How to Guide for Ripening Bananas

Watch bananas carefully for that short period that the fruit is ripe.

Bananas are sometimes maddening to the consumer who is waiting for them to ripen. It seems the bananas ripen just when it's inconvenient to eat them for one reason or another, or else they all ripen at once and turn black before you have a chance to eat them. Bananas, among other fruits, expel ethylene gas, a growth hormone which causes them to grow at a more rapid rate. Trapping the ethylene gas in a small enclosed space amplifies the effect, speeding up the ripening process.

Things You'll Need

• Brown paper bag
• Damp dishcloth
• Apples

Instructions

1. Place the bananas in the bottom of a brown paper bag. Set the bag up straight and place a damp dishcloth over the bananas.

2. Slip one to two apples into the bag under the damp dishcloth with the bananas. This increases the ethylene gas production and build-up in the bag.

3. Roll the top of the bag down as low as possible where the bananas are resting. Arrange the bag so there is as little space as possible left in the bag.

4. Set the paper bag in a warm room, approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit, in the house. Higher temperatures speed up the effect of the ethylene to ripen the bananas.

Tips & Warnings

• The more bananas that are placed in the bag, the faster the ripening process.

• Bananas ripen as the chlorophyll layer on the outside of the skin breaks down and goes away, allowing the yellow color underneath the skin to show through.

• Place avocados, tomatoes, pineapples or peaches in the bag with bananas to ripen them quickly.

• Hang bananas on a hook to ripen them and avoid bruising.

References

• Fine Cooking; Choosing Fruit That's Truly Ripe; Shirley O. Corriher
• HomeEverAfter.com; How to Ripen Green Bananas; Danelle Ice; February 2009
• Raw Food Health: The Art Of Fruit Ripening