5 mistakes you should avoid at all costs when eating bananas

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Hardly any other type of fruit is eaten as much in Germany as the banana. However, very few people think about properly handling the yellow fruit. Yet the list of things we do wrong with bananas is relatively long.

Whether it’s a convenient fruit on the go or a sweet addition to cereal, the yellow fruit is delicious, healthy and versatile. It’s not for nothing that Germans eat an average of eleven kilos of bananas per person per year.

Mistakes we make with bananas
They are full of vitamins and keep you full for a long time. If you care about your health, you should eat bananas regularly. However, some mistakes should be avoided.

Mistake No. 1: Conventional bananas and unwashed hands
Conventional bananas are grown in pure monocultures, with massive use of pesticides, which can negatively impact health.

Öko-Test even called bananas the pesticide world champion and proved that conventional fruits are consistently contaminated with harmful substances. Anti-mould agents on the peel are supposed to prevent the bananas from rotting prematurely during transport.

Via the detour of the hands with which we peel them, residues can get into the mouth and harm the body. Therefore, the Bavarian Consumer Center advises constantly washing your hands after peeling a banana and giving children only peeled bananas.

Mistake No. 2: Wrapping bananas in plastic
Bananas naturally have a thick skin that provides optimal protection for the fruit’s sweet contents. Unfortunately, people’s packaging mania sometimes overshoots the mark.

In German supermarkets, bananas are often packed in plastic bags to distinguish organic bananas from conventional ones. This procedure causes a lot of waste and harms the fruit.

The plastic film ensures that the fruit inside ripens faster. The bananas should be removed from the packaging at home to avoid premature rotting. However, it is best if they end up directly unpackaged in the shopping cart.

Mistake No. 3: The wrong storage of bananas
Bananas should not be stored in the refrigerator because refrigeration stops ripening. It is best to keep them at average room temperature and hang them on a string or hook to be evenly ventilated.

Bananas should also not be stored directly next to apples. According to the world, apples emit the plant hormone ethylene, which stimulates other fruits to ripen prematurely or even rot. The mixed fruit bowl also looks pretty, but to keep bananas fresh for as long as possible, it’s better to keep a distance of 50 centimetres from the nearest apple.

Mistake No.4: Peeling bananas incorrectly
If you’ve ever watched monkeys peel a banana, you know that they open the fruit from the bottom to eat it. Does this mean the hairy primates are one step ahead of us in this regard?

The monkeys’ method is a lot more practical. Everyone knows the problems when opening the banana from the stem. If, on the other hand, you start from the bottom, you won’t have to deal with annoying strings or a squished tip.

Mistake No.5: Throwing away brown bananas
The longer a banana sits around at home, the browner it gets. Many people assume that brown bananas are wrong and throw them in the trash. Yet the fruit in question is usually still edible and has many uses.

A particularly suitable solution for very ripe bananas is to freeze them and use them later. Otherwise, they can also be processed directly into a delicious smoothie, banana bread, or muesli.