Bananas can stay fresh for up to 16 days when stored in a glass jar in the fridge, according to food storage specialist Amy Cross. The tip comes as households are urged to avoid keeping bananas in fruit bowls, where ethylene gas from other fruits accelerates spoiling.
Why fruit bowls speed up banana spoiling
Bananas are highly susceptible to ethylene gas, a natural plant hormone emitted by most fruits during ripening. Leaving them in a fruit bowl is among the biggest mistakes, as the gas accumulates in that space when bananas sit alongside other ethylene-releasing fruits like apples or pears, prompting everything nearby to deteriorate far more rapidly.
To keep bananas fresher for longer, they should be stored away from other fruits. Transferring them from the fruit bowl into the refrigerator using a simple storage container extends their freshness even further, according to Cross.
The glass jar experiment
Through an experiment, Cross discovered that bananas remained fresher when placed in a straightforward glass jar. Posting on her Instagram account @thecrosslegacy, she revealed: "A jar keeps bananas fresh for 16 days!"
On her blog she elaborated: "If you put a banana in a glass jar with a metal lid, it will stay fresh in the fridge. I used a wide-mouth pint jar. The best results are when you leave the peel on the banana and place the entire half of the banana in the jar."
In the accompanying video, Amy detailed how she bought three bananas and kept two out on the kitchen worktop, while the third she sliced in half and stored in a glass jar inside the fridge. After 16 days, the bananas left exposed were riddled with brown and black blemishes, yet the halved banana appeared remarkably fresh with vibrant yellow skin untouched by any discolouration.
Why the glass jar banana storage hack works
A sealed glass jar creates an ideal environment for maintaining banana freshness provided the peel stays intact. Bananas harbour enzymes which become active upon contact with oxygen, kickstarting the ripening process. While this proves beneficial for firm or unripe bananas, cutting an already ripe banana causes these enzymes to hasten ripening past the soft stage, ultimately rendering the fruit mushy.
Sealing a sliced banana in a glass jar eliminates oxygen exposure, which halts this reaction completely. This method prevents the fruit from becoming excessively soft and developing brown patches. Keeping the peels on also minimises how much banana flesh becomes exposed to air.
Storing your banana in halves rather than chopping it into smaller portions prolongs its shelf life considerably. When you slice a banana into smaller segments, you substantially increase the surface area exposed to oxygen, which accelerates the deterioration of freshness.
