Why You Need To Rinse Your New Bunch Of Bananas ASAP

Grabbing a bunch of bananas from the supermarket shelf, you're probably not immediately envisioning washing them. Yet time is of the essence as most people don't even realize they've initiated a countdown. Fruit flies are the bane of many shoppers' existence and love laying eggs on bananas. On affected fruits, these eggs are ready and waiting to hatch, and by purchasing the bananas, you are essentially giving them a free ride home. Give it a few days, and your kitchen could be transformed into a full-fledged nursery. Luckily, there's an easy fix: Immediately rinse your bananas when you get home. 

Avoid washing the fruit with soap since the chemicals are absorbed in porous surfaces and won't be removed by rinsing. Instead, blast the bananas under tap water for 30 seconds, concentrating on their stems. Dry the fruit thoroughly and then store them as normal. The whole process takes minutes, if that, and limits the chance of a future onslaught of miniature flies. To be really careful, routinely clean your fruit bowl, too, as these areas are susceptible to rogue eggs hatching undetected. Rinsing bananas is not just about fly removal, though. Additional incentives include removing bacteria like listeria from the outer skin. To the naked eye, who knows what that banana on your countertop is hiding? Better to be safe than sorry.

A quick splash of water doesn't hurt anyone, right? For bananas, that's likely true. It is highly advisable to rinse bananas, and as long as the fruits are properly dried, it prevents further quality concerns. Moisture attracts flies and might impact the fruit's taste or texture if left to linger. The best ways to keep bananas fresh are by rinsing, drying, and selecting adequate storage. In short, this strategy shouldn't cause quality issues — as long as people are thorough in their banana care.

One of the biggest quality concerns is untimely ripening. Unlike what happens if you refrigerate bananas, the brief exposure to cold water should not limit the long-term production of ethylene gas. However, it is worth considering other ways that you might inadvertently be affecting the ripening of the fruit. Perhaps they are ripening too quickly, or maybe they are not ripening at all (incidentally, this is why so many Aldi customers aren't buying bananas anymore). Plastic-wrapping stems, strategically separating fruits, and timely refrigerator storage are all valuable ways of toying with that precarious shelflife. It's worth researching since a wasted banana is the one thing as annoying as a fruit fly.