Citrus fruits are wonderfully portable, since their peels, especially on oranges and grapefruits, are nice and thick, providing good protection. You don’t need to pack an orange in a plastic bag if you’re brown bagging it to work or school, unless you’ve removed the peel. There are some questions about whether you should refrigerate citrus fruits, and the answer to this question is highly dependent on a number of factors.

In general, most citrus fruits, provided they are not overly ripe, will keep for about a week unrefrigerated — as long as you don’t keep them in a plastic bag which may hasten ripening or cause the fruit to mold. If you buy a bunch of oranges or any other citrus fruits at a time and won’t be able to consume them in a week’s time, you may want to refrigerate citrus fruits so that you lengthen their lives. It’s technically possible for some fruits to stay fresh and good for about a month in your fridge.

This “keeping” time can vary when you refrigerate citrus fruits. Some may get moldy, and this can transfer mold to the rest of the fruit. Keep a close eye on any fruit that remains in your fridge past a week, and inspect the fruit before you refrigerate it to make sure that none of the fruit is showing signs of mold on the peels.

When you refrigerate citrus fruits you do prolong their life, but you also give up a little. Colder fruit will not be as juicy. If you’re planning on making lemonade out of lemons or want the juiciest grapefruit for breakfast, you might want to remove the fruit from the fridge the night before so you get the best juice extraction. Anyone who has ever made orange juice can tell you it takes a lot of oranges to make a little bit of juice. You’ll want to get as much juice as you can from any citrus fruit to cut down on the number of fruits you’ll need.

There is something to be said for a nice cold orange or tangerine though, particularly on a warm day. Though you may sacrifice a bit in juiciness, when you refrigerate citrus fruits, you can provide a very refreshing snack, which is also healthy. Typically, you should not freeze citrus fruit, though there is one quick snack you can make through freezing that’s a great alternative to ice cream or popsicles.

Halve oranges, cover them in plastic wrap, and freeze them until they are hard. This creates an orange sorbet type treat, which can be spooned out of the half. It’s a delicious and refreshing treat, and may really appeal to kids as a novel way to eat fruit. Remember to halve the oranges first, as a whole orange is difficult to cut once it's frozen solid.

You should always refrigerate citrus fruits if you cut them in half and plan to use the rest the next day. To keep halves fresh, either place them in a plastic bag or wrap them in plastic wrap, but don’t use aluminum foil, since the acids in the fruit may react with the aluminum. Once you’ve removed the protective peel from the fruit, its ability to keep outside the fridge may be limited to less than a day. It’s fine to peel an orange and keep it for a few hours if you’re taking it for lunch, even unrefrigerated. Generally, once the peel is off, the natural protection to the interior fruit is gone and it won’t last long without being kept cold.