Where you store your bananas has a big impact on how long they remain fresh. Picking the wrong spot can lead to them quickly becoming spotty and mushy.
Most people reckon the best place to keep them is the fruit bowl, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Fruits produce a phytohormone called ethylene gas, which enables bananas to ripen, giving them that extra sweetness and flavour.
However, when fruit is stacked up on top of each other, it results in too much ethylene gas being pumped into the air which then causes the fruit to ripen too quickly and eventually spoil.
Despite containing a lot of the gas, bananas are also extremely sensitive to it, meaning when shoved in the fruit bowl they are quick to become overripe.
Fortunately, cook and founder of Gracious Vegan Linda Tyler has revealed the best spot to store those fresh yellow bananas.
According to the expert, that place is the fridge. Storing bananas in the fridge is usually seen as a big no-no as it turns the peel black. However, this occurs because bananas are tropical fruits and, therefore, are not used to cold temperatures.
Although the peel may turn black, Linda said that the inside of the bananas will still be good to eat, as the ethylene gas production will slow down, resulting in bananas staying fresh for much longer.
She said: “If you have a banana that’s just past the green stage, maybe with a few brown spots, refrigeration will do two things to it.
“The skin will turn brown, and I mean brown [and] further softening of the banana will be delayed. This is a great way to prevent bananas from getting very soft.”
Not only that but the cook even vouched that after seven days the bananas will be “firmer” than those left out on the counter. She continued: “If you can bring yourself to peeling that brown skin in the week following, you’ll find the banana inside to be firmer than its brothers and sisters left at room temperature, and its taste will be just fine.”
Whilst this is a great way to keep your bananas at their best for longer, make sure to only do this with yellow bananas that are beginning to ripen. The cold temperature in the fridge will stop the ethylene gas required for the bananas to ripen, therefore storing green bananas in the fridge will result in them remaining hard and unsweetened.
When it comes to green bananas, have them stored in the cupboard or on the counter, away from the fruit bowl and then once they turn yellow, pop them in the fridge so they can remain fresh for up to two weeks longer than usual.
