So you want to know how to tell if a banana is ripe and if the ones you have are ripe enough.
One of the most troubling things I find when promoting fresh fruits and vegetables to people is that they don’t understand that many fruits have to ripen before being eaten.
You cannot just assume you can simply pick the fruit up from the grocery store display, take it home and eat it right away like a frozen dinner, a box of pasta or a can of beans. (There are a few exceptions like apples and oranges.) As society gets more and more out of touch with fresh whole foods and the majority of people are unable to identify the ingredients they are eating in processed foods, they don’t know what fruits and vegetables are supposed to taste like in general, let alone when they are unripe, ripe or overripe.
Someone may have a bad experience with a mango, eating it rock hard and unripe and declare “I hate mangoes! They’re all sour and stringy. I’m never eating them again” or “Bananas make me bloated and constipated so I don’t eat them anymore.” (I promise you, you will not get bloated or constipated from eating ripe bananas, only unripe bananas that are starchy. Think raw potato starchy. Gross.)
Really the issue is not that the fruit tastes awful in general or they are a fussy eater, they just don’t have any knowledge about how a plant food grows, ripens and then starts to rot. It has a whole process, unlike sterilized pasteurized packaged food from the dry goods or refrigerated section that is ready to go from cart to pan to plate.
The photo above shows 3 different bananas from 3 different bunches of bananas all in different stages of ripeness.
Bananas are one of the most important fruits for people to learn how to eat properly because people eat them so frequently and don’t often enjoy them. They eat them because they have to for a snack or on top of cereal as they think it’s good for them.
In my recipes you will see that I stipulate RIPE bananas all the time. I want people to stop thinking that a ripe banana is simply a banana that is not really green anymore. A yellow banana that is rock hard and pale inside is NOT a ripe banana. This banana should not be eaten, not be put on your cereal, not be used in a smoothie and certainly not used for raw banana ice-cream. It tastes awful, mostly pasty, starchy and not very sweet. It’s going to ruin your breakfast or your recipe.
When you see bananas starting to get a few brown spots (and you think oh my gosh, but it’s rotting, it looks so ugly… maybe I should throw it away) please please wait. This banana is only starting to begin to ripen and not be so starchy and pasty. Before you eat a banana I want you to notice that it has LOTS and LOTS of brown spots, dark brown spots all over it. The peel is softening, the “neck” of the banana is no longer rock hard and it’s starting to wilt. Now you don’t have to wait for your banana to be all black, bruised and squishy. No no. If you have bruised or squishy bananas you don’t have to keep those on the counter. You can however peel them and freeze them for banana bread or for use in baking later if you wish (as this makes them taste better, not worse).
Let’s take a look at these 3 bananas again.
I have arranged them from least ripe to most ripe, bottom to top. So the banana on the bottom has a few brown speckles spread out all over the banana. The one in the middle has a few more speckles both small and larger but over more surface area than the one below and the one on top has the most and darkest brown speckles.
So when I am talking about eating and using ripe bananas in recipes and smoothies I am talking about the middle one and the top one at least. The one on the bottom is still not really sweet enough (good enough tasting) to use in a smoothie. When we make vegan smoothies without sugar, we generally rely on ripe bananas for it’s natural sugars and sweetness to bring a balance to the flavours of more tart fruits like frozen berries or frozen mango (which are less ripe and frozen immediately).
At home, we actually have several bunches of bananas in varying degrees of ripeness on the counter so I have a steady supply of bananas to use for smoothies or eating. As soon as you have “too many” dark speckled bananas you can simply peel and freeze them and use them in smoothies or raw banana ice-cream later. (If you don’t have a Vitamix, I recommend breaking them into chunks and freezing them so it’s easier to blend).
So please make sure that when you are eating bananas from now on you give them a chance to ripen (sweeten up, lose the starch) and the peels will be a little softer and it will smell nice and fragrant like a banana. Your banana will open easily and not make an awful cracking plastic sound (like a hard yellow banana).
The easiest way to open a banana is also from the “bottom”. The bottom is actually the top of the banana though in how it grows, and the stem is actually at the bottom and is harder. Try it next time! This is also how monkeys open bananas because they know it’s easier to open from the “bottom” (what we perceive as the bottom).
