How do you ripen bananas faster?

Dr. Brecht: “The way to get bananas to ripen faster is:

1. Hold them at room temperature.
2. Enclose them in a paper bag (not a sealed plastic bag) or place in a ripening bowl along with an apple or an already ripe banana. The idea behind the bag/bowl is that bananas ripen in response to ethylene, a gaseous plant hormone produced by many ripening fruits, including bananas. You are allowing a higher concentration of ethylene to accumulate around the unripe bananas when you place them in a bag or ripening bowl with a fruit that is already producing lots of ethylene.”

Is there any credibility to the claims online about being able to ripen bananas faster? (Ex: separating the bananas and wrapping saran wrap around the stem, hanging them on a banana hanger, etc.)

Dr. Brecht: “None of those methods would result in faster ripening, as far as I know.

How long do bananas take to ripen naturally?

Dr. Brecht: “Around four to five days at room temperature, depending on how far along with ripening the fruit are when you start. (The modified atmosphere, Clearly Fresh, bag I mentioned will about double that time frame).”

Bananas will ripen… around 4-5 days at room temperature, depending on how far along with ripening the fruit are when you start.
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Some additional ways to ripen bananas include: (from Spoon University)

1. Leaving them in a bunch
2. Place in warm places
3. Place in a paper bag
4. Baking them in the oven

Are you wondering why you would want your bananas to ripen faster? For baking or quick eating, of course! We gained some inspiration from Yellow Bliss Road’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread to try to ripen our own bananas faster.

There are many options when it comes to speeding up the ripening process of bananas. However, if you’re looking for ways to slow down the process, we’ve done some digging on that topic, too. Dr. Brecht gave us the scoop about how to slow down the ripening process, and he also told us where we shouldn’t be storing our bananas.

The post How To Ripen a Banana Faster appeared first on Best Food Facts.

How should I be storing my bananas to maintain freshness?

Dr. Brecht: “Compared to keeping bananas on an open kitchen counter, placing the fruit in a cool place (not less than about 58 degrees though) will slow ripening and allow them to last longer.

“In addition to cool temperature, a loosely closed (not sealed) plastic bag can reduce water loss, which promotes the brown spot formation.”

So, how does storing bananas this way slow down ripening?

Dr. Brecht: “It’s also possible to keep bananas in a plastic bag that restricts diffusion of respiratory gases and creates a modified atmosphere, but that can be a little risky to try on your own due to the possibility that the atmosphere will become too extreme and trigger fermentation.”

Is there anything that you recommend storing bananas in?

Dr. Brecht: “One bag that I can recommend is Breatheway Clearly Fresh bags, which are designed for this purpose.”

Bananas, like most fruits, react with ethylene, an airborne hormone, which jumpstarts the ripening process. When a fruit comes in contact with this gas, the acids start to break down. One of the reasons that bananas ripen so quickly is that they create a larger amount of ethylene than most fruits.

So, what’s the next step for prolonging the shelf-life of bananas? GMO bananas.

How would GMO bananas impact people?

Dr. Brecht: “The gene being modified is always going to be chosen because some trait will be improved. It may be a gene that confers resistance to a disease during plant growth; it could be a gene that improves flavor or shelf life. A GMO banana in which the modification is of a gene involved in pro-vitamin A production has been developed. Those bananas are much deeper yellow color since the gene makes an enzyme involved in beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A) synthesis, which is a yellow-colored natural compound. Of course, those bananas are nutritionally superior to the wild-type since vitamin A is essential for human health.”

Storing bananas to maintain freshness can be as simple as storing them in a plastic bag to extend their ripeness. Now that you know how to maintain freshness of bananas, is it a good idea to store the bananas in the refrigerator?  Also look at how to make bananas ripen more quickly.

Tweetable: Compared to keeping bananas on an open kitchen counter, placing the fruit in a cool place (not less than about 58 degrees though) will slow ripening and allow them to last longer.
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The post How To Keep Bananas Fresh appeared first on Best Food Facts.

We reached out to expert Dr. Jeffrey Brecht, Postharvest Physiologist at the University of Florida, to pick his brain about proper banana storage.

Is it safe to store my bananas in the refrigerator?

Dr. Brecht: “Never, never, never put bananas in the refrigerator!

Okay, that’s clear! But why not?

Dr. Brecht: “Bananas are a tropical fruit that is very chilling sensitive. Even a few hours below 58 degrees can injure bananas, and most refrigerators are set at 38-41 degrees. The visual symptom of chilling injury is called ‘under-peel discoloration’ and is due to discoloration of the vascular traces that run through the peel, causing a smoky appearance to develop. Even slight chilling causes aroma loss, so chilled bananas also don’t taste good. The chilling injury also causes loss of vitamin C in bananas.”

We were warned in an old jingle about storing our bananas in the refrigerator, too.  The advice we learned from the jingle? “Bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator, so you should never put bananas in the refrigerator.”

Never, never, never put bananas in the refrigerator! Bananas are a tropical fruit.
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Does storing them in the freezer make them last longer?

Dr. Brecht: “Bananas can be frozen for use in baking, but not for eating fresh. It’s best to peel the fruit and mash the pulp with a little lemon juice to inhibit browning, which can occur while the pulp is in the process of freezing. Then put it in a freezer bag.”

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. 

But what is the best way to keep bananas fresh? Or how can a banana be ripened more quickly?

The post Should You Put Bananas in the Refrigerator? appeared first on Best Food Facts.