Have you ever opened your produce bin only to find the fruits and vegetables have taken on more color?

Not the delicate blush of a ripening peach, but fluorescent greens, shocking pinks and brilliant blues of a Picasso run amok?

If you have, then you know it’s not magic; it’s mold.

These colorful microbes that turn the surface of your radish into a Rand McNally road map are a major cause of spoilage in produce.

The second primary cause of here-today-rotten-tomorrow produce is the enzyme action within the plants. In other words, a tomato can be its own worst enemy.

But with just a little bit of pampering, your produce can withstand moldy invasions and forestall its own decaying process.

Not only will you save money, you will be putting a better quality product on the dining table.

To do so only takes a little understanding of what makes produce tick.

Remember, fruits and vegetables are living organisms. Once picked, their cells continue going about doing cell business, despite the fact that they have been cut off from their food and water supplies.

Corn and peas, for example, lose up to 40 percent of their sugar in six hours at room temperature because cells are either using the sugar to stay alive or converting it to starch as a part of the natural growing process.

Asparagus and other stemmed vegetables use their sugar to make tough, indigestible fibers.

One way to combat the conversion is refrigeration. Your aim is to slow down or stop the metabolic activity within the cells. For short term this means refrigeration.

Longer than a few days and more drastic measures must be used: freezing, canning, drying or otherwise preserving or pickling.

There are a few tricks for specific fruits and vegetables – and we’ll get into those shortly – but there are some basic concepts to have in mind when storing your produce.

For one thing, stem and leaf vegetables should be kept cold and moist enough to prevent wilting; that means lettuces and other salad greens in a plastic bin or bags in the fridge. Broccoli and celery do well in perforated plastic.

On the other hand, you’ve probably noticed how quickly mushrooms and chilies slime up when enclosed in plastic. These and other solid veggies fare better when contained in paper bags, or loose, in a dry portion of the refrigerator where they hold on to their water content but have adequate air circulating around them.

The same applies to most fruit (but not tomatoes, for example). As it ripens, oxygen is a vital component. Once it has reached perfection, then refrigeration plays a key role in keeping it there.

Gently lay ripened fruit in an uncluttered bin of your refrigerator, with the ripest pieces towards the front so they’ll get used faster. Don’t stack those delicate peaches and pears, because stacking leads to bruising. Bruising is a form of physical stress which makes the tissue susceptible to mold. That and sheer numbers.

Mold spores are like street gangs. Individually, they’re harmless, but when more than two members show up, it’s urban combat. Likewise, single spores of mold can’t start much, but get an entire colony going and it’s bye-bye peaches, pears, and anything else they can get their fuzzy little feet on.

So you see, Grandma was right: One rotten apple does spoil the barrel if it isn’t plucked out and the offending mold thoroughly washed from the remaining bunch.

However, the old wives’ tale that putting bananas in the fridge blackens them is only partly true; it does blacken the skins, but the inner flesh remains creamy colored and firm.

And if you’ve got a bunch of ripe bananas with no place to go, then sticking them in the fridge is the best way to keep them from aging rapidly.

With the basics covered, let’s consider a few vegetables that thrive even better with just a little more care.

* Asparagus, for example, does well under refrigeration, but stays perkier longer with their bases resting in about an inch of water. A tall and narrow juice pitcher works perfectly, while taking up little room in the fridge.

* Radishes seem to last longer if you cut away the leaves before putting the bunch in the refrigerator because the leaves go bad fast and make everything else smell and look awful.

* Cilantro and basil last longer with their roots in a jar of water Refrigeration is optional, as long as you’re going to use it within a few days.

* Parsley stays crisp in plastic. But if it gets left out, revive it by cutting off a lower portion of the stems and put in a sink full of room temperature water. The same applies for all salad greens. When they begin to droop, cut off the base end and soak a few minutes in water. They should crisp right up.

* Ginger root drives a lot of people crazy. They buy a fist-size portion, to get a few tablespoons worth for a stir-fry recipe. Two weeks later, they end up throwing the remaining moldy mass in the garbage.

Well, there are a number of ways to rescue ginger root from such a dismal end: One way – albeit gritty – is to store them in the material they grow, sand (clean sand, please!); or place the entire root unwashed, unpeeled root in a plastic bag and freeze. Slice or shred while frozen; or, peel the root, grate finely, place in a covered jar and refrigerate.

Drain off any accumulated liquid before using; or, scrub with a brush and chop, then cook the pieces a few minutes in peanut oil, remove with slotted spoon and refrigerate in a covered jar. It will keep several months this way and still be more potent than the powdered stuff you buy in the store. Or peel, wash, then dry thoroughly and place the root in a jar, covered with sherry; capped tightly (in warm weather, keep refrigerated; in cool weather, it’s fine on a shelf).

* Garlic holds up pretty well without any pampering, but if you’ve got a lot of it and are so inclined, you can peel all of the cloves in and pack them into a jar, covered with oil (olive or regular salad varieties) and refrigerate. The cloves keep for ages this way, and the oil will have a nice garlic flavor and can be used in cooking.

From one of my favorite cookbooks, “Chez Panisse Cooking,” with chef Paul Bertolli, here’s a delicious and unusual treatment for broccoli worth trying. As Bertolli says, because the dish is quite strong in taste, it should be thought of more as a condiment than as a vegetable accompaniment.

It’s delicious as an appetizer, served on grilled bread with strips of anchovies and pitted nicoise olives. Or use it as a topping for pizza that has been sprinkled with grated Parmesan or caciocavallo cheese. It is very good, too, with grilled steak.

Long-cooked broccoli

1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil

1pound, 8 ounces fresh broccoli, stem included, cut into small pieces

10cloves garlic (scant 1/4 cup), sliced

Juice of 1 1/2 lemons (about 33/4 tablespoons)

1teaspoon salt

1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4teaspoon dry cayenne flakes

22/3cups water

Warm the olive oil in a 10-inch stainless-steel casserole or saucepot. Add the broccoli, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Stir the mixture to combine. Add the water and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover tightly, and cook for 1 hour. Check the broccoli every once in a while to make sure that it stays at a gentle simmer. Adjust the heat if necessary.

After 1 hour remove the lid, raise the heat a little, and cook the broccoli another 15 minutes, or until the water in the pan evaporates. During this time stir often, breaking up the broccoli with a spoon to a coarse texture. Let cool slightly before serving.

From “Chez Panisse Cooking,” by Paul Bertolli,

with Alice Waters

Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contract her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.