Bottom: starting to ripen
Middle: medium ripe
Top: ripe enough to make a tasty smoothie or snack
So that, my friend is how you tell if a banana is ripe.
So we should open a banana from the non stem end because that is the way monkeys do it? Monkeys also throw their feces so I am not so sure we should be taking social cues from them.
I was simply stating it’s EASIER to open the banana that way… seriously if that’s what you got from it I cannot help you. Sometimes people can’t crack bananas the first time doing it from the stemp when it’s hard and they mush the top of the banana.
I read that in another article, a while back.
. I also find that there aren’t any “strings” left on the banana when I peel it from the non-stem end.
I guess the monkeys have been opening bananas far longer than us, so, they would know!?
What happened to my bananas?
I bought a bunch of bananas. The next day, I separated them and placed them in a sealed Tupperware bowl. A week later, I opened a banana and it was sour. The peel was still bright yellow but soft. There was some condensation and fogginess to the bowl. I have a problem with fruit flies or knats so I try to prevent leaving fruit out on the countertop. We’re they rotting from the inside out? Did the gasses they emit make them go sour?
Hi Betsy
Never ever cover your bananas in an airtight container. Yes the condensation from the air inside plus the gasses that bananas release will make the ripen and the moisture starts fermentation. It would be like leaving fruit in a tupperware in the car unrefrigerated. Bananas need to breath or to ripen fast they can be put in a paper bag as the fibres still allow airflow. Fruits flies are always a problem in the summer. You can leave out some traps for them (vinegar water with some dish soap in a jar with plastic wrap on top and poke some holes so they can go in but not get out).
Green bananas are “starchier”, but the type of starch they contain is resistant starch. Resistant starch is a type of starch that isn’t digested in the same way as most starches. Instead of being broken down, they pass through the intestines unchanged – which gives them the characteristics of an insoluble fiber.
Why You Should Eat Green Bananas | avivahealth.com
http://www.avivahealth.com/article.asp?articleid=173
I’m not going to promote people eating green bananas because many have problems digesting them, there are other foods with resistant starch that are easier to digest. It simply doesn’t make sense to eat a green banana because it contains resistant starch. Fruit is the easiest to digest and most nutritious when ripe.
I like them slightly spotted.
I found this interesting poll about this very subject.
Unfortunately, I’m not in the majority!
See: http://www.wordbloopers.com/banana-poll
I like bananas with a little bit of dark spots on them. But I’m not in agreement with most people on that. I came across this interesting poll. It polls people on what banana type they like best: http://www.wordbloopers.com/banana-poll/
Hi, why are some bananas are sticky in taste..Is it a different type? I bought a box of bananas and it was beautiful smooth and tasted wonderfull. The week later went to same place and got another’s box but this time it looked a bit larger and tasted different. It was very sticky and heavy in taste.
I EAT green bananas (so green it makes your tongue feel like a cat’s tongue), I PUT them in my cereal, I eat them with lemon and orange juice and yeah it tastes acidic and I love it. Not everyone loves ripe bananas. Deal with it.
Ok well just know that you are missing out on the nutritional benefits of ripe fruit and unripe fruit is much more acidic and hard to digest. I have never heard anyone else say they like eating hard unripe bananas that burned their tongue.
Lol Veronica, me either! Each to their own right? No matter how odd…..
Lol it’s good you love for your tongue to feel like a cat’s tongue, all sandpapery and gross. Not everyone likes that. Deal with that.
Well Ill agree that a green banana still tastes great but its nothing like that yellow one with lots of brown spots on it ^_^ plus,that unripe green banana lacks nutrients and causes constipation ;/
We had some Americans as guests in december, and since I live in El Salvador we have lots of fresh fruit all year. The thing is that the poor guys almost never knew how to tell which fruits were ready to eat and which weren’t and I was like “ay, esta gente” but then I thought about how this is something we learn since we’re little kids cause at least in my family we almost never have stuff like pancakes or cereal for breakfast, we have fruit so we have to know it very well! It’s the same as me not being able to tell the difference from all the trees on the road like my grandma can, we grew up in a different place and time.
this is a great article… i’m new to making smoothies on the 811 lifestyle and am having a problem with banana smoothies, especially with frozen bananas…even though i’m freezing them ripe and spotty (and organic), i find they leave a bitter aftertaste in my banana smoothies or banana icecream. i’m looking for solutions and would greatly appreciate any input as i would like to enjoy these more! thank you!
