Stains on banana peels – that’s how they arise

Consumers are very often blocked by the brownish and uninviting color of the stains On peel bananas Well, they can be helpful in learning more about how fruits ripen. They can also prevent it food waste

How come such spots appear on the banana? From Florida State University comes the result of a study group interested in answering this question. Researchers are studying a way to come up with a biological model that assesses the quality of ripening of the fruit Such a model can be essential to combat food waste.

The appearance of brown spots does not mean that the fruit is rotten. Many shops and consumers with this belief end up throwing the fruit away. Banana is one of the most consumed fruits in the world, although the ripening process still remains a mystery.

If we knew better how ripening takes place, scientists could reduce food waste. Banana stains are aged, ie tissue-bound. In fact, their phenolic compounds come enzymatically oxidized and thus cellular integrity is lost.

The American research team investigated the formation of such spots with time-lapse technology. It’s nothing more than collecting pictures of banana peels at different stages of ripeness.

It is certified that the spots of the fruit are formed in two days, with a density of 8 spots per square centimeter. Then they quickly expand and get stuck in oxygen deprivation. To preserve them better, therefore, an oxygen-free atmosphere would be preferable.