ricklev Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) It seems that in the last year or so the bananas I buy that come in plastic bags seem to very often go from unripe to soft and mushy in a very short time. They look ok when I buy them but quickly go bad in just a day or so. I don't recall ever having this problem before. I remember reading that banana prices in Thailand have been affected by shortages due to greater cultivation of Cavendish bananas for export and I wonder if this is related somehow. Just curious if anyone has had this banana problem and if anyone knows why? Edited March 30, 2017 by ricklev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Yes. Don't know why. It's not totally new to my experience though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace of Pop Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 I can tell you why,they use gas to ripen them ..any further detail I'm sure the Off Grid members who post in Farming know exactly what Gas n how. Good post.[emoji529][emoji529]Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeniau96 Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Our home bananas, several different types, take several days and often a week to get squishy. No change so the gas ripening seems likely suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannot Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Bananas dont last long at the best of times, I have 4 varieties here and can never eat them fast enough so give most away to an old biddy who cooks them and sells them...I get the odd free bag. About 5-6 days from green to mush, depends on variety but I do keep them indoors at about 25c which should slow them down a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) Well, if they're not the fast mush kind, you can take the JUST ripe ones and refrigerate and they will still not be mush for a week or so even though the skin turns black. The fast mush ones treated the same way go total mush much quicker. There is a level of mushiness that I will still eat as it's still OK in breakfast cereal. Total mush of course is bin worthy but I guess you could still use those for banana bread or something like that. I'm big on the health benefits of bananas so I feel I need a big ol' banana every day. It's not always easy having an edible one in stock. Edited March 30, 2017 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace of Pop Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 They use Carbide rocks,releases Acetaline type gas.Cover banana with gas stone underneath for 2Nights.They do same with Mango Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaipod Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 I try not to buy bananas at the Dept store as most have been gas ripened and buy from the local markets or the side of the road,and only buy small amounts 3-4 for 15-20 baht so they can be consumed without waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grollies Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 5 hours ago, kannot said: Bananas dont last long at the best of times, I have 4 varieties here and can never eat them fast enough so give most away to an old biddy who cooks them and sells them...I get the odd free bag. About 5-6 days from green to mush, depends on variety but I do keep them indoors at about 25c which should slow them down a bit Keep them away from other fruit also as they seem to accelerate the ripening of things like apples. That was for shop-bought 'nanas, dunno, might be something to do with the processing having an effect. Same as @kannot can't eat ones at home quick enough. Hang 'em up also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Ripening is one thing. Going from ripe directly to total mush very quickly is another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovelomsak Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) We have a few kinds of bananas at our house. It seems to me this happens 2 different ways. The biggest factor on going mushy is when the bananas were picked. By this I mean what stage of ripeness. Too early and they will start being mushy before they are even ripe. Harvest to late and as soon as they are ripe they start to go mushy,these ones will be mushy in 24 hours. If the farmer harvests at the wrong time the consumer has mushy bananas. Edited March 30, 2017 by lovelomsak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieeyed Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 If you break the bananas off the bunch and keep them individual they will ripen slower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grollies Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 3 minutes ago, pieeyed said: If you break the bananas off the bunch and keep them individual they will ripen slower. You are right. I normally take the whole bunch from the tree and hang it on the veranda. They ripen from top down. Anyone who visits helps themselves. I can normally get through a bunch by the time the bottom ones are going black. Last bunch I cut into hands as wifey said she'd sell them. She didn't and they all ripened at the same time. I can eat up to 6 small ones a day but couldn't keep up and eventually fed the rest to the chickens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 We have a few kinds of bananas at our house. It seems to me this happens 2 different ways. The biggest factor on going mushy is when the bananas were picked. By this I mean what stage of ripeness. Too early and they will start being mushy before they are even ripe. Harvest to late and as soon as they are ripe they start to go mushy,these ones will be mushy in 24 hours. If the farmer harvests at the wrong time the consumer has mushy bananas.Good banana management is essential in hot weather. I stick them in my air conditioned bedroom at night. The too ripe ones can be refrigerated or frozen to use in smoothies.Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thongkorn Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Heat will quicken bananas to go ripe. Try putting them in a cool place and separating them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricklev Posted March 31, 2017 Author Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try separating them etc. What I was wondering about was whether or not others have noticed a similar trend in the bananas in plastic bags going from slightly ripe to completely mushy in a day or so? They didn't used to do this, or at least not so much that I noticed, so I'm curious if there has been some change in the way they gas them for ripening or harvest them. Lovlamsak suggests that it is related to when they are picked and I wonder what the economic reason for that might be. Of course maybe I've just had a long run of bad banana luck! Edited March 31, 2017 by ricklev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeniau96 Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I like to take ripe (not mushy) banana, simply wrap in kitchen plastic wrap then freeze. Take out next day onward and have excellent cold snack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 As soon as one banana starts to turn from green it has already started to emit a gas that has started all the others. Even if you split them up after that point they will all fully ripen at the same time. Keeping them cool will slow it but won't stop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Am I a sucker for an urban myth? I thought the reason to keep the bananas in a plastic bag was to slow down the ripening process by keeping out oxygen. Then when you open the bag, they ripen faster. Whenever I buy 3 or 4 bags at Foodland, I open them one bag at a time and the others don't seem to ripen as fast. Obviously that wouldn't work on bananas bought unsealed from the street. Or have I been misled in the name of banana profiteering? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 On 30/03/2017 at 2:30 PM, Ace of Pop said: They use Carbide rocks,releases Acetaline type gas.Cover banana with gas stone underneath for 2Nights.They do same with Mango Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect A few ripe bananas releasing their own ethylene would kick of the ripening and would be cheaper I reckon. C2H4. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace of Pop Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 The stones release ethylene, its cheap, accurate n roadside sellers like it to catch the busy traffic days passing trade round here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 11 hours ago, Ace of Pop said: The stones release ethylene, its cheap, accurate n roadside sellers like it to catch the busy traffic days passing trade round here I thought calcium carbide released acetylene? Used in the very old type miners lamps. Maybe both gases have the same effect. Back to the chemistry books I reckon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace of Pop Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 It goes Bang,same stuff Village Kids put in Bamboo pipes to make Mud Guns.[emoji378]Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 5 minutes ago, Ace of Pop said: It goes Bang,same stuff Village Kids put in Bamboo pipes to make Mud Guns. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect acetyline lamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOUTHERNSTAR Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 On Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 2:30 PM, Ace of Pop said: They use Carbide rocks,releases Acetaline type gas.Cover banana with gas stone underneath for 2Nights.They do same with Mango Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect You get the same effect by storing bananas and pineapples together. No need for gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grollies Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 38 minutes ago, overherebc said: acetyline lamp. Banana-powered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) 8 minutes ago, grollies said: Banana-powered? Not really HSSE friendly. As I am after eating too many bananas. Edited April 1, 2017 by overherebc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csabo Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 On 3/30/2017 at 2:30 PM, Ace of Pop said: They use Carbide rocks,releases Acetaline type gas.Cover banana with gas stone underneath for 2Nights.They do same with Mango Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Never heard of that method. This is a good read. http://www.frontlineservices.com.au/Frontline_Services/Fruit_ripening_gas_-_ethylene.html Also, bananas can be frozen and although the skin will turn black in the freezer, the fruit will remain as it was when frozen. This is how bodybuilders keep from running to the market every other day to get non-squishy bananas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) Hmm. I never thought of freezing them. Wouldn't they be degraded quality if you defrost them? Ever tried frozen durian defrosted? Vile. I generally buy too many and put them in the fridge when ripe, but I still have some wastage that way. Edited April 1, 2017 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace of Pop Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Not going to ask locals anymore for You.Took me ages to find out .Put Old Rag over dem n splash water on deez tings for 2 nights..Just too easy really .?Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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