Not so long ago - some forty years ago - bananas were considered almost a luxury and only wealthy people appeared on the tables.
But the reason was not the high cost of this fruit, but the difficulty of transporting it from hot countries. Already, too quickly beautiful yellow bananas turned into an unsightly mess!
But in the end, the secret of the preservation of this fruit was revealed, and now everyone can enjoy its great taste.
Benefits of bananas
- In bananas there are practically all the vitamins: A, C, B, E, PP, B6, B12, K ...
- Bananas contain useful trace elements: potassium, iron, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus ...
- Bananas produce serotonin - the hormone of joy.
- Eating bananas strengthens the heart muscle.
- Bananas are useful for edema, hypertension, kidney and liver diseases, and for gastrointestinal diseases.
- It is allowed to give bananas to children who have not yet turned a year.
How to choose bananas correctly
On sale you can see bananas of all shades of yellow: from yellow-green to yellow-brown.
Bananas with a peel of a greenish shade still not enough ripe. The fact is that bananas are a rapidly spoiling fruit. And since bananas are on the road for more than one day, they are being pulled off for export in an immature state. During transportation, bananas create special conditions (temperature, humidity) under which they ripen. Ripe bananas have a smooth, beautiful yellow skin, on which there should not be any dents, dark points and stripes. Such bananas are very tasty. But they are not subject to long storage, so they need to be eaten on the same day when they bought it, or, in extreme cases, the next.
Bananas with black stripes or large spots, if not dark-skinned, show their whole appearance, they over-ripened or they were simply stored incorrectly. Inside, they may be brown and too soft. These bananas, though ugly, but quite edible. And of course, they are not subject to storage!
How to store bananas at home
- Bananas are stored separately from other fruits. The fact is that many fruits produce ethylene gas, which contributes to the rapid ripening of bananas. But if you need to quickly turn green bananas into ripe, then, on the contrary, they are put together with an apple in a plastic bag. And in such a tandem, they will soon ripen.
- Bananas cannot be put in a plastic bag. They'll just suffocate and rot there! Therefore, bananas are stored without any packaging. Put in the package only if you need to bring bananas to ripe condition.
- Bananas cannot be put in the refrigerator, because they immediately turn black, no matter what the temperature in the refrigerator. The optimal temperature for storing bananas is 12-14 °. If in the winter in an apartment a room with such a temperature can be found, then in summer it remains only to put bananas in the coolest place where sunlight does not get.
- It is best to store bananas in a state suspended by the tail. Therefore, it is advisable to buy bananas not by the piece, but at least two each, held together. Then it is easier for them to find a suitable place. It is enough to stretch a short rope and just put bananas on it.
- Some banana connoisseurs recommend putting on an improvised food film cap on a banana tail. They believe that in this form bananas last longer.
Can dark and overripe bananas be eaten
These bananas have the same beneficial properties as yellow ones. But since they have already lost their presentation, they can be cleaned and mashed into puree. Such mashed potatoes are the perfect complement to any dessert or pastry.
