Can you keep bananas in the fridge?

When it comes to bananas in the fridge, ugliness is only skin deep...

Image featured in the Appliances Online blog

Bananas in the fridge turn black and look ugly. Good luck feeding your kids ugly fruit, right?

So, in the usual way, don’t put them in the fridge.

But what if the bananas are getting old, nobody is eating them, and you don’t like wasting food? The good news is, despite its fast-fading good looks, a banana’s flavour and nutritional value won’t be affected by the black peel unless the banana is unripe to begin with.

Why do bananas go black in the fridge?

Bananas emit a lot of ethylene gas, which is a ripening agent (this is why placing other unripe fruit with bananas can help them ripen more quickly). A green banana, a tropical fruit, will stop ripening in a cold environment, but the gas will continue to be released. This will break down cell walls, making the peel turn black. The flesh inside remains the same, though unripe, and it won’t ripen again even if you remove the fruit from the cold environment.

A ripened banana, however, can be popped in the fridge for up to a couple of weeks, and even if the peel turns brown or black, the flesh will be good to eat. If you then peel the banana and cut it up, any fussy eaters should be none the wiser. After all, it's what's inside that counts.

Other options for bananas on the brink

Bananas have gone to all the effort to grow into a lovely yellow smile for you, so it's a shame to let them go to waste. Here are two great options.

1. Freeze and smoothie them

Another great way to preserve bananas is by freezing them for use in smoothies or desserts. Peel the banana and freeze it whole, or slice it into a container so you can easily take smaller amounts at a time.

When you want a quick and nutritious start to the day, just pop a few slices into your blender or nutribullet with some milk or yogurt and any other ingredients you like and you'll have a deliciously creamy brekkie-to-go.

2. Bake them into banana bread

Could there be any more glorious ending for a browning banana than to end up being baked into banana bread? The truth is, despite tricking ourselves it's a type of bread, it's actually a cake.

If you like getting a toasted slice from your local cafe, you'll love this quick and simple recipe to bake a whole loaf at home.

Brilliant Banana Bread recipe

Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas, 1 cup plain flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter (melted), 1 egg, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt.

Method: Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf tin. In a bowl, mash the bananas and mix with the melted butter and egg. In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes.

What's so good about bananas anyway?

Besides being conveniently contained in their own protective wrapper, bananas are a total power food. At about 105 calories a pop, they are perfect for fuelling exercise and physical activity. The less ripe the more starchy and filling, the more ripe the sweeter and more energy-packed.

They are also:

Very low in saturated fat
Cholesterol-free
Very low in sodium
High in dietary fibre
High in potassium
Very high in vitamin B6
High in vitamin C

Knowing all this, you'll never want, or need, to throw away an old banana again!

Sofia Fernandez

Sofia loves to keep things clean. Vacuum cleaners, giant washing machines and jumbo dishwashers happily hum away in her home. Obsessive? Maybe. Passionate about appliances? For sure!