How to Store Bananas

You have probably noticed that bananas ripen quickly and when you pop them in the fridge, the fruit stays fresh but the skins go black.

So just how do you keep bananas fresher longer.

Bananas stored on your kitchen counter will ripen and turn brown quickly as they have an unlimited supply of oxygen.

Ripening also depends on temperature and the humidity. The higher the humidity, the faster bananas will ripen.

Ethylene gas

Ethylene is a gas emitted by bananas from the stem.

Ethylene is the catylist for banana ripening however oxygen is also needed for the chemical reactions involved in ripening. Bananas give off both ethylene and carbon dioxide.

Temperature and Banana Ripening

The self life of bananas increases as external temperature decreases and the optimum storage temperature for banana is 14-18°C.

Too Cold

Also note that bananas will suffer chilling injury at temperatures below 11°C.

Freezing bananas

Freezing bananas will keep for weeks and even months especially when wrapped in plastic.

Paper bags V's wrapped in plastic

Bananas in the paper bags will ripen faster than the bananas in the plastic bag.

But bananas tightly wrapped in plastic will ripen most slowly because of absence of oxygen.

So this should be your strategy if you want to prevent bananas to ripen quickly.

Bananas exposed to air ripen faster than the bananas that are protected from air and that is why shopkeepers wrap fruit like bananas, mangoes, etc. in glad wrap to slow down their ripening.