Savvy storage tip keeps bananas fresh for ‘as long as possible’

Keeping bananas perfectly yellow seems like a losing battle, especially in summer when kitchens warm up and fruit flies are rife.

That said, there is an abundance of food storage hacks that claim to extend the shelf life of bananas.

However, most of these focus on keeping whole produce fresh, without a second thought on how to save three-quarters, half, or even a bite of a peeled banana.

One savvy blogger claims to have discovered a reliable method that does just that, and can be used on both peeled and unpeeled fruit.

Sharing the advice on her blog The Cross Legacy, Amy Cross pondered: “Can I save half a banana and keep it fresh? As a mum, I had littles who would eat half a banana. I always seemed to have half a banana lying around turning brown. I just wanted to keep the banana fresh.”

Amy continued: “I decided to take the bananas to the test. My goal is to keep bananas fresh as long as possible. Everything seems to store and last better in glass.”

The blogger decided to conduct a small-scale experiment at home by storing bananas in sterile glass jars.

She took jars of all different shapes and sizes with airtight screwtop lids to match and ensure the jars were completely clean and dry.

Amy said: “I took a ripe banana and cut it in half with the peel on, cut in half with the peel off, and sliced with the peel off and put each in its glass jar.”

After a day and a half, the bananas appeared as good as new, with no browning or visible change to the texture of the fruit.

Sharing an image of the well-preserved bananas, the savvy blogger proclaimed: “This is what the cut bananas look like after 36 hours. Imagine what you could do with this after a day and a half.

“Imagine having bananas fresh longer at your house! It can be done!”

As with all food storage hacks, there is one caveat to getting the desired results. Amy pointed out that buying good bananas in the first place is essential.

The first step to finding the best bananas is buying them slightly underripe when they’re completely green or on the more green side of yellow, at least.

Doing so allows you to tuck into them at their peak ripeness, and ensure they have the best chances of lasting for weeks at a time by dipping the stems in a glass of water or wrapping the stems in tinfoil.

Another common storage solution to slowing the ripening process, which is caused by ethylene gas, is to keep the bananas separate from other fruits, perhaps in their fruit bowl.