You’ve been storing bananas wrong – the unexpected spot you should be keeping them in to make them last weeks longer
A FOOD expert has revealed that most of us have been storing our bananas in the wrong place, and shared the unexpected spot we should keep them in instead, to make them last for two weeks.
For many of us the fruit bowl is the most obvious spot to keep our bananas in.
However, Linda Taylor, founder of Gracious Vegan revealed that this is actually one of the worst places to store them
She explained that fruit produces a natural growth hormone called ethylene gas, which allows it to become sweet and flavourful.
However, when too much fruit is piled on top of each other, too much ethylene gas will be in the air, which will cause bananas to ripen too quickly, and go bad.
Most of us have been taught not to put our bananas in the fridge, as this will make the peel turn black.
However, Linda revealed that although the peel turns black, the fruit inside will still be yellow and the ethylene gas production will slow down, so the bananas will stay fresher for longer.
She said: “If you have a banana that’s just past the green stage, maybe with a few brown spots, refrigeration will do two things to it.
“The skin will turn brown, and I mean brown [and] further softening of the banana will be delayed.
“This is a great way to prevent the bananas from getting very soft.
“If you can bring yourself to peeling that brown skin in the week following, you’ll find the banana inside to be firmer than its brothers and sisters left at room temperature, and its taste will be just fine.”
Using this method, Linda said that you can make bananas last for up to two weeks.
However, she warned against keeping green bananas in the fridge as this will stop them from ripening.
Linda advised keeping green bananas away from other fruit, and placing them in the cupboard on the kitchen counter, before transferring them to the fridge once they’re yellow.
She said: “I tried refrigerating a couple of green bananas.
What foods should you ALWAYS keep in the fridge?
THE 'King of Bread' Paul Hollywood has said you should never keep bread in the fridge. But what foods SHOULD you store in there?
According to EUFIC, The European Food Information Council, these are some of the main foods you should always ensure are kept in the fridge.
- Apples
- Berries
- Butter
- Cheese
- Eggs (boiled or unboiled)
- Fish (cooked or raw)
- Fresh herbs
- Lemons
- Meat (cooked or raw)
- Milk
- Oranges
- Pickles (if opened)
- Salad leaves
- Tomatoes
- Yoghurts
“The good news is that the peel didn’t turn brown. But the bad news is that the banana inside didn’t start to ripen, so it wasn’t sweet or tasty – it just kind of stalled in the pre-ripened state.”
But if you don’t fancy eating black bananas, chef Zakiyya AK Manjoo recently revealed an alternative hack to keeping them in the fridge.
Taking to TikTok, the busy mum said: “Are you sick of buying bananas, only for them to go brown in two days?”
Explaining her hack, Zakiyya recommended purchasing some clingfilm, which you can pick up from the supermarket for 99p.
Cut it in to strips, and then wrap a strip of cling film around the stalk of each of your bananas.
Zakiyya demonstrated the hack, and then showed how her bananas looked, almost a week later.
“After five days, the most they have on them is a few black dots”, she said.
“This hack actually works.”
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