Bananas are my go-to breakfast fruit, whether I’m mashing them onto toast or stirring them into oatmeal. However, I used to avoid buying them because they’d turn brown and mushy so quickly, even when I’d just brought them home from the grocery store.
I hate wasting food, so I almost stopped buying them altogether, until one day, I accidentally left my bananas on the kitchen counter instead of putting them in the fruit bowl. The next morning, they looked fresher and more yellow than any other fruit I’d bought recently. That’s when I realized the fruit bowl is actually one of the worst places to store them.
Upon further research, I learned that bananas are highly sensitive to ethylene, an invisible gas produced by most fruits. While ethylene helps fruits ripen and develop flavor, too much of it in one area causes nearby produce to spoil instead.
Bananas release a significant amount of ethylene, and when stored near other ethylene-sensitive fruits like apples and avocados, this accelerates spoilage, according to the Express.
While it might seem logical to store bananas in a fruit bowl, this often leads to them softening and ripening too quickly. I’ve started keeping mine on a corner of the kitchen countertop, where they stay fresh for up to a week longer.
I’ve also found an even more effective method for extending their shelf life: I recently discovered that bananas release ethylene gas from their stems. So, wrapping their stems in aluminum foil or plastic wrap helps keep them fresh for weeks.
Cheesy Mississippi Mud Potatoes
Ancient Designed Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
This is called “Garbage Bread” but it tastes like pure gold!
No way, I was so out of the loop here
Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon-Walnut Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Whoa, had no clue about this!
God blessed you with this plant because it keeps pests like spiders and mice away from your house.
Discover 9 reasons why every woman should have a jar of Vaseline
I try to sneak this into everything I eat!