Madeline are you over blending the bananas? That causes oxidation and makes them taste nasty.
Wow never knew this. I guess I should probably look for more articles like this apparently I dont know ripe from not being ripe.
I found out if you want them to ripen faster put them in a brown bag and the gas of the banana will make them turn brown faster. It works on avocados too. I use a grocery bag or a heavy lunch bag. The thinner bags don’t work as fast. It’s an “Old School” trick of my Grandma. Glad to know this info on the “brown is better” to eat! Thank You*
Yea…the brown bag is very effective. This is because when the banana extracts ethylene gas, the bag traps the gas and allow for more reaction to take place with the recycled ethylene gas…. However if you don’t know the ethylene gas is a hormone that causes the ripening of the banana. Hence more gas speeds up the reaction and the banana ripens faster…
Other factor that influence the ripening of the banana is temperature and light intensity.. It must be in a warm room (20-18 degrees) and also in a dark room don’t have to but this speeds up the process. Depending on the colour of the banana it would take a maximum of 48hours for a yellow banana and several days for a green one..
Back to the brown paper bag.. This is to be used and NOT plastic bags. As brown paper bags are porous and allows for the intake of oxygen by the banana however the plastic bag blocks absorption of oxygen for the banana/fruit suffocating the banana leading to the rotting of the banana. This bag also lowers the amount of ethylene gas produced as a lower level of oxygen is available????
Another form of banana riping is adding a ripe fruit inside the brown bag… This is an introduction of additional ethylene.. Lol
Never mind the question marks
Call me crazy, but I don’t think you’re a scientist.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think he said he was a Scientist!! Weren’t you ever taught that if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all?! Now then, to “practice what I preach…Have yourself a wonderful day”!
Excellent article, just want to make the point: I learnt this from my parents but if no one showed people how to eat a banana like you described then they wouldn’t know and if their parents didnt know then how would they.
Can someone please tell me why are some banaanas a pale yellow instead of being bright yellow ? The pale yellow (its neither green nor yellow, kind of shady yellow) doesnt ripen well and when it does it doesn’t taste nice either.
Bananas are picked unripe and gassed in transport to keep from ripening. Sometimes they never ripen properly and have been in storage too long. This doesnt happen in the tropics. Only in countries where they have to import bananas. It happens with lots of other fruits too. They will look ripe but be sour or not ripen properly due to gassing and transport.
Awesome article! I just had a smoothie and after a couple of gulps, I started to get horrible indigestion. I looked around on the web and stumbled across this post. All this time and I never knew that it was me and not the bananas!!! I’m just recently switching to an all healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, chicken, etc. and this will help me immensely. Most of the articles that I initially found just stated that bananas are high in starch and that I just have to live with indigestion with bananas. I’ll be watching my bananas much more closely and can’t wait to see them ripen so that I can try them again, for the first time! I also signed up for your newsletter and look forward to any more tips. Thanks Again
You’re welcome. Good luck with the bananas.
Great article!!
I just had some delicious ripe bananas and I’ve had some disgusting ones in the past (because of my impatience for them to ripe).
This article is not only informative but so very accurate!
Is there a way to SLOW down the ripening process in the home, especially in the summers when it is hot and humid where I live. My husband is not a fan of bananas that have been in the fridge (I think it is just a mental block!). Like you, I would like to have a range of ripeness, but I find that they tend to over-ripen too quickly, going from under ripe to too soft for enjoyable eating. If there is a way to do it (does some other fruit or veg hinder the speed of ripening?) I would like to keep some in the eating stage for longer.
If bananas are super hard and green I still find they take over a week to ripen. What I do is buy bunches of bananas in varying degrees of ripeness so I have different bunches ripening at different times. Once they are perfectly ripe I just peel them and then freeze them in bags or containers.
