How to Properly Store Bananas to Avoid Darkening

Peter Sidwell is confident that these tips will be useful for all fruit lovers, especially during times when prices are high. Simple recommendations can significantly reduce expenses on this product.

“Bananas are popular due to their taste and nutritional properties. They contain a lot of fiber, antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium, making them an excellent addition to a balanced diet. However, the fruits can quickly darken and become soft, so it's important to choose and store them correctly,” says the chef.

The main advice from Peter Sidwell is to choose bananas with varying degrees of ripeness. By purchasing some ripe and some green fruits, one can be sure that even without special tricks, they will last for a week, reports The Express.

Fruits need light, warmth, and humidity to ripen, so it is best to store them in a cool place, away from heat sources and condensation. After purchase, bananas should be removed from the packaging, and when they reach the desired degree of ripeness, they can be moved to the refrigerator.

“I recommend storing bananas in a bag. Plastic will help keep your fruits fresh for up to two weeks. Don’t worry if the peel darkens a bit; it won’t affect the taste,” believes Peter.

However, the chef does not advise putting bananas in the refrigerator before they ripen. Otherwise, the fruits will remain hard and tasteless. He emphasizes that the stems of bananas release ethylene gas, which accelerates the ripening of surrounding fruits. Therefore, banana bunches are better kept away from apples and pears, and the stems can be wrapped in foil to reduce the gas's impact on ripening.

If children do not finish the fruit, the chef recommends spraying the leftover pieces with lemon juice and covering them with plastic wrap. This will slow down the oxidation process. Peter Sidwell also says that the simplest way to preserve ripe fruits is to freeze them after peeling.