Red bananas, what to do with them, ripen them

How to choose good and tasty bananas

Different bananas have different beneficial properties, depending on the degree of ripeness.
For example, ripe fruits are higher in calories than green ones. However, unripe fruits contain more sodium. To make your choice, you should pay attention to the following points:

1. Spots on the peel are a sign of ripeness. When purchasing, you need to take into account the fact that such fruits will turn black within 2 days. If there is mold on the peel, this indicates improper transportation of the fruit and you should not purchase it.

size 2. It is believed that the highest quality fruits are those larger than 20 cm. But you need to remember that their taste is no different from smaller bananas.

3. Smell. Ripe fruits have a rich, pleasant aroma.

4. The peel must be intact, without a torn tail. It is not recommended to buy fruit with a burst skin or a rotten stem.

5. Color. Ripe fruit has a bright yellow color. You should not buy fruits with pale skin.

6. Ripe bananas have a more rounded shape and feel firm and elastic to the touch.

7. Location. It is believed that the most delicious fruits are in the center of a banana bunch. If a person needs to buy 1-2 pieces, then they should be picked from the center.

Few people know why stickers are put on fruits. Firstly, this is done so that buyers remember the supplier's brand. Secondly, stickers with codes are placed on some fruits. If there is a marking on the peel with a code containing 5 numbers starting with 8, then these products contain GMOs.

Before purchasing, you should not only inspect the integrity and appearance of the fruit, but also read the text on the stickers.

If food is purchased for a holiday, then you need to take ripened bananas so that guests do not have to eat unripe fruit.

How to store green bananas

Fruits have an unpleasant tendency to spoil quickly, this is due to their incorrect storage on supermarket shelves. Many people buy bananas that are initially unripe in the hope that they will last longer. However, this decision is wrong. Even green bananas can turn black in one day, so it is important to follow certain rules for storing them.

1. Don't buy bananas that are too green. Of course, the peel can have a similar shade, but without much saturation.
2. The optimal temperature range is considered to be between 13-18 degrees. However, you should not place bananas close to the wall, especially if your refrigerator is tightly packed. Give preference to boxes designed for fruits and vegetables; they are sufficiently airtight, but at the same time allow the necessary amount of oxygen to pass through.
3. Place bananas in a paper bag, add 3-5 unripe apples, which will absorb ethylene, which promotes rapid ripening. Due to this, the apples will ripen earlier, and later you can replace them with new ones.
4. If you're not of the opinion that bananas need to be refrigerated, place them on the kitchen counter. Take a wide saucer, divide the bunch, place each fruit separately at a certain distance from each other.

Standard shelf life of bananas

The shelf life is determined by their maturity. For example, in specially equipped chambers the storage period can reach up to 2 months or more.

If you store bananas at home without putting them in the refrigerator, the fruit will begin to turn black the very next day. The shelf life of fruits can easily be extended to 7 days if you approach the storage issue correctly.

Green fruits, due to their immaturity, are stored longer than yellow ones - about 2 weeks. However, they can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

On a note

What else should you know about storing bananas? We offer a selection of additional tips and interesting facts:

1. Due to artificial heat, bananas do not ripen and immediately begin to spoil. The same thing happens when exposed to sunlight. That is why they are stored in a cool and dark place.
2. There are stands with a hook for storing bananas on sale. The bunch is easy to hang on a special stand. This looks beautiful when serving the table and extends the shelf life of the fruit.
3. If there are flies in the house, then bananas should be placed in a paper bag and tightly closed. Insects will not refuse to feast on the yellow peel.
4. If the bananas are slightly blackened, then they can no longer be served whole. But the pulp is quite suitable for making sweet pastries, purees and other desserts. The main thing is that there are no signs of mold on the peel.
5. Banana is one of the most high-calorie fruits. However, it is a source of vitamins A, E, group B and minerals: potassium and magnesium. It is also a high carbohydrate product, which makes it ideal for breakfast. However, nutritionists do not recommend eating only one banana on an empty stomach. Classic - oatmeal with banana.
6. The pulp contains serotonin, known as the hormone of happiness. That is why it is recommended to eat a banana every day.
7. All nutrients are most concentrated at the stage when the banana peel has a perfectly even yellow color. Green fruits are difficult to digest due to their high starch content, so you should wait until they ripen.
8. Interestingly, banana fruit is used not only for cooking, but also for cosmetic purposes. All you have to do is cut the fruit into slices and apply it to your face to create a refreshing mask. And banana peel is used to treat inflammation and burns on the skin.
9. We can't help but remember the infamous banana peel, which is easy to slip on. Do not leave scraps on the floor or throw them on the sidewalk.

