Bananas ripen quickly, and in the majority of houses, they are kept in a fruit bowl which is either on a kitchen counter or table.
A kitchen expert has recommended storing bananas a different way to ensure they remain yellow for longer.
Mike from Kitchen Tips Online experimented with two bunches of bananas to see which method was the most effective.
He placed one bunch on his kitchen counter, and the other inside an airtight container on his kitchen counter.
Bananas produce ethylene gas which helps ripen the fruit – and every time a banana is torn from the bunch, the ethylene gas emits from the stem.
One way to store bananas to slow down the ripening process is by wrapping cling film around the stems to trap the ethylene gas.
The most effective method is to wrap the stems of individual bananas instead of wrapping all of the stems together.
By wrapping the stem individually, there are fewer places for the ethylene gas to leak out because the stems are more fully covered.
For those who are environmentally conscious, consider using ethylene absorption balls.
Ethylene absorption balls extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by removing the gas through an oxidation process, thereby ensuring the quality of freshness of the produce.
Mike placed an ethylene absorption ball inside the air-tight container with the second bunch of bananas and it was nearly a week before he noticed a “significant difference” between the two bunches.
The bananas on the counter were “significantly softer than the ones in the container”.
By day 15, there was still “a little bit of green” on the bananas in the airtight container with the ethylene absorption balls.
But when a banana was cut open, there was a “little bit of bruising” but the fruit was “still edible”.
SOURCE: MSN/Daily Express – Story by Rebecca Miller
NB: Some images retrieved from Google, will remove at owner’s request.