Tip of the Week - Banana Ripening

This week's tip follows in suit from last week. Hey...I'm on a banana roll here!!

I know that I said I’d bring this to you at the end of the week LAST week. Okay, I fibbed a bit. Sorry. I wanted to extend the experiment a bit longer to really see the ripening process in action. I’m quite shocked to find out that there was definitely some (a tiny weeny bit) validity behind the “tips & tricks” I found on the internet. Specifically, I compiled the instructions and advice from posts on my Tips & Tricks board on Pinterest (Lifehacker & Instructables).


I have a science background, so I was already aware of the ripening process, but I wanted to break out into experimentation myself!!!

Here is the "bunch" before they were broken into their respective groups. They are about a day old from the date of purchase. I didn't get the picture as soon as I got them!! Oops!

To start, I broke the banana bunch down to three different groups. The first group - the single bananas: 

*Note that I started with two separate bananas but

someone ate one (no names here…ah hem the baby),

so you’ll see two in the before photo but not the after.

The second group is just the bunch, and the third group is the bunch with the plastic wrapped stems.  

Now, I’m not going to go into detail about the different processes, since you can follow the links above  for detailed instructions, but I will show you know what happened…and here is the after!

Honestly, I'm not sure I see much of a difference between any of them!! Here's the group before and after side-by side so you can get a good look:

I conclude that they all ripened at the same pace, despite the suggestions I found. Of course, my environment wasn't "controlled" to the utmost (meaning that the light and temperature sources fluctuated, and the bananas all stayed relatively close to one another), not helping eliminate the chemicals released during ripening. But, all-in-all, for a very unscientifically approached experiment, I can say without a doubt, that no matter if you separate the bananas, or keep the stems wrapped, as long as they are STILL NEAR EACH OTHER, they are going to ripen just as fast as they would if you left them on the bunch in the first place!!! Hahahaha!

I think this calls for a future experiment with more controlled factors to see if it really does work!!

Well, until next week with a new tip & trick and if it works or not!!

Keep on keeping on!!!