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A fruit such as banana has a number of storage requirements. Of course, not all conditions can be created within an apartment, especially when it comes to temperature and humidity. But ensuring the circulation of air currents and the absence of sunlight is quite affordable. The advantage is that even a slightly blackened banana is edible and can be used for its intended purpose by a skilled housewife.

How to store ripe bananas at home so they don't turn black

In stores, to increase shelf life, they use a dishonest method - they are treated with special gases. This does not affect the taste, nor does it affect the properties - the gases are not able to penetrate deep under the skin. However, as soon as bananas are at home, they quickly turn black. So what's the catch? Interestingly, storing bananas at home is not difficult.

The first rule is to quickly remove the bundle from the cellophane packaging. A greenhouse effect is created inside the bag, so that the fruits do not so much turn black as rot and greatly deteriorate in taste.

In order to understand the whole process and store bananas longer, it is worth remembering the terms and conditions for storing fruits.

Factors affecting the shelf life of bananas

The more seriously you choose your fruit, the longer it will last. Initially, choose only healthy fruits in the store that do not show signs of damage or a strong, cloying odor. Refrain from buying fruit on sale or buy it only if you know for sure that the bananas will be eaten in the near future. The skin of the fruit should be yellow, and the flesh should be firm to the touch; your fingers should not sink into it. In the future, the shelf life of fruits is influenced by the following factors:

• temperature. The ideal temperature range is between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius. The higher the temperature, the faster the pulp will ripen, and eventually its decomposition will begin. At lower temperatures, the fruit begins to freeze and loses its taste;
• humidity. It should not be too high, more than 90%. The optimal humidity value is from 60 to 80%. Too dry air can cause dry pulp, but, on the contrary, with high humidity, fruits begin to rot and deteriorate;
• lighting. You should not store fruits in direct sunlight, as it will provoke the fermentation process. The exception is unripe fruits.

How to store bananas without peel

This method allows you to store peeled bananas at home - both in the freezer and on the refrigerator shelf where fruits and vegetables are stored.

1. Place peeled fruits in the freezer in portions, placing them in vacuum or regular plastic bags (just remember to remove the air from the packaging).

   

2. Before putting the “stripped” fruits on the refrigerator shelf, each of them is wrapped in cling film. Make sure that the bananas are in one row (not on top of each other) and separate from other foods.

Cause of blackening of the skin

Many are starting to blame supermarkets for the blackening. They say that careless sellers transport fruits incorrectly and then store them, which eventually spoil and turn black. Is it any wonder that black bananas are unwelcome guests in housewives' baskets? Many people prefer to buy green-skinned fruits, leaving a valuable and tasty product on the shelf. Yes, yes, it is the blackened fruits that many nutritionists call the most beneficial for humans. It turns out that in such fruits the sugars change their composition, becoming better in terms of banana digestibility by the cells of the body and the gastrointestinal tract.

From a chemical point of view, everything looks simple: polyphenols are formed inside the peel over time - substances that change the color of the fruit. As a result, the presentation of the product deteriorates, but its value, on the contrary, increases many times over.

Although not everyone likes such fruits, considering them too sugary.

How to preserve bananas for several months?

This is possible! tip number 5 comes to our aid

We cut the ripe fruits, pack them in bags and containers and put them in the freezer. In such conditions, bananas can be easily stored for several months, and they can be used for desserts, cocktails, and added to porridge or baked goods.

Image source: pixabay.com

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Why bananas can't be stored in the refrigerator

Among the reasons why exotic fruits turn black, experts cite the breakdown of an enzyme such as polyphenol oxidase. It begins to disintegrate at temperatures below 9 degrees Celsius. And this is one of the arguments against storing fruit in the refrigerator.

Some experts are sure that it is impossible to store bananas in the refrigerator without them turning black. The process will start in the refrigerator chamber, and if the fruits are taken out and placed in the room, it will speed up exponentially.

