As a staple in many people’s weekly food shop, it’s important to know how best to store bananas at home.
There are endless food storage hacks and remedies for this soft, yellow fruit, but not all of them deliver the long-lasting results they promise.
Wrapping stems in cling film or dipping them in water may add a few days to the shelf life of this sweet fruit, but Reddit users claim to have a much better remedy.
Taking to the online forum to share their methods for keeping bananas perfectly fresh, several people suggested that the answer lies in the supermarket.
One user, who used the alias Man0fGreenGables wrote: “I always buy six bananas with two at each stage of ripeness.”
They continued: “One time I saw a woman there doing the same thing. We both noticed each other doing it at the same time and kind of gave each other the banana bros nod. I was almost ready to high-five her.”
Though not technically a storage solution, this method avoids the common problem many face which is a bunch of bananas turning overripe all at once.
A second person joined the thread named EatCheapAndHealthy, to say: “This. Stagger your bananas. You don’t have to buy all 6 of the same bunch.”
The user named ‘mojoburquano’ explained that they “shop around around” to find a combination of two green, two yellow-green, and two yellow bananas.
They explained that they “do the same thing with avocados” which means that they don’t have to resort to putting bananas or avocados in the fridge, which can often turn them black.
A third Reddit user had a second grain of wisdom to share with fellow banana fans looking to extend the shelf life of the fruit.
They revealed: “I have found that organic bananas from Aldi will often outlast regular bananas, and they seem to taste better.”
Something about buying organic has proven effective with other shoppers too, and one pointed out that there’s not much in the way of a price difference either.
There are a few things to consider when deciding where to keep bananas at home. According to Tina Varjabedian, head of global communications for Chiquita bananas, the first thing to do is unwrap bananas from any packaging.
She explained: “It’s true that bananas in any type of bag are likely to ripen more quickly. In addition, do make sure they aren’t placed close to any heating or next to a cold window because extremes of temperature are also not ideal.”
To store bananas successfully, keep them somewhere cool, dark and on their own away from other ethylene-intensive fruits like apples, peaches and avocados.
