Fruit is one of those things you buy at the supermarket to try and be healthy, but if you don’t eat it fast enough, it can be a waste.
Bananas, in particular, can ripen very quickly, especially if you’ve bought a bunch and left them out in a fruit bowl, meaning by the time you actually come to eat them, they’ve often turned brown and a bit mushy. But there is a very simple storage trick that can help extend the shelf life of bananas so they last a lot longer and don’t go to waste at home.
According to food experts, one of the best and simplest ways to keep bananas fresh is to wrap the stems of the fruit in tin foil. The foil helps to slow down the ripening process by trapping ethylene gas, a natural ripening agent that is primarily released from the stem.
By trapping this gas, bananas can be prevented from turning brown too quickly, thereby extending their shelf life and keeping them fresh for longer.
The ethylene gas helps aid the change in colour and softness of bananas, causing the starches to start to break down and form sugars. As this happens, unripe green bananas will start to turn yellow and become softer and sweeter.
Food Republic explains: “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.
“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 don’t have any tin foil to hand then cling film should work just as well, and both typically cost less than £2 at most major supermarkets.
It’s also worth storing your bananas away from other fruit once you’ve wrapped the stems as the ethylene gas can cause nearby fruits to ripen more quickly, meaning they will spoil faster.
Many fruits respond to the ethylene gas released by bananas, including apples, pears, and passion fruit, but citrus fruits like oranges and lemons are unaffected.
To avoid spoiling other fruits, experts recommend handing your bananas up on a banana hook as this not only keeps them separate but also prevents bruising that can be caused by leaning bananas against the kitchen worktop.