Others believe that if the skin is already covered with black dots and marks, then such fruits can be placed on five to seven in a household unit. Indeed, despite the breakdown of the enzyme, cold slows down the production of ethylene, which accelerates ripening. This means that the texture and sweetness will be preserved.

Another way to store bananas at home is to dry them. In the form of dried fruits, they will delight you for a long time and will not spoil for several years. The drying process is carried out using an oven, air fryer or electric dryer.

Main reasons

Whether bananas should be stored in the refrigerator or not is a difficult question. It requires detailed consideration. Experts name the following reasons that prohibit keeping fruit in the cold:

• The low temperature maintained in the refrigerator causes the skin of the fruit to turn black and its pulp to turn into mush.
• A banana rots faster in such conditions.
• A sharp change in temperature negatively affects the content of vitamins and other useful substances in a natural product.

If there is a banana in the house, but its storage does not meet the standards, then it will soon become unfit for consumption. Most likely, the fruit will turn black. And this will happen very quickly.

Note! The presence of black spots on the banana peel indicates its ripeness.

Consequences of improper storage of bananas

They say that bananas can be stored in the refrigerator. A fairly common opinion, but in reality it is incorrect. This is confirmed by the facts derived by experts, which explain why bananas cannot be stored in the refrigerator.

Important! You can find out where to store bananas from thematic reference books. They provide information on optimal storage conditions for exotic fruits. It is required to maintain air humidity no more than 35%, good circulation and temperature within 22-26 degrees.

To decide whether bananas can be stored in the refrigerator, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the optimal conditions for keeping these yellow fruits. The refrigerator compartment does not provide them, so it is best not to place them there.

Neglecting this recommendation leads to rapid rotting of the fruit due to their accelerated ripening. Also, bananas are deprived of more than 80% of the beneficial substances contained in their composition.

What are the best places to store bananas?

Now it’s clear why bananas cannot be stored in the refrigerator. All that remains is to find out where it is best to keep them in order to preserve the fruits’ suitability for food longer. The following recommendations can help you find out:

• It is best to store bananas in the pantry or on the bottom shelf of one of your kitchen cabinets.
• It is allowed to store fruits in the refrigerator for several hours if they have been cut into pieces.
• You can keep bananas in the refrigerator if the room is very hot.

If there is a need to store bananas in a refrigerator, then you should adhere to the optimal terms for keeping them in such conditions. They are only 1 day.

Sources

• https://miruspehinfo.ru/recept/produkty/kak-xranit-banany.html
• https://fructberry.ru/frukty/kak-hranit-banany
• https://vcusnyatina.ru/sovetyi/hranim-bananyi-doma-pravilno.html
• https://profhranenie.ru/kak-hranit-banany
• https://KeepOK.ru/kak-hranit-bananyi
• https://zen.yandex.by/media/id/5d1df2b4edee3600ad201589/5-sovetov-kak-hranit-banany-doma-chtoby-spelye-ne-cherneli-a-zelenye-dozreli-bystree-5df645be1a860800aeadb24c?feed_exp=ordinary_feed&from= channel&rid=2170626012.496.1580165753376.67749&integration=publishers_platform_yandex
• https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5b0d0d7e1410c39c24fac83d/5ce047c054a96300b3486bbf

Cold storage

This method is the most common. Cold air will help slow down the circulation of ethylene and the freshness will last longer. In this case, it is desirable to create conditions in the refrigerator chamber that are close to ideal for storing this product. To do this, bananas are placed in a paper bag in a vegetable drawer. It is advisable not to place other ripe fruits nearby. Do not use polyethylene for wrapping.

If you have a lot of bananas, you can freeze them. This method is suitable for housewives who prefer to use these fruits in the form of puree to prepare fillings for pies, pastries, smoothies and other dishes. When frozen, the fruit will retain all its beneficial properties and shape. For freezing you need:

1. Remove the peel from the fruit.
2. Place uncut in plastic bags.
3. Seal the bags and place in the freezer.

In this form, fruits are stored without losing their properties for up to three months. Therefore, it is recommended to sign the package to be sure of the accuracy of the deadline. To defrost bananas, remove them from storage and leave them in their package to thaw at room temperature.