Quick Tip: Keep Your Bananas Fresh!

Photo Credit: choosemyplate.gov

Most people love fresh fruit. However, most people can't have fresh fruit as often as they would like because of their busy schedule limiting their shopping trips. Also, most fruits don't keep as long as we all would like. Especially the banana.

How many times has this happened to you?

You go to the market and pick out the greenest bunch of bananas you can find because you know that the really yellow ones will be brown well before you get the chance to eat every one in the bunch. 

Sound familiar?

Even if it doesn't, you can at least agree that bananas do not fare well when it comes to the staying-fresh-for-long-periods-of-time department.

So what can you do about this? Do we just stick them in the fridge?

Nope - actually, sticking them in the fridge will turn them brown even quicker in most cases. Also, if you live in a dorm, you might not have your own fridge.

Your best bet is simple - don't keep your bananas in the bunch. Keep them separate. They will stay fresh for much longer.

Rather than keeping the bananas together as a bunch, separate them by pulling apart the bunch until each banana is now a single unit like this:

Photo Credit: WallpaperPimper.com

If you want to up the ante - wrap the stems tightly in plastic wrap.

The reason that bananas go bad so fast is that, as they ripen, they undergo a chemical process that releases tons of ethylene gas. This particular gas is released from most fruits as they ripen, but bananas release loads more than other fruits. In fact, bananas release so much ethylene gas that they will cause other fruits to go bad faster if they are kept in close proximity of one another.

So, when you buy your bananas, keep them separate, wrap the stems, keep them away from other fruits, don't put them in the fridge, and keep them in a well ventilated area.