Three-step banana storage trick keeps fruit fresh for much longer, food expert claims

Bananas, those sunny fruits that can brighten up a fruit bowl, are often at risk of a short shelf life . But fear not, as there are clever storage tips that can extend the life of your bananas and keep them from turning into brown mush.

While they may look immaculate in stores, bananas have a notorious reputation for rotting rapidly once you take them home. So, where you place these yellow fellows in your kitchen could be pivotal.

You might be tempted to toss them in the fridge to preserve their appeal, but that's not necessarily the winning move, reports the Mirror .

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For those whose banana longevity strategy has always been to keep them cool, Tamika Sims, senior director of food technology communications at the International Food Information Council, offers some ripe advice. Shedding light on supermarket strategies, she told Martha Stewart, "Notice that bananas are not stored in refrigerators in the grocery store."

Before you commit to cold storage, be wary; the US Department of Agriculture alerts us to the dreaded "chilling injury" if bananas get frigid too early, resulting in bitterness and unsightly peel discolorationnot to mention stubborn ripening resistance. Sims guides us with kitchen counter wisdom: " Bananas can be stored on a kitchen counter until they are ripe, and then they can be stored in the refrigerator for at least two days more or until the skin becomes black."

But wait, there's more than one trick in the book for achieving peak banana freshness. Such as the nifty tactic of wrapping the stems of individual bananas after they've broken free from their bunchy brethren.

A Reddit user, u/jashankhela, shared a nifty trick for banana preservation: "Do you want to preserve your bananas for longer? Next time you buy bananas wrap just the part where all the bananas connect (the root) in aluminium foil! Your bananas will stay fresh and yellow for longer! " Another user chimed in with additional advice: "Also cut the fruit leaving as much as possible attached to the root, instead of tearing it from the root."

In another conversation, u/Ltron26 revealed their own strategy for keeping bananas fresh, which starts at the grocery store: "Something I do is, at the store, they usually have a pile of single bananas next to the bunches. "Never buy a bunch just buy a bunch of different singles as they ripen at different paces. You buy a green one that will be ready by Friday, a yellow one that will be ready by Wednesday and a spotty one that will be ready tomorrow."