# Have you bought green bananas that didn't ripen correctly at home? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2017, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139 "2017-11-30T11:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139/1 "2017-11-30T11:24:52Z")
I bought very green bananas a week ago. They were totally green. That’s all they had that day. Normally bananas turn yellow with streaks of green. That’s when they are ideal to eat. These sat on my counter three days and never got yellow. By day four they were still green and had dark spots. Then they turned a dark brown. I ate one yesterday and it was already mush. I just put the entire bunch in the dumpster. I’m so disappointed. I’ve had that problem a couple times before. I don’t know what’s happening. This will be the last bunch of totally green bananas I buy. Have you ran into this problem before? ---
**Author:** ![biometricks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@biometricks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biometricks)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139/2 "2017-11-30T13:01:10Z")
This has happened sometimes with bananas I’ve gotten from Target. I believe it’s because they didn’t expose it to ethylene gas for long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139/3 "2017-11-30T13:06:47Z")
Yep, I’ve had that happen before. Really annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139/4 "2017-11-30T13:51:15Z")
[Previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=829371) (is there anything that hasn’t been discussed here)? As I recall, none of the suggestions really seemed to work (but then, they’d been sitting around a while before I complained). ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139/5 "2017-11-30T14:20:06Z")
Another problem with bananas I’ve occasionally noticed in the last couple of years: In the center of the banana (i.e., along the longitudinal axis), there is a hard core that is difficult to chew. It gets more and more noticeable the farther down the banana you eat. Does anyone know what I’m talking about, and has anyone had a similar problem? It seems to happen more with Del Monte than with Chiquita bananas. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-bought-green-bananas-that-didnt-ripen-correctly-at-home/803139/6 "2017-11-30T17:46:22Z")
ISTR that if bananas are exposed to cold, such as in an unheated warehouse in Winter or something, they will not ripen properly. Something about the enzymes becoming inactive.