Does wrapping banana stems actually prolong their life?
I've seen a few times the suggestion to wrap the stems of bananas to prevent them from ripening. Yet at least one person who was espousing this admitted it was based on a misreading of a study:
I made an incorrect leap of imagination about ethylene production and abscission, the natural splitting of leaf or fruit from stem. I re-read the Sauter paper and realized that I got a little too inferency. I thought that since ethylene caused abscission, it would make sense to cover the point prone to abscission. I didn't test when I saw confirmations from Lifehacker and eHow. (I know! Those were my sources after all the research I'd done?! I'm embarrassed for me, too.)
Is there any actual science behind this technique? Or is it just folklore?
To clarify: The question here isn't whether ethylene gas ripens bananas; that's a well known fact. This question is solely about wrapping the stem to prevent the banana's own gas from ripening it.
Best Answer
Revised answer (old answer removed due to accidentally swerving off-topic and to some extent containing incorrect information)
Even though ethylene biosynthesis happens throughout the banana most-likely none of it occurs in the stem itself as it contains a small percentage of the metabolically active tissue. There aren't as many studies that focus on the stem of the banana specifically as I imagine it's not a very attractive topic, but the current-day findings that we have highly support the assumption of insignificant ethylene gas production (or none at all) in the banana stem and it's why wrapping it will pose virtually no difference in the further ripening of a banana.
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Quick Answer about "Does wrapping banana stems actually prolong their life?"
The plastic wrap helps contain ethylene gas, which bananas produce naturally while they ripen. Without the plastic wrap, the ethylene gas spreads to other parts of the fruit, helping it ripen faster. So basically, you're trapping the gas in order to prevent it from speeding up the ripening process.Does covering banana stems make them last longer?
Wrap the stems in plastic wrap. According to Dawn Jackson Blatner, RDN \u2014 who also happens to work for Chiquita \u2014 much of the ethylene gas that increases the rate at which bananas ripen is released at the top of the bunch.What does covering banana stems do?
The ethylene gas, in particular, is emitted through the banana stems. Organic bananas emit natural ethylene gas as part of the ripening process. The technique to keep them fresh is to wrap the stems with plastic wrap to prevent the emission of ethylene gas. You may accomplish this with a bit of a piece of plastic wrap.Why do people put foil on banana stems?
Bananas, like many fruits, release ethylene gas naturally, which controls enzymatic browning and ripening of not just itself, but other fruits nearby. Much of that offgassing takes place at the stem\u2014or the crown\u2014of the banana. By wrapping the crown of a bunch, you slow down the ripening process a bit.does WRAPPING banana stems “slow” down from ripening (aluminum foil plastic wrap)
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Answer 2
First off, let's clarify this a bit. The claim is not that this prevents the bananas from ripening; it allegedly prolongs their freshness or slows the ripening process.
This video shows a test where unwrapped and wrapped bananas are left to ripen side-by-side. They find that they all ripen at the same rate - so the wrapping doesn't appear to help at all.
I've also tried this myself and found that the wrapped bananas seemed to be a bit more firm than the non wrapped. I wonder if Myth Busters did a segment on this? What do you think, I'd say this is BUSTED.
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Images: cottonbro, Suzy Hazelwood, Vanessa Loring, cottonbro