Bananas, often found lounging in fruit bowls on kitchen worktops, are actually being stored all wrong, leading to a swift demise in freshness.
Most people don’t realise that bananas, along with other fruits like apples, emit ethylene gas, a plant hormone that hastens ripening and enhances flavour.
However, when fruits are heaped together, the excess ethylene gas in the air speeds up the ripening process for all the fruits involved – handy when you want to ripen fruits like avocados.
Bananas are notorious for their fleeting shelf life due to their high production of ethylene gas, and being cooped up in a fruit bowl only hastens their spoilage.
Contrary to common practice, Richard Thomas from fridge.com suggests that the fridge is the best place for bananas once they’re ripe, as it curbs ethylene production and extends their lifespan.
Richard explained: “Storing bananas in the fridge can be a practical way to extend their shelf life, especially once they have reached the desired level of ripeness.”
He added: “The cooler temperatures in the fridge slow down the ripening process, which is caused by the emission of ethylene gas from the bananas.”
This savvy storage tip means your bananas can stay enjoyable for longer without crossing into overripe territory leading to bananas turning brown, mushy, or worse, mouldy.
It’s key to wait until bananas become fully yellow as chilling them can dramatically slow down the ripening, leaving those green young bananas unable to mature and lacking in flavour.
Opting for fridge storage does mean that the yellow skin will likely blacken or brown due to the damage from the cold – tropical fruits like bananas aren’t fans of chilly temps.
Yet, the inside remains intact, staying fresh and vibrantly yellow, which means you can stretch the freshness span considerably.
For optimal fridge placement, go central rather than the more humid lower crisper drawers as they’ll just reduce the banana’s lifespan.
A fruit bowl might give you mere days with your bananas, but the cooler confines of a refrigerator could grant you up to two weeks extra, nudging down those grocery bills.
Meanwhile, Richard has chimed in with some wisdom: “When refrigerated, bananas can last significantly longer than at room temperature.”
He continued: “Typically, you can expect bananas to last anywhere from seven to 14 days in the fridge. The peels may darken, but the bananas inside will remain firmer and fresher for a longer period.”
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