We can buy fresh herbs all year round in the supermarket. You can choose between pots with the whole plant, cut stems with leaves in a plastic bag, and sometimes also pure roots. We did the test and bought coriander wrapped in plastic. We left half of the herb in the plastic bag and sealed it with a rubber band. The other half we put on a damp paper towel, placed it on a beeskin and then folded it into a packet. We left both "packets" in the fridge for a week.
After exactly one week, the coriander was still edible. However, as you can see from the pictures, condensation had formed in the plastic packaging, which caused one leaf of the coriander to start to rot. The coriander packed in beeskin was fresh even after a week, neither wilted nor mushy. The beeskin coriander also scored well in the taste test. No loss of flavour could be detected. Unfortunately, the plastic-packed coriander clearly had a dusty, musty and generally weaker aroma.
Condensation is a breeding ground for mould and germs, and thus a reason for the rapid spoilage of fresh food. Condensation does not form in beeskin, the coated cotton fabric allows the food to breathe, but at the same time protects it from drying out. This means that food packaged in beeskin stays fresh for longer. Of course, this principle does not only work with herbs. Other fresh foods such as (head) lettuce, mushrooms or cut cucumbers can also be stored excellently in this way. 