Bananas are a staple in most kitchens, often seen in fruit bowls, ready for a breakfast smoothie or a quick post-gym snack. But they also tend to have a short shelf life, turning brown and soft from one day to the next. Despite the fruit’s popularity, many homeowners are still unknowingly storing it in a way that accelerates spoilage.
Traditionally, most people are against chilling bananas, believing that the cold would turn them black and ruin the fruit. However, one curious food blogger ran a viral TikTok experiment that might prove otherwise.
Camilla, the creator behind Fabfood4all.co.uk, is shaking up what we thought we knew about banana storage.
In a popular video, she confessed: “It appears I may have been living a lie my entire life. I was always told that you can’t keep bananas in the fridge because they go black.”
It was a tip from her daughter’s university friends that prompted her to test the fridge theory herself.
Camilla explained: “Last week my daughter told me that all her university mates keep their bananas in the fridge, so I kept these bananas in the fridge for four whole days once they [were] ripe.”
The results surprised her, as, rather than the mushy, overripe fruit she expected, the bananas remained firm, yellow and perfectly edible.
“You learn something new every day,” she pointed out, peeling back a slightly darkened skin to reveal bright, fresh fruit inside.
In a follow-up comment, she added: “I can’t tell you how shocked I am,” and confirmed that refrigerating bananas “definitely extends their life.”
The science behind this hack is that, while banana peels may darken over time in the fridge, the fruit inside remains yellow, firm, and sweet—often for up to two weeks after ripening.
The key is to refrigerate only once bananas have turned yellow, as green bananas won’t ripen in the cold—so make sure to give them time on the counter first.
Refrigeration also helps by isolating bananas from other fruits. In a typical fruit bowl, ethylene gas—naturally released by many fruits—can cause bananas to over-ripen quickly. The cool environment and separation in the fridge slow this process dramatically.