Bananas are a great snack for when you’re out and about or feeling a little peckish, yet they can turn brown very quickly. But there is a simple way to keep them fresh for longer
Bananas, the perfect on-the-go healthy snack for those little hunger pangs, have a notorious reputation for spoiling quicker than we can eat them.
We know the countless feeling of buying a bright yellow bunch, only for them to turn a mushy brown in a matter of days. However, there’s a nifty trick to halt food waste and to savour your go-to snack, and it’s all to do with savvy storage in your kitchen space.
It turns out that an everyday kitchen staple might be the ultimate hack for extending your bananas’ lifespan. Food connoisseurs enlightened us about the wonders of tin foil – wrapping the stems is the game-changer to keep those bananas brighter and firmer for ages, reports the Express.
This simple act of sealing the stems can trap ethylene gas – the culprit behind their speedy ripening – therefore keeping your bananas fresh as daisies for much longer. So what’s with bananas going brown and soft anyway?
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Ethylene gas comes along, breaking down starches into sugars, prompting a green banana’s transition to its sweeter, softer yellow self.
Sharing some knowledge, Food Republic elaborates that, “Compared to other fruits and veggies, bananas are one of the biggest producers of ethylene gas, a natural chemical compound that promotes ripening.
“The majority of this gas is released through the exposed stem of the fruit, which allows a bunch of bananas to continue ripening even after it’s picked from the tree.”
They explained, “Wrapping the top of your bunch with aluminum helps to trap in some of the ethylene, so it won’t escape into the atmosphere and touch the body of the bananas (or other produce you have sitting nearby, for that matter).
This slows down browning and gives you more time to enjoy your bunch.”
If you’re out of tin foil, cling film is just as effective, and you can snag either for under £2 at most major supermarkets.
To keep your bananas at their best, store them away from other fruit once you’ve wrapped the stems. The ethylene gas they emit can speed up ripening elsewhere in the bowl, leading to quicker spoilage.
While apples, pears, and passion fruit will ripen faster in the presence of banana-released ethylene, citrus fruits like oranges and lemons don’t bat an eyelid.
To keep your other fruits fresh and prevent accidental bruising to your ‘nanas, experts advise hanging them on a banana hook – it separates them from the crowd and stops them from getting squished against the countertop.
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