Bananas keep fresh for longer if stored with 1 common ingredient – won’t rot or turn brown (Image: Getty)
Bananas can be a frustrating to store in your kitchen as they will stay green for ages only to and spoil in a few days.
Bananas have a short shelf life because they produce ethylene gas from their stem. This gas is a plant hormone that makes bananas ripen and more flavourful.
Most produces ethylene gas, but when too much is in the air, it causes all produce near it to begin ripening extremely quickly and eventually begin rotting.
Bananas tend to be extremely sensitive to ethylene gas, which is why they should always be kept away from a fruit bowl and alone to keep them fresh.
However, Paula, a mum and cofounder of , has shared that bananas continue to spoil even if you remove their peel, so she has recommended drizzling a little orange juice onto them.
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Bananas often spoil before their time if they are kept in a fruit bowl (Image: Getty)
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Paula said: “In my opinion, to keep your banana slices from turning brown, squeeze some juice from an orange and roll your banana slices in it. Make sure you get the cut ends covered as those will turn brown the quickest.”
It may seem bizarre, but the key to keeping bananas fresh is restricting airflow around them. Oxygen and ethylene will react with the enzymes in the fruit, causing spoilage.
Orange juice contains citric acid, which slows down this process, stopping bananas from browning and spoiling so they stay fresh a little while longer.
Citric acid also stops bacteria from forming on the fruit, which would cause it to deteriorate faster. This will also extend its freshness.
All you need to do is unpeel the banana, chop it into pieces and drizzle some orange juice on them.
The best way to store bananas is in the fridge with orange juice (Image: Getty)
Then place them in a bowl, cover them with clingfilm, and they should stay fresh for much longer.
According to Paula, using this simple method will not change the taste of the banana slices, and you will not notice the orange juice.
She also tried using lemon juice to keep banana slices fresh since it contains citric acid, but she said it changed the flavour too much.
Paula said: “I could very much taste the lemon juice, but when it came to the orange juice, I could barely taste it at all. Honestly, if I hadn’t put the orange juice on there myself, I wouldn’t have known.”