Food expert and deputy food editor at Martha Stewart Living, Gregory Lofts, revealed why your tomatoes don’t belong in cool temperatures.

Apparently, when you store tomatoes in the fridge, the cool temperatures break down their cell membranes, leaving you with mushy, unappetizing fruit.

“You’re essentially zapping flavor and texture from a tomato when you refrigerate it,” Gregory said.

Gregory added that the tomatoes can absorb odors from within your fridge, negatively affecting both their quality and taste.

Instead of throwing them in your fridge, he said to leave the tomatoes out at room temperature, whether they’re ripe or not.