How To Keep Bananas From Ripping Too Fast

Bananas darken for many reasons. When you cut a banana, the oxygen affects the enzymes in the banana, causing the inside of the banana to darken. Dark banana peel is caused by the yellow pigment of the banana being broken down and not replaced, creating a brown color. ^{[1] X Research Source} Knowing the science behind ripe bananas is important to keeping them fresh and edible.

Table of Contents

Preserving Bananas Raw Peeled

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Buy bananas that are green at the stem and yellow in the middle. That means they are not fully ripe.

Make sure the banana doesn’t have any dark spots or damage. Punctures and punctures expose bananas to air, speeding up the ripening process.
Do not choose bananas that are already yellow. Bananas ripen quickly and have a very short shelf life. ^{[2] X Research Source} For that reason, you should buy green bananas; you will have more time to properly store the bananas before they ripen.

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Store bananas at room temperature until ripe. Avoid keeping them near a heat source as this will make the bananas ripen faster.

Do not put bananas in the refrigerator until ripe. This has the opposite effect and causes the banana peel to darken faster. That happens because the cold causes the cell layers to break down prematurely to produce melanin, which makes bananas completely dark. On the contrary, if you look with your eyes, you will see that the inside of the banana is not ripe because the cold limits the ripening process. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Hang the banana on the hook. This way the bananas are not crushed and exposed to the air. You can also wrap banana stalks with plastic wrap. ^{[4] X Research Source} This reduces the amount of oxygen absorbed through the stem and keeps the banana fresh for another week.

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Do not store bananas with other vegetables. Vegetables emit gas that promotes ripening.

Storing produce together can speed up the ripening process. Plants produce their own gas called ethylene, which helps them ripen. Brown vegetables and fruits release more ethylene gas than usual, making fresh foods more likely to cook.
Do not store bananas in sealed bags. This causes the banana to darken faster because the hormone ethylene is not released into the air around the banana.

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Place bananas in the refrigerator after ripening. As ripening takes place, you can safely slow it down with cold temperatures.

To stop ripening, you need to slow down the chemical reaction. Cold temperatures slow down that reaction, causing the bananas to ripen slowly.
Don’t worry if the banana peel is completely blackened, it will always happen. Although the skin pigment turns black, it does not affect the freshness of the banana. Bananas are still delicious and not mushy.

Preserving Peeled Bananas

Place peeled bananas in a sealed plastic bag and place in the freezer. You can defrost bananas for later use.

Although peeled bananas are not protected from exposure to air, sealed plastic bags help limit outside air exposure. Freezing temperature will reduce ethylene emissions more than storing in the refrigerator alone.

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Unlike bananas that are refrigerated, frozen bananas will not be eaten right away. You need to leave the bananas at room temperature for an hour for them to defrost.

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Spread lemon juice over bananas. ^{[5] X Source of Research} The acid coating acts as a preservative and keeps bananas yellow for longer.

You don’t need to soak bananas in lemon juice. Adding more lemons doesn’t preserve them better, it just makes the bananas taste more sour.
For a sweeter taste, you can replace the lemon juice with pineapple, orange, or apple juice. These juices are all acidic enough to reduce browning without further dilution. Apple juice is also mildly acidic; Choose other juices if you plan to mix them with bananas.

Dip the banana in the vinegar solution. This method also uses acidity to preserve bananas but uses vinegar instead of juice.

Vinegar is a great substitute if the juice changes the taste too much. Mix ¼ cup of vinegar in a cup of water. Dip bananas, sliced or whole, in water for three minutes.
Avoid leaving bananas in the vinegar solution for longer than three minutes. Soaking bananas can make bananas soft and heavy with vinegar, less delicious than using lemon juice.

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Dip bananas in a solution of crushed vitamin C. If you don’t have fruit or vinegar, vitamin C has the same effect when dissolved in water.

Crush a vitamin C capsule with a spoon and sprinkle it in a glass of water. Stir the solution and dip the bananas in the water for a few seconds.

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Vitamin C effervescent form is also very effective. Put one tablet in a glass of water. After boiling, you don’t need to stir the water, just dip the bananas right into the water for a few seconds.

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Recipe for Overripe Bananas

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Bake banana cake. Just because you can’t stop bananas from ripening doesn’t mean you can’t use them in delicious recipes.

Banana cake is really the sweetest and most fragrant dish when fully ripe bananas are used. With bananas considered “discarded”, banana cake is often the solution. ^{[6] X Research Sources}
In fact, bananas can last longer than you think. If the bananas are not bruised, have fruit flies or are laid by fruit flies, you can eat them even if they are mushy or bruised.

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Make Biscoff Apple Banana Smoothie. Putting ripe bananas in a blender along with some other ingredients will create a delicious drink.

What you’ll need is one well-ripe banana, half a peeled, cored apple, four Biscoff cookies (available at most grocery stores), a pinch of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, a cup of milk, and a handful of ice.
Place the bananas, applesauce, and Biscoff in the blender first and puree. Add other ingredients and continue blending. You can continuously add milk until the desired consistency is reached.
For more variety, add whole-grain oats or blend them into a smoothie. This will make the smoothie more crispy to help reduce the greasy. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

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Freeze cooked bananas into popsicles (Bananas Foster Popsicles). Banana ice cream is a popular dessert in New Orleans, USA and is very simple to make. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

You need two large, well-ripe bananas that have been sliced thinly; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 1 tablespoon butter; ½ teaspoon cinnamon; ½ cup unsweetened Greek yogurt; ½ cup of milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla; and 1 teaspoon of rum extract.
First, put the bananas, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds until the bananas soften. Stir the mixture well. Let the bananas cool and then put the mixture in a blender along with Greek yogurt, milk, vanilla, and rum extract. Blend these ingredients. Pour the blended mixture into the ice cream mold and place in the freezer for a few hours until completely frozen. Remove the ice cream from the mold when serving. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Warning

Be careful not to ingest spoiled food. If in doubt, discard them.

Steps

Preserving Bananas Raw Peeled

Preserving Peeled Bananas

Recipe for Overripe Bananas

Warning

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