Bananas are usually stored in fruit bowls, but this is actually one of the worst places to keep them in the kitchen to stop them from spoiling.
Katherine Kyle, a food expert and founder of Magical Life Fruit, has shared that one of the storage “secrets” that “nobody tells you” is that bananas should always be kept away from other fruit.
She explained: “Keep your bananas separate from all other fruits including other ripe bananas.
“Fruits let off ethylene gas when they are ripening, so keeping ripe fruit with unripe fruit will cause the unripe fruit to ripen more quickly.”
Ethylene gas is a hormone found in certain fruits that helps them grow, but it can also speed up the ripening process if lots of ethylene-producing fruits are stored together.
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Bananas will also keep fresh when stored in cool temperatures with plenty of airflow, so make sure to take them out of their original packaging from the supermarket and not store them next to kitchen appliances such as an oven or toaster.
Katherine said: “Heat from a bag or a heated room causes bananas to ripen much more quickly.”
If you have unpeeled a banana and wish to try and keep it fresh then try rubbing one teaspoon of citrus juice all over the yellow fruit.
Katherine said: “If you’ve already cut up your banana and want to keep it from going bad, rub some lemon, lime or orange juice over the flesh to keep it fresher for longer.”
Citrus juice disrupts the enzymatic breakdown process and stops bananas without a peel from going brown or mushy.
Following these food storage tips will keep your bananas yellow and spot-free for up to 15 days longer, saving you some money on shopping and cutting down on food waste.
