Some people are just learning where in the kitchen you are supposed to store bananas.
In a TikTok video, user @tipperk stored bananas in four different ways, apparently used by people in real life. These included wrapping a wet paper towel around the stem (or handle, according to the “monkey method”), putting plastic wrap around the stem, keeping the banana in the fridge, and just keeping the banana on the side in a bowl with nothing weird wrapped around the stem.
As you’ve probably guessed from previous incidents, bananas kept in the fridge fare the worst, going a horrible shade of brown earlier than their side-dwelling comrades.
The overall winner of this little test was the banana which was kept on the side in the bowl, without anything covering its stem. This fits with general online advice that bananas should be kept on the counter, preferably in a cool and dry place, until they are ripe.
One thing you should know about storing bananas, however, is that they should be kept in solitary confinement. Or away from other fruits at least. This is because they release the airborne plant hormone ethylene, or ethene.
“Bananas make other fruit ripen because they release a gas called ethene,” Dr Dan Bebber, leader of a global food security project on bananas, told the BBC. “This gas causes ripening, or softening of fruit by the breakdown of cell walls, conversion of starches to sugars and the disappearance of acids.”
While some fruits – like bananas – produce ethylene during ripening, others absorb it. Just as it turns bananas brown, it will hasten the ripening and overripening of any neighboring fruits. Hence you should keep bananas on the counter, in a cool and dry place, and well away from your other fruit.
Source Link: People Are Just Now Learning Where You're Meant To Isolate Bananas
