# Bananas and refrigerators **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 1999, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536 "1999-11-02T20:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RavingMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RavingMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RavingMad)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/1 "1999-11-02T20:22:00Z")
Why do bananas stored in 'fridges go bad so quickly, while those left at room temperature age nicely? ## A couple hours at 40 degrees leaves even the hardiest banana bruised and mushy. Why? ~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~ ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/2 "1999-11-02T20:42:00Z")
Well, first I came across [this](http://www.dole5aday.com/encyclopedia/banana/banana_select.html) There was also this statement: > [@](#): > > Storing: To ripen bananas quickly; store in packing box to trap ethylene gas. For slower ripening, open carton and allow eighylene gas to escape; stack crisscross. Store in cool area; avoid drafts, heating vents, and motors. If bananas aren’t used by the time they reach desired ripeness, they may be stored in refrigerator. Skin will turn black but fruit remains edible. Average shelf life 3 to 7 days, depending on temperature and storage conditions. * * * Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/3 "1999-11-02T20:43:00Z")
I’m Chiquita Banana And I’m here to say Bananas taste the best When they’re a certain way When they are flecked with brown And have a golden hue Bananas taste their best And are the best for you. You can put them in a salad You can put them in a pie…EYE Any way you want to eat them It’s impossible to beat them Now bananas like the climate At the very very tropical equator; So you should never put bananas In the refrigerator. [whew] Sorry. Just had to let that out. Somebody open a window. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![RavingMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@RavingMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RavingMad)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/4 "1999-11-02T21:39:00Z")
Mullinator, The statement you quoted (where did you get that, BTW? I couldn’t find it on the Dole site) said, " [Bananas] may be stored in [a] refrigerator. Skin will turn black but fruit remains edible." Edible? I suppose so, but hardly appetizing. Call me crazy, but I think a banana with spots the color of a plum and the consistency of tapioca pudding is pretty nasty! The Dole site you linked to had this line: “You can store bananas in the refrigerator if you want to keep them for a longer time. However, the peel of this tropical fruit will darken. But the banana inside will remain firm and delicious.” All I can say is, “bull!” The banana inside will become smushy and gushy. Doesn’t this happen to anybody else’s bananas upon refrigeration? Am I alone in my banana woes? * * * ~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/5 "1999-11-02T21:46:00Z")
[silently indicates the final stanza in the Chiquita Banana Song] ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/6 "1999-11-02T21:46:00Z")
Hey, ya got me. I can’t actually think of a time I put a banana in the fridge, but I have heard that they turn bad quickly (like your experience). I found the 2nd quote on a food storage site, sorry but I don’t remember the link. Both sites said the same basic thing, but I had my doubts about just how right they were. Just thought I would put up the info I found. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/7 "1999-11-02T22:13:00Z")
I hate to agree with an authority such as Chiquita Banana, but when she says > [@](#): > > I’m Chiquita Banana > And I’m here to say > Bananas taste the best > When they’re a certain way > When they are flecked with brown > And have a golden hue > Bananas taste their best > And are the best for you. she’s full of it. Bananas taste the best when they’re almost green. * * * J’ai assez vécu pour voir que différence engendre haine. Stendhal ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/8 "1999-11-02T22:14:00Z")
By the way, I meant **disagree**. * * * J’ai assez vécu pour voir que différence engendre haine. Stendhal ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 1999, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/9 "1999-11-02T23:32:00Z")
And all us _old_ kids were silently singing I’m Chiquita Banana And I’m here to say Put some rubber in your blubber And you’ll bounce away! ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/10 "1999-11-03T00:12:00Z")
Guess I’m going to have to take the pro-fridge view. I often put bananas in the refrigerator (I used to live without airconditioning–summers play hell on fresh fruit). My experience has been that the peels go dark immediately, but the fruit doesn’t get mushy any faster than at room temp. As for **why** it happens, tho, I haven’t the foggiest. Someone be a good kid and find some cites for us, huh? 😉 -andros- ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/11 "1999-11-03T00:15:00Z")
