# If you refrigerate bananas do they become poisonous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 4, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760 "2017-08-04T10:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ianc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ianc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianc)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/1 "2017-08-04T10:18:18Z")
> **[If you refrigerate bananas do they become poisonous?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342555/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous)** > > A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD Not nitrogen, plants turn that gas into proteins, and nitrogen is hard to get in an absorbable form for plants. A lot of fertilisers boost nitrogen. The gas involved in ripening fruit is ethylene. A main part of natural gas, burnt in BBQs and gas stoves and ovens. It is also (really) a ripening hormone for fruit and vegetables. At least here is Australia, it used to be common to “gas” green oranges using piped town gas to turn them orange coloured for sale. Storing an unripe fruit with one producing ethylene will result in speeded-up ripening. A hard avocado, for example, will ripen quickly in a bag of bananas. Conversely, because the ethylene is being used up, the bananas will not over-ripen. On sale here, and presumably many countries, are green coloured plastic bags, which absorb ethylene, thus preserving fruit and vegetables longer in a fridge. Ethylene is also used to make poly-ethylene, the plastic. When first proposed as a plant hormone, many scoffed that such a simple gas (two carbon atoms joined to four hydrogen atoms - nothing like the complexity of other hormones) could be a hormone, but this now fully verified. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/2 "2017-08-04T11:11:56Z")
Remember, there’s always money in the banana stand. ---
**Author:** ![gimme10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@gimme10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gimme10)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/3 "2017-08-04T12:30:55Z")
I haven’t got a clue, because I always leave bananas in the fruit bowl; I never refrigerate them. Some fruits are OK to refrigerate but bananas don’t really need to be refrigerated. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/4 "2017-08-04T12:53:38Z")
> [@gimme10](#): > > I haven’t got a clue, because I always leave bananas in the fruit bowl; I never refrigerate them. > > Some fruits are OK to refrigerate but bananas don’t really need to be refrigerated. You can stop the ripening process by refrigerating bananas. So instead of throwing away half the bunch because they all ripen on the same day you can put them in the fridge when they are just right, a little soft with brown spots, and they’ll stay that way. They will continue to darken in the fridge though. That will help anyone eating a lot of bananas, but I just use the simpler solution of only buying as many as we’ll consume here in a week which is just 2 or 3. And it works out well because my wife for reasons unknown to rational humans prefers unripe hard and still slightly green bananas leaving any that reach the stage of banana nirvana for me. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/5 "2017-08-04T13:20:42Z")
I remember hearing on NPR (Planet Money, I think) about how bananas became so popular in the US, that there was a massive advertising campaign when bananas were first introduced to US grocery stores, including a jingle with the Chiquita banana girl sternly warning that “You must never, ever, ever put your bananas/ in the refrigerator.” It was explained in the story that refrigerated bananas stay fresh longer, but they look less appealing, and the banana companies preferred that your bananas go bad and you buy more than that they look unaesthetically black on the outside. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/6 "2017-08-04T14:10:54Z")
Does ANY food get poisonous if you refrigerate it? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/7 "2017-08-04T16:14:58Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > I remember hearing on NPR (Planet Money, I think) about how bananas became so popular in the US, that there was a massive advertising campaign when bananas were first introduced to US grocery stores, including a jingle with the Chiquita banana girl sternly warning that “You must never, ever, ever put your bananas/ in the refrigerator.” > > It was explained in the story that refrigerated bananas stay fresh longer, but they look less appealing, and the banana companies preferred that your bananas go bad and you buy more than that they look unaesthetically black on the outside. I’m a Chiquita banana, and I’m here to say: Bananas have to ripen in a certain way. When they are flecked with brown, and have a golden hue Bananas taste the best and are the best for you. You can put them in a salad You can put them in a pie-ay! Any way you want to eat them It’s impossible to beat them! But bananas like the climate of the tropical equator So you should never put them in your refrigerator! No, no, no, no. No no no! That’s pretty close, I’m certain, to the jingle. Been singing that for 50+ years now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tilt-A-Whirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@Tilt-A-Whirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tilt-A-Whirl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/8 "2017-08-04T16:40:00Z")
The truly wonderful song and cartoon! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RFDOI24RRAE/hqdefault.jpg "Chiquita Banana The Original Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDOI24RRAE) ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/9 "2017-08-04T16:53:17Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I’m a Chiquita banana, and I’m here to say: > Bananas have to ripen in a certain way. > When they are flecked with brown, and have a golden hue > Bananas taste the best and are the best for you. > You can put them in a salad > You can put them in a pie-ay! > Any way you want to eat them > It’s impossible to beat them! > But bananas like the climate of the tropical equator > So you should never put them in your refrigerator! > No, no, no, no. No no no! > > That’s pretty close, I’m certain, to the jingle. Been singing that for 50+ years now. 😃 That was from memory? Good job! ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/10 "2017-08-04T18:57:55Z")
I can’t _believe_ I gave up animation rights to Mr. Bananagrabber. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/11 "2017-08-06T23:46:23Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I’m a Chiquita banana, and I’m here to say: > Bananas have to ripen in a certain way. > When they are flecked with brown, and have a golden hue > Bananas taste the best and are the best for you. > You can put them in a salad > You can put them in a pie-ay! > Any way you want to eat them > It’s impossible to beat them! > But bananas like the climate of the tropical equator > So you should never put them in your refrigerator! > No, no, no, no. No no no! > > That’s pretty close, I’m certain, to the jingle. Been singing that for 50+ years now. 😃 And may I just say that the headdress particularly becomes you? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-refrigerate-bananas-do-they-become-poisonous/792760/12 "2017-08-07T01:49:14Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > And may I just say that the headdress particularly becomes you? 😃 If only I had those hips!