Keep bananas firm and ripe for more than two weeks with effective storage tip

A fruit bowl is the most obvious place to keep bananas, with many made with a purpose-built hook to balance the stems.

While the soft yellow fruit should stay fresh for a few days, the peel will soon turn brown, or even black if the conditions aren’t right.

That’s why a food expert warned against traditional storage methods and urged people to follow his foolproof technique instead.

Sharing the hack on the YouTube channel, Kitchen Tips Online, Mike claimed that an airtight container is all that’s needed for fresh fruit.

He claimed that it helps the bananas to stay firm and green for longer, more so than if they were kept elsewhere.

The food expert demonstrated the hack by placing two identical bunches of bananas in different places – one loose on the kitchen counter and another inside an airtight container.

In the container, he placed two Bluapple ethylene absorption balls alongside the fruit as a means of slowing down the ripening process.

Ethylene is a plant hormone that surges when the fruit is ready to ripen, turning the hard, green fruit tender and sweet. Beyond this stage, the ethylene simply continues to soften and change the flavour of bananas which is why they turn brown.

As part of his experiment, Mike checked on the two bunches of bananas every day for more than a week.

He said: “Day five and six is when we start to notice a significant difference. On day eight, I noticed the bananas not in the container were significantly softer than the ones in the container.

“So at that point, I decided to put those bananas in the refrigerator.”

According to the Kitchen Tips Online contributor, moving the yellow fruit to the fridge halts the ripening process inside of the bananas while the outside continues to darken.

Mike claimed that after about 10 days, the bananas in the fridge were too soft to eat raw and were used for banana bread instead.

However, the fruit stored in the container remained slightly green even on day 12. Mike added: “Day 15 – you’ll notice there’s still some green on the bananas not in the fridge in the container.

“When we cut it open you’ll notice there’s a little bit of bruising on the bottom, but that’s the weight of the bananas causing the bruising in the container.”

Despite subtle changes to the appearance of the bananas, Mike opined that the airtight container fruit was “still quite edible” after an impressive 15 days of storage.

The handy storage solution impressed fellow YouTube users, with one noting that they use cling film for similar results.

They commented: “Incidentally what I do is tie a tight plastic around the top of the bunch of bananas to ensure the ethylene gas doesn’t cause the bananas to ripen too fast. I have found that to be a good remedy too. The ethylene gas comes out from the top of the banana, hence the idea would be to ensure to tie it real tight.”

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