To Buy:
Bananas mature off the plant, so choosing green fruit is not a problem. Look for bananas free of bruising and make sure the skin is not split. To eat immediately, pick fruit with a few brown spots, or buy with bright yellow skin and green tips to eat in a few days.
To Store:
Store at room temperature until ripe. To extend shelf life, ripe fruit can be wrapped in a few layers of newspaper and refrigerated. The skin may turn dark but the banana flesh should stay fresh and firm.
Tips & Tricks:
To ripen quickly, place unripe bananas in a brown paper bag with a ripe banana or an apple.
Try eating a banana as a late night snack before bed, as the magnesium and melatonin levels encourage sleep. Bananas produce the natural gas ethylene, a gas which accelerates the ripening process so store bananas in a separate bowl if the rest of the fruit in your fruit bowl is already ripe.
Cooking Tips:
The banana has many uses- peel and eat, or peel and fry, bake or freeze. Eat whole, sliced or mashed. When cutting banana, use a stainless steel knife to avoid discolouration, and coat with lemon juice to prevent darkening.