How to make a banana ripen quickly: The 4 most effective ways

Often the bananas we buy in the store are green and hard. Sometimes this can be disappointing, because their flavor is best revealed when they are fully ripe.

Luckily, there are a few tricks that can help speed up the ripening of your banana, OBOZ.UA writes.

Store them together with other fruits with a high ethylene content

To accelerate the ripening process of a banana, it is recommended to place it next to other foods with a high ethylene content, as it encourages the fruit to begin the ripening process.

Fruits with a high ethylene content are apples, avocados, tomatoes, and melons.

Use the paper bag method

One of the easiest and most natural ways to ripen fruit is to place it in a paper bag on a warm table.

To speed up the process, you can let your other ripe fruits help ripen the others. Put the fruit in a bag with ripe fruit like a banana, pear, or apple. As we already know, these fruits release ethylene, which helps other fruits ripen.

Put them in the microwave or bake them in the oven

Microwaving a banana is a lightning fast way to ripen this fruit quickly. Use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the banana and microwave it for 20-30 seconds, checking each time, until it reaches the desired texture.

You can do the same thing in the oven.

Put the bananas in the freezer

Both very high and low temperatures cause the cells and starch in a banana to break down, resulting in the soft texture associated with ripe fruit. Although it is not the fastest method, this logic also explains why freezing a whole banana (including the peel) and then defrosting it to enjoy it (later) can also be effective.

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