Bananas stay fresh for weeks and won't go brown if stored with 1 household item

Bananas make an ideal light breakfast or snack, yet they're amongst the most frequently binned foods in kitchens - with most people storing them incorrectly.

An expert has revealed that bananas should be kept well away from fruit bowls, as this causes them to rapidly turn brown and mushy.

Mandy Applegate, an expert from Two City Vegans: "A fruit bowl is one of the worst places to store bananas since many other fruits, like apples and peaches, also release ethylene gas. Keeping bananas away from other fruit prevents a chain reaction of over-ripening."

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Fruits such as bananas, apples or peaches emit a natural compound called ethylene gas, which ripens fruit so it becomes tender and flavoursome enough for consumption.

When excessive ethylene gas accumulates in the air it will cause fruit to race through the ripening process and rapidly become a rotten disaster, reports the Express.

Bananas are vulnerable to ethylene whilst also producing substantial amounts of it, so to maintain fruit freshness it's advisable to remove them from the fruit bowl and store them individually on the kitchen counter. Simply store bananas away from other fruit and any heat sources such as an air fryer or oven, which should preserve their freshness.

Nevertheless, if you want bananas to last considerably longer, then it's advisable to completely slow their ethylene production using some cling film.

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Mandy explained: "Wrapping the stems of bananas in plastic wrap effectively slows down the room-temperature ripening process. The stems release the ethylene gas, so covering them traps the gas."

"This simple technique can keep room-temperature bananas firm and yellow for longer. Just a small piece of plastic wrap can make all the difference in extending bananas' shelf life."

Bananas emit ethylene gas from their stems, so covering them with cling film or tin foil prevents the ethylene gas from escaping into the atmosphere.

If you remove bananas from a fruit bowl, store them away from heat sources and cover their stems, they should remain fresh for up to 10 days or even 14 days longer than their typical lifespan.