Why Do Bananas Turn Black in the Fridge But Not on the Counter?

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That wasn't even the bad one. A few weeks before that I'd had a banana going spare and stuck it in the freezer, whole, skin and all, because I'd seen someone say you could. Left it three days because I kept forgetting it was in there. Took it out, rock hard, like you could have used it to hammer a picture hook in. Left it on the worktop to defrost while I made tea and by the time we sat down to eat it had gone this horrible pale grey colour, and by the next morning it was black and completely collapsed, sat in a little puddle on the plate. My other half asked what on earth had happened to it. I didn't have an answer at the time.

So I actually looked into it

Turns out the skin going black doesn't mean the banana's gone off, which nobody had ever bothered telling me in however many decades I've been eating bananas. Bananas are a tropical fruit and they hate the cold, properly hate it, and once the temperature drops low enough the cells in the skin start to break down. That's apparently called chilling injury and it's a known thing in food storage, not something I made up to make myself feel better about a black banana.

The one in the fridge, the Tuesday one, I peeled that back before I binned it just to check, more out of curiosity than anything. Underneath the black skin it was completely normal. Pale, firm, smelled exactly like a banana should. I ate it stood at the counter, no bowl, and it tasted fine. A bit sweeter if anything.

The freezer one was different. That flesh had gone soft and watery right through, not just at the skin, because freezing it whole meant ice had formed inside the fruit itself, not just done something to the outside. Still edible technically, my other half wasn't having any of it, so it went in with some yoghurt and frozen berries the next morning and nobody complained.

I did an actual test after that because I'm nosy

I bought a bunch of six the following week specifically to test this properly, because at that point I wanted to know for certain rather than just guessing. Two went in the fridge, two in the freezer, two left out on the side.

By day five the fridge ones had gone patchy black with a bit of firmness to the skin, but peeled open they were exactly the same as the day I bought them. The freezer ones barely looked any different from day two, both black-streaked, but I didn't bother thawing either of them out again after the first mess.

The ones left on the counter never made it to day five. One went in a Tuesday morning smoothie, the other got eaten straight out of my youngest's hand on the school run and I only remember because she left the peel on the passenger seat and I found it three days later.

The paper towel thing that actually helped

Somebody in one of those Facebook cooking groups mentioned wrapping the stalk end in kitchen roll before it goes in the fridge, so I gave it a go with the next bunch. Wrapped the top bit tight in a sheet of kitchen roll, put the whole thing in one of those insulated cool bags we use for picnics, folded the top over loosely rather than sealing it, and put it straight in the fridge.

Skin still went black, that bit I've accepted now isn't going to change whatever I do. But the fruit itself lasted noticeably longer this time, closer to a week rather than the usual three or four days before one of them turned to mush on me.

Then I tried it with the actual insulated bag properly

About a fortnight ago I did the same thing again, insulated bag, wrapped stalk, no seal, because I wanted to see if the first result was a fluke. Took one out today, skin completely black and a bit gunky looking if I'm honest, expected the worst. It hadn't gone soft anywhere though. Peeled it back and the flesh was white, firm, tasted exactly like the ones I'd bought that same week from Tesco. Bit unnerving how normal it tasted given the state of the outside.

What I actually do now

I leave them out until they're properly ripe, wrap the stalk before they go anywhere near the fridge, and I've completely stopped judging them by the skin. If it's gone black I peel it back first and have a look before deciding anything.

How long does yours last before it starts going black? I'm half convinced my fridge is just unusually cold, because three days feels quick to me.

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