Organic bananas require a different approach and won’t have that ideal compound color stage.
Organic bananas follow bouquet methods of growth, while regular bananas use synthetic fertilizers and are treated with pesticides and fungicides.
Most fruits give off ethylene as they ripen, including green bananas that become yellow.
Organic bananas become yellow, but won’t have the color change vibrantly like the conventional bananas.
Organic will take at least a week or two at the most to fully turn yellow. Be aware, though, that certain banana varieties never become yellow even when they are ripe.
How to Turn Organic Bananas Yellow Fast
If you want to speed up your bananas ripening, I recommend placing them in brown paper bags, rather than in plastic bags.
The reason for this is that brown bags allow for oxygen for bananas but plastic bags leave no air which suffocates the fruit.
By putting the bananas in the bag traps the gas inside which speeds up the ripening process.
Putting the bananas next to other ripe fruits containing lots of ethylene, for instance placing them next to ripe apples or other ripe bananas, or in a warm moist place with a temperature that is suitable but away from sunlight, will help speed while maturing.
Other variables that will affect the ripening process are,
- mechanical damage
- humidity
- peel thickness
- and humidity
Benefits of Eating Organic Yellow Bananas
- Lower blood sugar levels by obtaining soluble fibre.
- Essential for the kidney as it contains potassium, and needs to keep blood pressure and kidneys healthy.
- Yellow organic bananas help the digestive system as it has prebiotic fibre and pectin fibre – prevents constipation and helps feed your bacteria in your large intestine.
- Lose weight by making your stomach full of resistant starch to lessen your appetite when bananas are very few calories and a lot of nutrition.
- Bananas help with antioxidants like amines and flavonoids for heart disease.
- When eaten bananas are full of nutrients like potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, Proteins, Carbohydrates, fats and more that are good for the human body.
Why Organic Bananas Don’t Turn Yellow
Lets say the bananas are placed in a cold environment.
For them to ripen, fast them it makes sense to put them near a refrigerator and not in since the coldness will delay the bananas ripening.
On the flip side, placing them near would produce a warm moist condition, which will act as a catalyst in development.
If the growth has not been completed or was immature, the bananas will not yellow. Bananas that are organic and have sharp-cornered edges are not fully matured, therefore difficult for them to ripen.
Instead, look for organic bananas that are fading. This indicates they were harvested at the proper stage.
Some organic bananas don’t color, when ripe, for example Ebun musak, one can visually check the fruit to see if its ripe, by pressing with the fingers.
If the fruits are not turning yellow, taste orthe bananas as they may sit there until they rot.
Some people have green bananas that they were purchased, and no matter what they do, they never ripen.
Organic bananas can be plucked a bit early, in a state that makes it difficult for them to race. A banana with a green index indicates this.
Key takeaway: Organic bananas take to ripen, atleast a week to turn yellow. If the bananas have not ripen yet, give it an extra time, 2 days.
How to Know If an Organic Banana Is Ripe?
You can’t eat unripe bananas because they can cause stomach problems, they don’t taste very good, and you don’t have all the nutrients available.
There’s also an additional complication with unripe bananas, they are not very good for your teeth!
Unripe bananas are full of starch which can upset your stomach, but if you wait long enough for them to ripen, they will be sweet and delicious.
When you eat overripe bananas, they have fermented, that is stomach upset, does not taste very good, and you do not have the nutrients available at the appropriate time.
Therefore, when you eat bananas you really need to ensure that you eat the bananas at the correct ripeness:
- A yellow organic banana can look ready to eat, but it truly isn’t ready until it has some brown marks on it. The spots indicate that the sugar levels are higher as the banana has ripened.
- Make sure the brown spots to be small and evenly distributed throughout the banana and not bruising. Wait too long and your banana will turn brown.
- Unripe organic bananas are terrible for your teeth because they have starch and get stuck in between them. You can tell if a significantly softer organic banana is ripe, and are safe to eat.
And on the flip side, an overripe banana these days is generally easy to remove from the plant by just moving the fruit (and probably snapping the stem off as well!).
The peel of a ripe organic banana should simple peel (slide) off the fruit; if it’s sticking at all then it’s too young/unripe.
If you are able to slide off the peel quietly, and the peel is not shreading, and if the banana itself has obvious signs of an overripe banana (shredded fruit itself), then it is usually ok to eat.
How to Tell If Your Banana Is Organic or Inorganic in the Ripening Process
Similar to various fruits, organic bananas experience natural ripening with their ethylene gas, however, non-organic bananas are sprayed with ethylene gas to induce ripening that can take place faster.
Advice is given to most farmers to access more natural ways of ripening bananas by positioning them under other ripe fruits.
How to tell the difference:
- Some folks say organic bananas taste better and have higher nutrient levels than inorganic ones, as they come from a more natural environment.
- Regular bananas are more sensitive and bruise easy when handled if they are not cared for, organic bananas are primarily unripe so have a strong peel.
- Organic bananas are safe as they are not spray with pesticides or fertilizers like inorganic bananas.
- Most organic bananas are not fully ripe when bought, where most regular bananas are fully ripe because those bananas are sprayed in ethylene gas which can make the bananas ripe at a quicker time than organic bananas.
- Organic bananas get fungus and insects easier than regular bananas, in pesticides are used to kill the fungus and pests.
Final Thought
A handful of organic bananas never ripen any shade of yellow although many popular shades of yellow are normal.
They also have a more dilute green hue compared to conventional bananas. Double-check that you are not waiting for your organic bananas to age worse instead of ripen.
Organic bananas are not sprayed but they emit natural ethylene when they ripen.
When you place organic bananas in a plastic bag they will show that they are ripening less rapidly because of the natural gasses they release are not surrounding them.
You can check for ripeness by peeling organic bananas and tasting them, squeeze the banana for softness and check for black spots.
The most common reason most organic bananas are not ripening any shade of yellow is that they were harvested early and not when they were meant to be harvested.