How to store bananas – general rules
Store bananas at room temperature for up to 7 days, and with a little effort – up to 2 weeks. If the bananas are green, unripe, they will last up to 2 weeks. For future use, bananas can be peeled and cut into slices – and sent to the freezer.
How to store bananas
Ripe bananas – up to 2 weeks Bananas are
best stored at room temperature – as a rule, after 3-4 days the bananas begin to gradually become covered with dark spots, this is a sign that bananas lose their first freshness, but they will be edible for 2-3 days. When storing, do not leave the fruits in a plastic bag, as this will speed up the spoilage process. To preserve bananas for up to 2 weeks, the stem of each banana must be wrapped with cling film and secured with tape on top. As such, the bananas should be placed in an open-topped box and placed in a cool, dark place, such as a pantry. Simultaneous storage with bananas of other fruits is not allowed, since ethylene secreted by those fruits will accelerate the process of spoilage of bananas.
Unripe bananas – up to 2 weeks
For green bananas to “ripen”, they need to be placed in a cardboard box or paper bag, put an apple or tomato that release the “plant hormone” ethylene to them, and put in a cool dark place. After 5 days, with the help of ethylene, the fruits will ripen.
A bunch of unripe fruit can be hung in the kitchen, only away from the stove and other heat sources. They will become ripe in about 3 days. True, they will be inferior in sweetness to fruits ripened in a cool place.
Store bananas in the refrigerator
Can I refrigerate? You can and should – on hot days. But even in stores, bananas are not stored in refrigerators but open in boxes. The shelf life of bananas in the refrigerator is 5-7 days. Even if the peel begins to darken, it’s okay, the banana pulp will remain edible.
Ways to keep bananas longer
- Freeze (only for ripe bananas). Peel bananas, cut into thin rings. Polyethylene is lined and these rounds are laid out on it in several layers. All this is sent to the freezer for a couple of hours. After the frozen bananas are transferred to a bag and placed in the freezer. Shelf life is six months.
2. Drying. The fruits are peeled, cut into 5 mm thick rings and laid out on a wire rack. Placed in an oven preheated to 50 degrees. Dry with the oven door open for 2 hours. Turn the pieces periodically. The shelf life of the workpiece is up to a year.
