CALIFORNIA, USA — You'd better eat one of the bananas you bought at the store the other day. The clock is ticking.
The bunch is nice and yellow now, but in a few hours, it could look like it went 12 rounds with boxer Evander Holyfield.
So, let's remove the peel and find out why bananas bruise so quickly.
Bananas are among the fruits that continue to ripen even after they're picked. Pears and peaches are a couple of others.
They keep ripening by emitting ethylene gas. The wounds on the fruit will increase the release of ethylene and speed up the ripening, or browning. The act of picking the fruit off the tree will create wounds on the banana.
"When apples or pears are picked, that stem is very small. When they pull bananas off the tree, there's a wound at the stem," Nancy Waldeck, a professional chef and author said. "The more damage there is, the more ethylene is released."
So, bigger wounds on bananas mean more ethylene gas and a faster trip from ripe to rotten.
Bananas are picked by the bunch and when they bang into each other, there's even more damage. Buying a “banana stand” can reduce the conflict.
"Just keeping them separate on a hanger will help you keep them a little bit longer," Waldeck said.
Covering the wound at the top of the bunch can help too. Other choices you have are to get used to eating bruised bananas, make banana bread or when you buy a fresh bunch, eat them quickly.
You may also want to buy your bananas a little green, so they last longer while ripening.
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