Hi. Another way to lengthen the ripening process is by hanging a bunch of bananas by their stems, as they would be hanging in nature. This ‘ makes them think ‘ that they are still on their tree and growing, so they slow down ripening.
I am not sure about that. Banana stems face down and the “end” faces the sky when they are actually on a bunch, so hanging them by the stem is still hanging them upside down the same as they’d sit upside down on a counter. So i’m not sure.
What about bananas with larger spots that literally turn into holes? lol
I have a few of those who have been sitting around for a week,they’re nice on the inside, but the holes are odd.
I am not sure what you mean by holes. Indents? As long as the bananas are fine on the inside don’t worry. Each banana looks a little different as they are picked very early and then gassed to not ripen during shipment So different batches sometimes have different spotting
When they have the brown spots and you peel them, they’re mushy and brown on the inside. Is that good or bad? I’ve never liked the mushyness of the banana, it tastes ‘off’ somehow. Maybe it’s just me and I’m picky about the “textures’ of foods too. Just wondering about it though. Thanks!
When they are yellow on the outside with little brown speckles on them they are not brown and mushy on the inside. The only time they are mushy on the inside is #1 if they are bruised or #2 when they are fully brown or black on the outside with no more spots then they are mushy on the inside and can be used for baking. Yellow with brown speckles or spots means ripe and if you peel them they will be slightly firm still, be sweeter and can be eaten or used in smoothies. Hard yellow or green bananas cannot be used in recipes as they are too starchy and sticky with little flavor.
what does it mean if a banana is still green but it has brown spots? is it ripe or unripe?
It depends, if it’s still green it means it was likely picked too unripe and then gassed to ripen later during shipment/storage. I find bananas that are spotted and green are still fairly hard and not as sweet, i let them get more spots until I use them. Yellow spotted bananas have ripened properly and are better.
Hi there,
Certainly no offense intended here, however, you never really mention WHY we should wait until a banana is ripe other than taste, etc. What about the drawbacks of not waiting until ripe or the benefits OF waiting. ??
Thanks so much!
Unripe bananas are too starchy, ripe bananas are higher in sugar, meaning they digest easier (sugar is easier for your body to break down than starches). This is why many people feel sick to their stomach after eating a banana, they eat them when they’re unripe and hard to digest!
Nutrients are also higher in ripe bananas.
And you can learn a lot from animals in nature.
The ones that can see in the UV range can easily tell which bananas are ready to eat because the brown spots stand out with glowing ‘halos’ around them. So if wild animals eat spotty bananas, that’s a sign we should do the same. 
Why? Because it’s easier to digest – the enzymes have broken the unripe starch down into simple sugars, it’s easier for the body to digest and absorb the nutrition. Eating unripe fruit or vegetables is harder on the body and it does more work trying to break it down. It causes some people constipation, bloating and upset stomach.
Thanks Veronica, great article. I love ripe bananas, and overripe too. You have mentioned that you use ripe bananas in your recipes (smoothies, banana ice cream, etc.). But what about eating them as a snack? I typically eat one banana as a snack every other day. Are there any disadvantages due to higher sugar content of ripe or overripe banana such as increased blood sugar, weight gain, etc.?
I usually use bananas in recipes I don’t like to snack. Of course ripe bananas as a snack is an option. I don’t know about disadvantages of eating ripe fruit. If you eat them underripe it’s usually harder to digest and can cause stomach aches or constipation. There’s so much fiber in fruit and vegetables you actually don’t get 5-10% of the calories in it. Having fruit as a snack should be fine as long as you’re not overeating at meals. You can gain weight from eating any extra calories. But I wouldn’t recommend eating unripe fruit to eat lower sugar and have compromised digestion. That doesn’t make sense.
Another thing to note is that in colder weather, a banana that looks like your ripest in the picture will not taste as ripe as it will in warmer weather. So that means you may want to wait until your bananners are even more speckly and brown during the winter. (Driving me up the wall right now as I can’t find ripe bananas anywhere and all the ones I have at home are still green-tipped to just barely starting to form pin-point spots!! WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO??!! GAH! Paper bags with apples for now!
They tend to be a bit firmer in canada that speckled but they are very sweet and ripe. They are softer of course inside in tropical places when they are that speckled.
