- Choose the Right Bananas: Opt for green or greenish-yellow bananas at the store. These will ripen gradually, giving you more time to use them. Avoid green bananas with dark spots or abrasions.
- Remove the Bag: If your bananas come in a bag, remove it immediately. Storing bananas inside a bag accelerates ripening due to the ethylene gas they emit. Ethylene is produced by many fruits and speeds up ripening, so it’s best to avoid trapping it.
- Wrap the Stems: Bananas emit ethylene gas from their stems, which can cause them to ripen faster. If your bananas aren’t pre-wrapped, either wrap the whole bunch of stems in plastic wrap or separate the bananas and wrap each individual stem. This prevents the ethylene from affecting the fruit.
- Divide and Conquer: Wrapping the stems as a bunch is a good start, but gaps between the stems can still allow ethylene to escape. Divide your bananas and wrap each stem individually to keep them fresh longer.
- Separate from Other Ripe Fruits: Since bananas produce ethylene, keep them away from other ripe fruits. However, storing them next to unripe fruit can slow down the ripening process.
- Store at Room Temperature: Bananas bruise easily and ripen quickly in closed containers. Store them at room temperature with good airflow to maintain freshness.
Let’s look at the differences between green bananas and plantains:
- Appearance:
- Bananas: Bananas have a thinner skin and are usually longer and slender. When ripe, they turn yellow.
- Plantains: Plantains are larger, tougher, and have thicker skin. They can be green, yellow, or very dark brown when overripe.
- Taste and Texture:
- Bananas: Sweet and soft when ripe, suitable for raw consumption or desserts.
- Plantains: Starchier and less sweet when green. When ripe, they become sweeter and are often used in savory dishes after cooking.
- Nutrition (per 100 grams):
- Bananas: 89 calories, rich in potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, and fiber.
- Plantains: 122 calories, higher in vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium than bananas.
Do bananas brown faster in the fridge
The reason lies in their sensitivity to low temperatures and humidity. When stored in the cold, dry air of the refrigerator, enzymes responsible for ripening are inhibited, but structural processes in the banana skin are also affected. As a result, the skin becomes damaged and releases browning enzymes, leading to the familiar brown color. If you’ve accidentally left bananas in the fridge and they’ve turned brown, don’t worry—the flesh should still be good as long as it hasn’t been more than a week and wasn’t overripe. However, if the flesh has also browned, it’s best to discard it.
Is A banana a fruit or a Vegetable
Botanically speaking, bananas are considered berries. Despite their common classification as a fruit, they fulfill the requirements of botanical berries. Here’s why:
- Fruit Classification:
- Fleshy vs. Dry: Fruits are sweet, seed-holding structures of flowering plants. They can be fleshy (like apples and cherries) or dry (such as nuts and coconuts).
- Berries: Berries are a subcategory of fleshy fruit.
- Bananas: Surprisingly, bananas are botanically berries because they develop from a flower containing one ovary, have soft skin, fleshy middle, and contain seeds (though they’re small and often overlooked)
- Not Thought of as Berries:
- Most people think of berries as small fruits like strawberries or raspberries.
- Bananas don’t fit the typical berry image, but they meet the botanical criteria.