If you've ever been to the supermarket and bought a bunch of bananas, then you'll know just how quickly they seem to go from green and unripe to brown and squishy in just a matter of days.
When you don't eat the bunch fast enough, it seems like no time at all before you're having to throw out the gross gone-off produce - contributing to the 920,000 bananas that the UK wastes every day, according to Out of Date.
But it turns out you don't have to chuck away your leftover bananas so soon, as there are clever storage hacks you can take advantage of that will keep the yellow fruits fresh for up to 16 days.
One thing you should never do if you want your bananas to stay fresh is to keep them in a plastic bag, as that will only make them ripen faster.
Like many fruits, bananas produce ethylene gas, and if they remain in a sealed bag, this gas will build up and will ripen the bananas faster than if they were allowed to breathe outside of a bag.
And according to Tash Blythe, food hygiene expert at High Speed Training, where you keep your bananas also makes a huge difference - as they should be kept away from other fruits and away from warm areas of your kitchen.
She said: "[Bananas should be kept] somewhere at room temperature and away from any moisture, sunlight and overly warm temperatures whilst ripening. Anywhere too warm will speed up the ripening process, so avoid keeping them near ovens or warm appliances."
Tash also said separating bananas from the bunch can help prolong their lives, as well as wrapping just the stem of each banana in cling film - as this is where the gas is released from.
She told The Express: "The ethylene gas is released from the stem of the banana, so to slow the impact of the gas and avoid them over-ripening too quickly, you can also wrap the stems in a plastic wrap or cling film. This reduces the amount of gas that will be able to travel down the fruit and therefore allows them to stay fresher for longer."
If you don't want to split your bananas up, you can try investing in a product known as a banana tree hanger, which you can use to hang up your bunch of bananas to encourage air circulation and help slow down ripening.
And once your fruit has ripened to perfection, you can even stick them in the fridge to make them last longer.
Tash claimed that if all these steps are followed, your bananas could keep for over two weeks.
"These bananas could last up to 16 days - again, don't be put off by the brown or over-ripe banana skin, as the fruit inside should remain fresh," she said.
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