Keep bananas fresh for longer with these easy hacks

Bananas are one of the most convenient and no-fuss fruits to eat. Plus there are many awesome benefits of eating bananas. However, getting a pack of banana only for it to turn into discoloured, brown mush is one of the most common occurrences for shoppers.

Before purchasing your banana, make sure to check them thoroughly in order to avoid having terrible experiences like this shopper who was left horrified as banana from major supermarket burst to reveal a nasty surprise.

Although there are some awesome recipes you can try with overripe bananas, wouldn't it be convenient to just find a way to keep bananas looking and tasting fresh for longer? Well, look no further then here. Find below, some tried and tested methods to keep your bananas fresh for longer.

As per Britannica, the reason bananas ripen quickly and turn brown, is thanks to ethylene gas. This gas leads the acids in the fruit to start to breaking down, making them soft and mushy.

All fruits release ethylene gas when they start to ripe, but bananas produce a way larger amount ethylene gas compared to other fruits when it starts ripening. This results in the ripening and browning process working very quickly for bananas.

Cover up the banana stem

One tip to keep bananas fresh longer is by covering up the stem. Youtube account Cooking at Pam's Place shared this genius and easy hack. All you need to do is take a strip of cling film or Saran wrap, and then cover the stem of the bananas properly.

This hack keeps bananas from ripening by keeping the ethylene gas trapped, and not letting it spread around the bananas, thereby controlling the speed at which the fruit ripens. This is an easy method to increase the life of your bananas.

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Use the 'water' method to keep bananas fresh

Going by the same principle of ensuring that you control the spread of ethylene gas, you can also use a water method to keep your bananas from ripening too fast.

TikToker @that40yearguy tried out this hack in one of his videos. In the video, he showed side-by-side comparison of bananas which had been stored using this hack, and those that hadn't, and the results are quiet conclusive: the water method definitely works to keep bananas looking and tasting good.

All you need to do for this method, is take a bunch of bananas, and dunk the stem of the bananas inside a bowl of water. Like in the earlier plastic wrap method, the water traps the ethylene gas from spreading, and thus stops the bananas from ripening easily.

Store bananas correctly

Using a banana hook to hang up your bananas, along with the plastic wrapped stem, also helps to keep the fruit from bruising, which can lead to producing higher amount of ethylene gas, quickening the ripening process.

You can also ensure the longevity of your bananas by buying semi-ripe bananas at the store. Whether this trick works for you or not would depend on the rate at which you eat them. If you usually don't reach for them very regularly, getting rawer bananas would ensure a longer life for the fruit in your kitchen.

If you use bananas mostly for smoothies, you can cut up your bananas and freeze them for a super convenient storage, that also ensures they remain fresh.

Read more:

⋙ Tesco shoppers left horrified after finding this inside pack of banana

Sources used:

Britannica: Why Do Bananas Turn Brown?

Youtube: Cooking at Pam's Place

TikTok: @that40yearguy