# Why do bananas ripen so fast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408 "2005-06-22T18:28:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/1 "2005-06-22T18:28:32Z")
I’ve got a banana I brought in this morning sitting on my desk, and over the course of the day I’ve watched it steadily go from a few brown spots to now majority brown. And it seems that whenever I buy bananas from the store, they’re good for two or three days tops. Why do bananas seem to turn so fast, compared to other fruits? Is there any way I can stretch out their shelf life? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/2 "2005-06-22T18:38:16Z")
And also should we keep them in a dry dark place or in the fridge? ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/3 "2005-06-22T18:45:37Z")
You can put them in the fridge. The skin will turn brown all over, but the fruit won’t soften as fast. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/4 "2005-06-22T18:46:35Z")
The ripening signal for most fruits is ethylene gas. Bananas just produce a LOT of it. In fact, if you want to speed up the ripening of some other fruit, throw it in a bag with a banana. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/5 "2005-06-22T18:59:14Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > The ripening signal for most fruits is ethylene gas. Bananas just produce a LOT of it. In fact, if you want to speed up the ripening of some other fruit, throw it in a bag with a banana. A \*PAPER \* bag with a banana. The fruit needs oxygen, too, and a plastic bag won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/6 "2005-06-22T23:27:04Z")
We had this discussion on another board and it seemed there were 2 effective methods to slow down ripening a) store it at a lower ambient temperature, ie: in a cool dark place and not in sunlight. b) buy a banana hanger thing which will suspend the banana in the air. There wasn’t a conclusive reason as to why this works but apparently it does remakably well. ---
**Author:** ![EnderWay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d26b3c/32.png) [@EnderWay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnderWay)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/7 "2005-06-23T00:14:40Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > b) buy a banana hanger thing which will suspend the banana in the air. There wasn’t a conclusive reason as to why this works but apparently it does remakably well. Ethylene is denser then air. So if bananas are place on a counter top/table or whatever, they end up sitting in a pool of thei own Ethylene. Thus they rippen faster than if they are hanging and the Ethylene they produce drops below them. In the fridge on the rack woks best … but I just can’t take the look of the totaly brow bananas even though they’re fine. ---
**Author:** ![EnderWay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d26b3c/32.png) [@EnderWay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnderWay)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bananas-ripen-so-fast/309408/8 "2005-06-23T00:17:08Z")
Err … sorry about the spelling. I’ll have to get better at proofing my posts!