When I worked produce in a grocery store, all shipments of bananas had to have their temperature taking at delivery. Below a certain tempurature you knew they would turn black in a few days. I don’t remember the temperature, but it was well above freezing. A refridgerator is well below the blacking temperature. They are a tropical fruit after all. ---
**Author:** ![DARKSTAR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DARKSTAR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DARKSTAR)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/12 "1999-11-03T03:58:00Z")
Hey, everyone. This is my first post, so I’m still getting used to the format. I found a site for the University of Florida about the storage and ripening of bananas. It’s at [http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu/txt/fairs/41041.](http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu/txt/fairs/41041.) Sorry that it’s not a direct link, I havn’t quite gotten the hang of doing that yet. Hopes this helps to shed some light on the situation! * * * ~Isn’t ‘Common Sense’ a contradiction?~ ---
**Author:** ![DARKSTAR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DARKSTAR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DARKSTAR)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/13 "1999-11-03T04:00:00Z")
OOPS! I guess it is a direct link. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 1999, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/14 "1999-11-03T04:21:00Z")
Never store your refrigerator in a banana; it makes it soggy and hard to light. Oh, sorry, I guess that clause was from a different joke. Ray ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/15 "1999-11-04T15:10:00Z")
Oh come one, Nano, you KNOW there ain’t no sanity clause. I agree with Arnold; bananas are tastier when they’re yellow-verging-on-green. I’d say the Chiquita company was trying to educate the immigrant classes about the viability of bananas as a food, and figured “Hell, if we can get the Wogs to buy our bananas when they’re overripe, we’ll throw out fewer bananas!” But you know me and my conspiracy theories. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/16 "1999-11-04T15:26:00Z")
Any truth that people need those ‘banana tree’ things? You know a hook so you hang your bananas on so they stay suspended. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/17 "1999-11-04T15:50:00Z")
Handy, it depends on how your family eats bananas. If you eat them before they totally ‘ripen’ (“flecked with brown and have a golden hue” [to the sound of clacking castinets and marimbas]) then it maketh no difference, because the hard skins keep the fruit from bruising just laying on a firm surface. However, once they ‘ripen,’ then the tree things are nice cause bananas will bruise from laying on a hard surface. The real trick with bananas is trying to eat a whole bunch within the time frame that you most enjoy them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrsBWayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MrsBWayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsBWayne)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/18 "1999-11-04T16:03:00Z")
FYI, Bananas are best eaten vitamin-wise when they’re ripe, i.e., a little fleckage is going on. I know, they’re not as tasty, but it’s good for you! Anyway, in my experience, putting them in the fridge turns them black but not mushy. * * * [www.thecats.com](http://www.thecats.com) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/19 "1999-11-05T06:50:00Z")
**U. I.** says: > [@](#): > > I’d say the Chiquita company was trying to educate the immigrant classes about the viability of bananas as a food, and figured “Hell, if we can get the Wogs to buy our bananas when they’re overripe, we’ll throw out fewer bananas!” Weren’t those “wogs” as you so charmingly call them the people that would be more familiar with bananas? I would imagine it’s the honkies that needed the song! * * * J’ai assez vécu pour voir que différence engendre haine. Stendhal ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 1999, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536/20 "1999-11-04T19:27:00Z")
The immigrant classes of the time of the jingle’s composition would have been eastern Europeans both Jewish and gentile, Italians and other mediterraneans, etc. I used “Wogs” because the use of a term so loony, so evocative of the Colonel Blimp classes of Britain (as in "Let’s give the Wogs a whiff of the grape), might be construed by some as humorous. “Wog” being an derogatory acronym used by the Imperial forces of Britain during their occupation of India, standing ironically for “Worthy Oriental Gentleman.” Arnold, if you are actually a Wog, I offer my humblest apologies for giving offense. – Uke. “The joke is…” – Charlie McCarthy [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bananas-and-refrigerators/4536.md?page=2)