit exporters down here in Spain. So, enjoy and eat fruit during summer.