The Clever Banana-Buying Trick We Wish We’d Known About Sooner
It's well-known that bananas are an excellent source of potassium, vitamins and dietary fiber, as well as a good source of carbohydrates that can provide a quick energy boost, making them a popular snack for athletes and active people. Bananas can contribute to better heart health, gut health and can also help your digestion.
The problem? Bananas ripen quickly! This is because they produce high levels of ethylene gas, a natural plant hormone that triggers the ripening process. Once the ripening begins, the process tends to accelerate, which means your fruit can go from green to brown pretty rapidly.
You may have tried all of the tricks to keep your bananas from ripening so quickly, but pro cook and TV host @kelseynixon shared a new way to buy bananas that may just change the way you view the tricky ripening process. This is a game-changer!
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Nixon said she saw this trick at a Korean grocery where the store employees were packaging the bananas "at different levels of ripeness."
By packaging bananas in various stages of ripeness, shoppers can choose a bundle that suits all of their needs. Shoppers can pick a package with a mixture of ripe and less ripe bananas so that they have bananas that ripen gradually over the week. Ripe bananas can be eaten right away, while greener ones can be consumed later after they ripen.
This isn't a common practice in U.S. stores, but did you know that you can separate a banana from the bunch? This means that you can choose the bananas that you want and create your own Korean-style bundle!
While a lot of commenters said they do this already, many others were surprised by this trick. We were, too!
"It never occurred to me to get a variety of ripeness! I always just look for ones that are all a little green but then I have to wait a few days and I usually can’t get to them all before they’re too soft," someone commented on Kelsey's Instagram post.
"I buy them a little on the green side, so there is more time before they get really ripe," another person said. That's usually what we do, too, but this new method makes a lot of sense. We get to enjoy bananas all week long!
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