Bananas will stay fresh for 13 days if stored using 1 kitchen item that's a 'game-changer'

Bananas are one of the most challenging fruits to keep fresh. These tropical fruits only take a few days to turn brown and mushy when left out on the counter, making it almost impossible to enjoy a bunch without a few going bad towards the end.

Thankfully, there are many useful food storage hacks that can prevent your bananas from ripening too fast. If you're after a tried and tested method, a member of the Food Tips, Hacks and more Facebook page shared how she's been storing her bananas for years with foil, and it "always works". Anne Kraut claimed that the key is to wrap the stem of a banana bunch with a bit of tin foil before storing it in the fridge.

She wrote: "I saw a game-changing hack on TikTok. I've been doing it for years, and it always works. Buy your bananas at desired ripeness, or let them ripen.

"Cover the entire stem part with aluminium foil and place them in the crisper section of your fridge.

"They will last 12 to 13 days. The outside colour changes, but the inside of the banana is the same as when it was bought."

Anne noted that she tried this method out without the foil as well, but "for some reason they stay fresh longer with the foil on them".

Compared to other fruits and veggies, bananas are one of the biggest producers of ethylene gas, a natural chemical compound that promotes ripening.

The majority of this gas is released through the exposed stem of the fruit, which allows a bunch of bananas to continue ripening even after it's picked from the tree.

Wrapping the top of your bunch with tin foil helps trap some of the ethylene so it won't escape into the atmosphere and touch the body of the bananas or other produce you have sitting nearby. This slows down browning and gives you more time to enjoy your bunch.

Other group members also found success with this method. Nicky Allen wrote: "I separate them and wrap foil round the top and put in the fridge. They can look overripe on the skin but perfect when you peel them."

Dan Snooks said: "I've been putting mine in the fridge with foil and they're lasting about two weeks or more. The skin looks brown sometimes on them, but inside, they're good. I was fed up with throwing bananas away as they went black so quickly, but I saw this on the internet, and it does work."

Laura Hancock commented: "My mum has always put foil around the top of the bunch to keep it fresh; she swears by it."

Cling film should also give a similar effect, in case you don't have any foil around.