Is there a way to make bananas ripen faster?

[TheRawPilgrim]

I know there are tricks to getting some other fruits to ripen quicker but if there's a trick for bananas I need to know! My husband eats then when they are green :eek: , and sometimes the ones in the store are all so green that no matter how many I get, by the time they are ripe there are only a couple left! Then I go back to the store and they are all green there so it happens all over again :( . I love bananas and would REALLY like to be able to eat them THROUGHOUT the week, not just have one on Friday before grocery shopping :rolleyes:

[roboto212]

Buy 2 bunches of bananas, your problem will be solved :).... Im not really sure on your question, I believe the ripening occurs from oxidation, or lack there of. I know some fruits ripen faster if you put them in brown paper bags, it leeches the moisture from hte outside, and only use brown because it isnt treated with chemicals. Hope that helps somewhat.

[ReneeH]

Here's how to ripen them quickly:

Place bananas in a paper bag with an apple or a tomato.

Fold the bag closed.

The ethylene gas in the apple or tomato will cause the bananas to ripen in about 24 hours.

You can also place a banana in a paper bag with other fruits to ripen them.

Hope that helps!!!!

[TheRawPilgrim]

Buy 2 bunches of bananas, your problem will be solved :)....

Except that I buy at LEAST 4 bunches already :D .Hubby eats them green, so if they don't ripen fast I don't get any as he eats them all before they ripen. Buying more wont help as he just eats more LOL


Here's how to ripen them quickly:

Place bananas in a paper bag with an apple or a tomato.

Fold the bag closed.

The ethylene gas in the apple or tomato will cause the bananas to ripen in about 24 hours.

You can also place a banana in a paper bag with other fruits to ripen them.

Hope that helps!!!!

Thank you! I will try that right now, the ones at the store this time were too green even for hubby LOL, so most of them are still here :D

[Green_Woman]

Here's how to ripen them quickly:

Place bananas in a paper bag with an apple or a tomato.

Fold the bag closed.

The ethylene gas in the apple or tomato will cause the bananas to ripen in about 24 hours.

You can also place a banana in a paper bag with other fruits to ripen them.

Hope that helps!!!!

Oh my gosh, I NEVER knew that. :eek: That's it. I feel a need to do a TON more reading... NOW!

[OnMyJourney]

Thank you so much TheRawPilgrim for asking this question! I bought two bunches of bananas last night and ALL of them in the store were green. I was wondering if there was anything I could do and had planned to search for the answer after work. I'm very grateful for your inquiry!

Thank you Renee for posting the answer!!! I am going to do this as soon as I get home! *hugs* I find that when my bananas are very ripe they sweeten better than any "sweetner." Love me some 'nanas in my green smoothies! :D ...and banana 'ice cream' is the fix for my sweet tooth!

[Tsurugi_Oni]

Here's how to ripen them quickly:

Place bananas in a paper bag with an apple or a tomato.

Fold the bag closed.

The ethylene gas in the apple or tomato will cause the bananas to ripen in about 24 hours.

You can also place a banana in a paper bag with other fruits to ripen them.

Hope that helps!!!!

I don't believe it............It's impossible I've missed this my whole life!

I think Mythbusters is going to get a phone call.......

[streetsurfer]

edited out double post. see the following one

[streetsurfer]

It's true. Learned this in high school horticulture class. You can also force a pineapple plant to flower by doing the same, laying ripe or overripe/rotting apples or pieces around the base and placing a bag over the plant. I believe it is the during decomposition/rotting of the apples, or in the overly ripe stage where they release more of the gas, so to ripen a banana quickly it might be better to use an apple that is softening and on it's way out.

http://tpss.hawaii.edu/pineapple/pinegrow.htm
Forcing your plant

To force your plant, place a small lump of calcium carbide about the size of your little fingernail in the center of your plant and pour a quarter cup of water over it. This will release acetylene gas which will force your plant to flower. To improve your chances of success, it is best to treat your plant in the evening after the sun goes down and temperatures are cooler. (Calcium carbide may be obtainable at a welding shop, garden store, pharmacy or toy store.) You can also 'force' a plant by enclosing it completely in a polyethylene bag together with two ripe apples for one week. The ethylene gas released from the ripe apples will do the trick.

[TheRawPilgrim]

Yay! I got to have bananas for breakfast!!!! They weren't QUITE fully ripe yet, but ripe enough I was willing to eat them :D I had FIVE BANANAS for breakfast today!!!! I've not been able to have more than two in a week :p . Thankfully I'm not that crazy about apples (the only fruit I'd eat for years, so I'm right sick of them LOL) so I had a few older ones kicking around :D (of course I experimented on the ripest bananas I had, so they could have just ripened on their own LOL, I don't know if one day would make that much difference, I should set up several bags for experimental reasons :D )

[Tsurugi_Oni]

So........... to ripen bananas we have to wait to get over-ripe apples :confused: Well that doesn't help........

[DeniseM]

If you don't mind eating banana mush, try squeezing the bananas up (with the peel on) until the banana is all soft and squishy. Wait a half hour or so, then peel open the banana, grab a spoon, and it eat like pudding.

The squeezing speeds up the breakdown of starch in unripe bananas into simple sugars, leaving them sweeter and edible.