Thanks for the great information. I was writing a banana bread recipe for my blog and linked to your article about ripe bananas. We’re always picking out the perfectly yellow bananas…but the ones with a few spots are so much more flavorful!
No problem Rita! Thanks for the link back.
These bananas in these photos are far too ripe for me. I like bananas that are at a perfect yellow. No brown spots, no green spots.
Thanks for the information it was quite informative.
This is a GREAT website with great knowledge. I HATE bananas and ONLY eat them when I don’t feel well or tired. But I see NOW that ive been eating the wrong ones. I THANK YOU for sharing your knowledge and I will give bananas another try. I have one left and will wait until its spotted.
Can we get a follow-up on that last banana please?
?
I am also VERY curious. I NEED to know whether or not Duchess ENJOYED her last banana when she gave bananas ANOTHER try.
lol
Thanx for photo example,i totally agree with you,i used to feel bloated after eating bananas,but not anymore since i accidentally ate a brown spotted banana,before this i considered them overipe,now i eat a banana everymorning before breakfast,apart from loving this new discovery,i have realised i dont get so tired,am able to do my work with so much zeal.
I received some very green bananas from a friend. How do I get them to ripen.
Hi Linda
Green bananas will take about a week and a half to two weeks to ripen to where they have lots of brown cheetah spots on them. You can place them in a paper bag to help them ripen a little faster if you like. I find banana with lots of brown spots taste much sweeter and are best for smoothies and recipes. If they don’t have spots they are too starchy and bland and can make for sour smoothies.
I love this! Just linked to it on my Facebook biz page:
http://www.facebook.com/my.healthy.eating.secrets
Wow! What a great post Veronica!
I’ve always eaten my bananas ‘rotting’ as other people say – though I always smile to myself, knowing that they have no idea how delicious bananas can taste. You’ve really broken it down for me here – thanks so much for all the detailed info. I love this website sooo much. I can (and do) spend hours wandering around here. I’ve not seen anything quite like it…
Bananas are a real key to a low fat raw vegan diet and SO many people eat them underripe. Even my family after I showed them this info still eat unripe bananas that are still green on the ends and rock hard. They are actually frightened to eat riper bananas because they’re afraid they might be bad, taste different/stronger and not be so mild and bland.
I explain you need to have ripe bananas or else your smoothie taste sour and starchy and they understand that, but they still want to eat unripe ones for a snack or on cereal, cuz it’s just one. But obviously most vegans and raw foodists eat more than 1.
I had a really clear idea what I wanted for this site, I wanted to have great pictures and lots of information to be very clear in how to make tasty vegan food. I’m so glad people are liking it and coming here.
I am Derek from Malaysia.
I love your website, it’s really broaden my fruits knowledge.
By the way, how do i to build up my muscle by vegetarian and fruitarian???
Thanks a lot
To gain weight and muscle you have to do 2 things. First you need to eat a LOT of calories. If you are not eating a ton of fruits and veg, your body doesn’t have the tools it needs to build muscle. If you under eat you’ll just stay skinny and trim. Secondly you have to lift heavy weights for only a few repetitions. Bigger weights less repetitions a few times a week. You’re basically going to work out like body builders do, but instead of eating meat, eggs and protein shakes you’re going to eat tons and tons of fruit, green smoothies and some nuts and seeds. Try googling some raw guys that build muscle on a raw food diet. Their key is to eat a lot of food and work out regularly. Don’t do a lot of cardio, just do some, and the rest should be weightlifting if you want to build muscle.
Super interesting, Veronica! I could not see the difference in those 3 stages before! I thought that as long as there were brown speckles, they were ripe! Thanks!
This is what I have noticed when sampling bananas. I use them a lot in smoothies and in banana ice cream. And if you use them just when they go speckled right after being yellow they’re still not sweet enough. I find if you let them sit a day or two past when they first get speckles they taste much better, so it’s worth it.
I always make sure the food I eat tastes good or else it seems kind of like a chore and then you might feel unsatisfied and want a snack instead. So best to make sure your fruit is truly ripe and sweet. Especially when using multiple bananas in smoothies or ice-cream or else it can ruin it and be starchy, or blah tasting.