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Wanting to keep your bananas from getting the "bruised" look? Do not place them in refrigerators because this is only certain to blacken them prematurely. Cold air causes the production of blackening compounds known as polyphenals. Bananas naturally get the "bruised" look in time even if they are not mishandled. This is because ethylene, the ripening agent found in the banana's skin that transforms a green banana into the appealing yellow fruit, continues the ripening process, which gives the banana a "bruised" appearance, and eventually turns the banana black in color. This process is unstoppable, but by placing the banana in a cool place, you can slow this process.
Did you know that:
In North America more bananas are eaten every day than any other fruit?
Bananas aren't grown on trees? They're part of the lily family, a cousin of the orchid, nothing but plump member of the herb family. With stalks 25 feet high, this is the largest plant on earth without a woody stem.
The word "banana" is African, and was carried to the New World by the Portuguese slave traders. In the time of Alexander the Great, bananas were "pala" in athens.