keeping bananas in plastic?!

I chatted to a farm shop man whom seemed pretty clued up....he was telling of banana storage and how they often get to England still green, and never manage to ripen cos they're stored too cold...and thats why they sometimes go a gray-green colour and have to be composted.

Anyhoo, this is all good n well, but he told me that upon receiving a box of green bananas, you should leave them in the box, wrapped in the plastic in a warm area , so they sweat until they turn yellow. Also that you shouldn't even open the bag as it lets in oxygen or releases it, or something i cant quite remember..

Hmm....I can see that keeping them in a warm environment is a grand plan, but sweating in plastic?

Anyone have any input here?

I currently have a box of narnas sitting in their plastic wrapper now, and am not sure whether to take it off or not... I had a bad experience of leaving it on a couple o yrs back in the desert for Burning Man's duration...even though the plastic was open, the narnas got sweaty and black quite quickly. This could have just been the extreme temperature though.

ok, i have experimented with this a lot!

Sometimes I keep them in the box in plastic for a day or two, BUT you have to be careful because they have a higher propensity to mold. Though, none of the mold has ever gotten IN the bananas or anything, I just hate mold and don't wanna touch it while peeling my nanas. I feel that it's good to keep them in the plastic if you want them to ripen more quickly, but you do have to be careful, especially because with the way that nanas are packaged the lower row that you can't see ripens more quickly! many times you will have yellow top row and the bottom ones will have started spotting.

but no harm in taking them out, either, you just have to wait a while longer.

Replies

Holi March 7, 2010 at 3:30pm

darn i just dug down to the depths of the box and found loads of them have split open, whilst still unripe.....why do you think this has happened?
Holi March 7, 2010 at 2:45pm

i wonder how long they have sat in plastic for upon transporting, and i wonder why they would pack them up like that if they ripen, sweat and mould so quick in such an environment....hmm..
B March 7, 2010 at 2:11pm

don't do it, they'll go moldy. if you want them to ripen faster put them in paper bags. always store them in a place where they won't get cold (don't leave them sitting in the back of your car if it's cold out either), otherwise as dude says they won't ripen properly.
Ben March 4, 2010 at 5:16am

A ripening banana is the fruit equivalent to a pregnant woman going into labor, they breathe A LOT. Putting bananas in air tight containers will trap the ethylene gas they produce causing them to ripen faster. However, I have recently been buying bananas that come in plastic bags and I have noticed that if I don't poke air holes in the bags, they start to get spotted while still being green. They end up tasting sweet but still having a bit of a planty taste.
- Holi > Ben March 7, 2010 at 2:01pm
  
  interesting guys, thanks for this. i have left the narnas in the bag - occasionally opening it up a while- for about 4days, and nothing much has changed in there. theve gone a bit grey if anything (which i dont like the look of!), but they dont seem to be ripening faster...and im running out!
  hmm i'll see if i can find a massive jar...
Lucas March 4, 2010 at 4:11am

I have had problems with mold when keeping them in plastic for too long so be careful. The mold does get in the banana. But if your like me and you take your bananas with you in a bag to eat for the day, it is not cool to put moldy bananas in there.
Frugivore Freelee March 3, 2010 at 10:06pm

I must say i don't like the idea of keeping them in plastic, too many hormones & plastic fumes flooding into the nana from the plastic.

In a box covered with a cloth in the sun seems to work well X
- Holi > Frugivore Freelee March 3, 2010 at 10:57pm
  
  Nay, I'm not a liker of plastic either. Its pretty cold outside though, free....and the sun doesnt shine into any inside rooms of this house :( bleak i know.... Brink back ThizzleLand!!
hannah March 3, 2010 at 4:31pm

ok, i have experimented with this a lot!

Sometimes I keep them in the box in plastic for a day or two, BUT you have to be careful because they have a higher propensity to mold. Though, none of the mold has ever gotten IN the bananas or anything, I just hate mold and don't wanna touch it while peeling my nanas. I feel that it's good to keep them in the plastic if you want them to ripen more quickly, but you do have to be careful, especially because with the way that nanas are packaged the lower row that you can't see ripens more quickly! many times you will have yellow top row and the bottom ones will have started spotting.

but no harm in taking them out, either, you just have to wait a while longer.
- Holi > hannah March 3, 2010 at 11:00pm
  
  Good point there Hannah, thanks.
  Have you had any instances with buying green bananas and them never ripening because you didnt keep them in the plastic, or enough heat?
  I have always avoided buying narnas green, but that day may well come, so its good to know how to go about it..

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