Hyderabad: With the prices of fruits sold at Gaddiannaram fruit market and Moazzamjahi fruit market being reasonable and competitive, buyers in the Ramzan month are heading to the wholesale markets rather than retail shops, bandis or super markets, where fruits are costlier and don’t relatively fresh.

The difference in prices is so vast that it covers the cost of travelling to and from the main markets. Besides, the fruits and vegetables land in the wholesale markets from the farms directly. They start drying up as the day wears on, by the time they reach retailers and most supermarkets. The fruits would lose their freshness even more by the time they reach the roadside vendors.

Mr Ansar Ahmed a resident of Malakpet, said: “We purchase the fruits from wholesale markets in bulk because they are comparatively cheaper and last longer if stored in a fridge. Rather than going everyday to the retail shops and spending a huge amount of money to buy fruits, we prefer to purchase it from the wholesale market.”

Mr Vinod Dayal, former in-charge of Telangana State Food Processing Society, says, “There are some fruits which produce a gas called ethylene when they ripen. So it’s always better to store the fruits like kiwis, mangoes, avocados, papayas, peach separately. These fruits produce ethylene.”

He said, “If the ethylene producing fruits are stored separately then they won’t rot. In most cases, the fruits which get spoilt are ethylene sensitive like apples, cucumbers and watermelons.”

He said citrus fruits like oranges and lemons do not ripen for a week if they are stored in cool and dark place away from sunlight. However, their lifespan can be improved by storing them in a plastic sealed bag in the fridge.

Md. Fahad, a fruit seller at Kothapet market, said, “Fruits arrive directly from the farms. The retailers purchase from us. We sell them to individuals but only in dozens and charge them a wholesale price. We cannot sell them at the retail rate as our calculations are made as per boxes.”