It can be annoying for ripe bananas to spoil too early and go brown and spotty before they’re able to be eaten.
Bananas only take a few days to ripen when you buy them, and finding the golden period when they’re perfect can be difficult.
Fortunately, there’s a simple trick to keep them fresh for longer.
While it’s normally advisable to not put your bananas in a plastic bag, wrapping up just the crown in plastic cling film can be beneficial.
The crown releases ethylene gas which speeds up the ripening process.
According to banana experts, Chiquita, because the crown is the point where the bananas were cut from the stem, it’s where most ethylene gas is released and keeping that area under wraps helps to prevent the gas from reaching the rest of the fruit.
Of course, it’s important to remember to carefully re-wrap the bunch of bananas after you’ve removed one from the bunch to eat.
Additionally, it is also a good idea to place bananas in an open space as moisture is not good for bananas. If they came wrapped in plastic from the store, make sure you take them out and blast them someplace cool and dark.
Conversely, if what you are after is browned bananas for baking, there are ways to quicken the ripening process rather than just waiting it out.
BBC Good Food suggested trapping the ethene gas by putting the bananas in a paper bag, which can take a day or two to ripen them.
For a quicker way to make bananas good for baking, without waiting for a couple of days, the advice is to put them in the oven for about 40 minutes at 180C.
Browned bananas are great for making banana bread, which can be a wholesome afternoon treat with a warm cup of tea.
