It may seem obvious to keep bananas in a fruit bowl but this is actually one of the worst places to store them as it will cause them to spoil and become mushy quickly. Most people do not realise that most fruits produce a substance called ethylene gas, a natural growth hormone responsible for making fruit ripen so it becomes much more flavourful. When too much fruit is piled on top of each other it will release too much ethylene gas into the air, which will cause all nearby produce to expire at a faster rate and become rotten within days.
Bananas already have a short lifespan and are not only extremely sensitive to ethylene gas but release a lot of it from their stems, so it is best to keep bananas far away from other fruit if you can. The experts at Zest Food Service have shared that you can store bananas next to citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons as they are unaffected by the gas, but other fruits without a protective peel should not be stored with bananas. They explained: “The ethene which bananas release can affect many other fruits, such as apples and pears, which is why you should keep the bananas separate from these fruits unless you intentionally want to ripen them quicker.
” Bananas should also not be stored next to avocados unless you want to ripen them quickly, and should also be kept away from honeydew, mangos, peaches and plums. Instead, if you wish to keep bananas fresh then it is best to place them in a separate bowl away from your fruit bowl and then .
