You may have eaten bananas many times in your life, and you may have noticed that they ripen rapidly even when you just bought them a day before. Basically, bananas produce a gaseous plant hormone known as ethylene which initiates and stimulates the ripening process of fruits. When bananas become ripe, ethylene is produced at greater amounts, causing others to ripen. When left unchecked, they go bad. If you want to keep them fresh for longer periods of time, here are 5 ways of how you can do it:

1. Keep bananas on a hanger.

Ever wondered why bananas are always kept on hanger in markets and grocery stores? This is one good way of making bananas stay longer, particularly if the bananas are quite ripe already. This will keep them suspended and away from other fruits to avoid bruises on the peels. Hanging the bananas above instead of placing them on the table or in a tray works, since the ethylene gas which ripens the banana will diffuse to the open space.

2. Take the hand of bananas apart.

One of the easiest ways to extend ripe bananas from going bad is to separate each finger. Sometimes, two bananas are often stuck with each other, and when bananas are kept together, the gas speeds up to ripen the others. When they are separated, low amounts of ethylene gas are generated and released into the atmosphere which makes bananas last longer.

3. Refrigerate the bananas.

The refrigerator is not miracle kitchen equipment for nothing. To keep ripe bananas fresh and last longer, they can be kept for a few days at home but make sure they are stored in a refrigerator. The peels may turn brown in color, but the inside part remains fresh and golden. Bananas stored in the refrigerator can last for a week or two. They can even be frozen indefinitely, but you need time to defrost them if you take them out. When they turn soft, you can actually whip up something delicious: a banana smoothie, cookie or cake.

4. Wrap the bananas in polyethylene bags.

If you want to store several bunch of bananas in your home, sealing them in polyethylene bags extends the life by a week or more at ambient temperatures. If ethylene absorbent substances are included like potassium permanganate, the storage life would greatly be extended for about a month without refrigerating them. Although not a very common practice in households, polyethylene bags actually work wonders in preserving bananas.

5. Hang the bananas in a dark, cool area.

Keeping the bananas away from the heat or sunlight will extend their lifespan. The ultraviolet rays of the sun, along with the warm temperature of the outside environment, can rapidly increase the ripening of most fruits. Find a place in your home that is cooler and unexposed to the sun.

Bananas are great fruits-they are good for your health, they are rich with nutrients, and they make great organic beauty essentials. The downside is that they tend to perish at a faster rate.

These 5 tips actually work, and the ironic thing is that most people are not aware of them. They are very simple, but very easy to do.

Author Bio: Danny loves writing about High cholesterol foods at his blog. If you are worried about your cholesterol then you should also check out this article deadly cholesterol foods to see if there are foods you should be giving up.

Category: Food and Drinks
Keywords: bananas, spoilage, healthy diet, high cholesterol, protein, balanced diet, fruits, fruit diet