Keep Your Bananas Fresh with These Simple Hacks

They're yellow, delicious, and packed with energy, and we can enjoy them year-round – bananas.

Bananas are a tasty and easy-to-eat fruit that we like to enjoy when they're not too hard and not too soft. Even though very ripe bananas are great for cakes and pastries, we often prefer them in-between and sometimes they ripen too quickly.

So what can you do? Here are some tricks to help you keep your bananas perfectly ripe.

Start at the supermarket. If there are cuts on the peel, the banana will darken faster. Choose blemish-free fruit and make sure there are no cracks.

When you return home with a fresh bunch of bananas, separate them and wrap the end of each banana tightly with cling wrap. Bananas release a natural gas called ethylene, which affects them and all surrounding fruits and vegetables. Therefore, it’s best not to place ripe avocados next to bananas. Most ethylene is released from the top of the banana, and by wrapping this area, we delay the ripening process.

Another method for optimal banana preservation is to rinse them with water to remove the natural ripening substance on their surface. Then, dry the fruit with a paper towel. Again, wrap the stem of the banana, but with a wet paper towel, to reduce the amount of ethylene the banana releases.

And here's something you might not know – once the banana is ripe and you want to keep it that way, put it in the fridge. The cold will maintain its freshness, and even if black spots appear on the peel, the banana will still be tasty and yellow inside.