The ideal place to store bananas is on the countertop, where they can ripen naturally. You can refrigerate bananas once they've achieved your ideal level of ripeness; however, refrigerating bananas too soon or for too long can have detrimental effects on your bunch.
Bananas grow in hot climates, so they are unused to the cold. If they're kept at a cold temperature, the enzymes that enable them to ripen are inhibited. And as those enzymes become inactive, other enzymes operate more efficiently. Some cause cell damage, while others (browning enzymes) cause the skin to blacken.
The ideal place to store bananas is on a countertop, away from direct sunlight. They do well in cool, dry places and will continue to ripen when left at room temperature. What is the best way to keep bananas fresh longer? Once bananas are at their peak ripeness, you can store them in the fridge or freezer for later.
Refrigerate Your Bananas Once They're Ripe
Simply put, you should only put your bananas in the refrigerator after they are as ripe as you like them to get.
“Placing them in a cool environment once at your preferred level of ripeness can actually help prolong the shelf life. While the skin will continue to brown, the flesh of the banana will remain the same and can extend shelf-life by one week.” Mimi says that other fruits benefit from spending time in the fridge too.
Do you have to put fruit in the fridge to keep it fresh? Not for bananas! Because bananas turn brown in the fridge. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is widely considered as one of the important factors for the tissue browning of fruits and vegetables.
Keep them cool and protected from the light: Bananas should be stored at around 12°C, as they will ripen quicker if they are too warm. Pop them into the fridge: If you want to store your bananas correctly, you can certainly store them in the fridge.
Bananas are known to become brown quickly, usually within an hour, as they oxidize in the presence of air. An enzyme in bananas, polyphenol oxidase, causes a reaction when exposed to air. People often want to save part of an opened banana to eat later, so they wrap the banana to slow down the process of oxidation.
Since bananas mature faster in warmer temperatures, stores will often keep them in cooler regions to prevent rapidly ripening. In addition, some retailers may wrap each banana stem in foil or cling plastic wrap to inhibit the ripening process even more.
Get a separate banana hanger. Why hang your bananas? It prevents bruising and it also decreases the chance of exposing the banana flesh to oxygen, which will only makes it ripen that much faster.
Ditch the Plastic Bag
Bananas that are stored in plastic bags will ripen faster. Instead, keep your bananas at room temperature in a cool, dark place to be sure they receive fresh, well-ventilated air. Bananas sitting in direct sunlight or near the stove will shrivel up and turn brown at a faster rate.
So, when it comes to storing your bananas, it's best not to put them in the refrigerator because of the loss of nutritional value and potential damage to the fruit.
Placing bananas in the fridge will keep the fruit fresh, but the banana peel may turn brown. The cooler temperature slows the ripening process, and as long as your banana is yellow and fresh when you put it in the fridge, it will be safe to consume after cooling in the fridge for a couple of days.
Tomatoes and bananas
This pair is actually on the list of what fruit and veggies not to store together. Fruits and vegetables that do a lot of ripening after they're picked, such as tomatoes, bananas, kiwis and honeydew melons, are best stored apart.
Scientists report that cold temperatures suppress the activity of proteins that play a key role in the formation of the banana's distinct aromas. They say this discovery could lead to enhancements of the fruit's fragrance and flavor.
You can take advantage of ethylene's ripening properties at home by putting your banana into a closed paper bag; the paper will trap ethylene while letting in enough oxygen to help move the process along. For even faster ripening, add an apple, pear, apricot, or avocado — they also release ethylene.
A known process of speeding up ripening is by placing fruits in a paper bag with a banana; the banana in the paper bag will produce more ethylene gas along with the other fruit, and the paper bag will trap the ethylene gas, speeding the ripening.
Ethylene gas is naturally released through the stems of the bananas. Separating, and especially covering the end of the stems, should contain the release of this gas, thereby slowing the rate of ripening.
If stored correctly, you'll have ripe bananas in 2 to 5 days. If you're curious about how to keep bananas fresh for longer, you should know about how to store bananas in your refrigerator. If you place them in the refrigerator, fully ripe bananas will last 5 to 7 days.
How can you ripen bananas faster? If you want your green bananas to ripen faster than they naturally would, the first thing to remember is to keep them in a bunch. Bananas kept together in this way will ripen more quickly than they would if they are separated.
Another trick to keeping bananas fresh is by wrapping the stem of the bunch with cling wrap or paper towels. This will prevent oxygen from reaching them so that they will stay bright yellow for longer than usual.
Ethylene hacking
Putting ethylene-producing fruits in an enclosed space helps to concentrate the ethylene and speed up ripening. One well-known strategy is to put bananas or avocadoes inside a paper bag to ripen faster. It's generally not recommended to store bananas in an ordinary plastic bag, as this traps moisture.
Bananas are tropical fruits, and, in general, tropical fruits don't handle cold storage well. That's why the best way to store bananas is at room temperature, not in the fridge, especially when they're green and not yet ripened.