When buying bananas, should you choose a large one or a small one?
Fruit size is one of the characteristics that helps you distinguish whether bananas are good or not, so when buying bananas, should you choose large or small ones?
Banana is a fruit that meets the standards of delicious, nutritious, and cheap, so it is very popular. Therefore, how to choose delicious bananas is something many people are interested in.
When buying bananas, should you choose a large one or a small one?
When buying bananas, many people like to choose larger ones because they think that the larger the banana, the older and naturally ripened it will be, and the better the quality will be because it absorbs more nutrients during the development process. However, that is not really the case.
The size of a banana really doesn’t reflect its ripeness or nutritional quality. In some cases, a banana that is too big can be a sign of using hormones to stimulate rapid growth, not natural growth.
Meanwhile, bananas that are too small can also be the result of some problems during the growth process, such as lack of nutrition or unfavorable environmental conditions. Bananas are small because they do not absorb enough nutrients during growth, cannot grow, are not delicious to eat and do not get many nutrients.
So when buying bananas, should you choose a large one or a small one? It’s best to buy moderately sized bananas. This increases the likelihood of choosing bananas that are properly ripened and have the best nutritional quality and flavor.
When buying bananas, should you choose curved or straight ones?
The shape of bananas often reflects their growing environment. In particular, light has an extremely important impact on the “maturity” of each banana.
Curved bananas are a sign of going through a normal development process and naturally ripening. They receive the necessary amount of light, so the flavor will also be sweeter.
Meanwhile, straight banana fruit can appear due to an unfavorable growing environment or because the banana is harvested early. Bananas harvested early may not be perfectly ripe and are often not as sweet as naturally ripened bananas.
In fact, when young, bananas are usually straight. As they get older, they will tend to curl up to face a good light source. Because the bananas are arranged in bunches, large chambers, and grow in the same direction, the bananas will gradually turn curved.
If you see straight bananas, they probably belong to two categories. One is that bananas grow in poor lighting conditions and cannot face a lot of sunlight so they do not curl. Second, the banana was harvested early.
Harvesting early will help bananas maintain a certain hardness, avoiding bananas from being damaged, broken, or crushed during transportation. People often cut bananas when they are “half ripe, half green” and they will ripen gradually during the process of being delivered to consumers.
Besides, there are also cases where bananas are forced to ripen. However, these bananas are often less juicy than naturally ripened bananas.
Based on the above characteristics, when buying bananas, if possible, you should choose bananas with a naturally curved shape, because they often ensure the best quality and flavor.
How to choose naturally ripe bananas
In addition to the above characteristics, you can rely on the following characteristics to choose naturally ripe bananas:
Observe the stem
If the banana stem is fresh, has a natural color, has a bit of sap, is easy to break, and holds firmly in the hand, then it is a naturally ripe banana, not soaked or sprayed. Bananas that are soaked in juice are often immature, so if left alone, they will take a long time to ripen.
Observe the banana peel
Naturally ripe bananas usually have round, dark yellow, soft skin. When thoroughly ripened, the outer shell often has irregular dark brown spots, the color is dark and light in some places and has a characteristic aroma (strongly fragrant, strong and slightly unpleasant if overripe). Consumers should choose bunches of bananas that are ripe sporadically, meaning there are ripe fruits, green fruits, and the color is not perfectly even.
In addition, when you touch a naturally ripe banana, it will feel soft and evenly soft. When you press it, it will have a slight elasticity, not hard or solid like bananas soaked in chemicals.
Based on fruit flesh
When peeled and eaten, naturally ripe bananas never taste acrid but are very sweet and fragrant. But ripe banana meat pressed with chemicals is still as bland as raw rice and is bland, even a bit astringent.
