Bananas have a tendency to spoil quickly even if you only just bought them from the grocery store, but there is a simple way to keep them yellow and fresh for longer
Bananas are a delightful and easy way to kick-start your day, but they can often feel like a waste of money as they spoil quickly, even if you’ve only just purchased them.
You might think it’s logical to pop your bananas in a fruit bowl, but this is actually the worst place for them in the kitchen as they’ll start to rot if stored next to other fruits. It may seem odd, but most fruits produce ethylene, an invisible gas that ripens fruit to make it taste sweeter, but too much of it in the air will accelerate the ripening process.
If bananas are lumped together with other fruits, the ethylene overload will cause them to start spoiling rather than ripening, meaning they won’t stay fresh.
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Bananas tend to produce the highest amount of ethylene which is why you need to keep them away from your fruit bowl or they’ll cause everything to rot and decay.
After unloading their shopping and accidentally leaving bananas on the corner of a kitchen worktop for a few days, one reporter from the Express discovered that bananas should not be in a fruit bowl.
They noticed the bananas were much fresher and more yellow after the happy accident and have been keeping them in a bowl far away from any other fruit ever since. This will keep bananas fresh for at least a week, but if you want to keep them tasty for even longer then you simply need to wrap the stems in tin foil.
Bananas emit ethylene from their stems, and wrapping them can significantly slow down this process. This means there will be less ethylene in the air, and the reported found this method keeps bananas fresh for at least 10 days, though many have lasted up to 14 weeks or even longer.
Tin foil is the best protector for bananas as cling film seals the stems too tightly and can trap moisture, which can actually promote mould growth.
Baking paper is a highly breathable material, so ethylene will easily escape, making it ineffective. In contrast, tin foil properly seals bananas while also keeping out moisture. Storing bananas this way will not only save them from going bad, but will ultimately help you save on food costs and avoid waste.
It’s also worth noting that bananas ripen faster at warmer temperatures. Thus, you should store them in a cool, dry place to slow the ripening process, like a pantry or basement. You can also store bananas in the fridge, which will blacken their skin but keep inside perfectly fresh.