BANANAS

Our Bananas storage and transport

When our bananas must be transported over long distances from Mexico to markets in any other place in the world, it requires careful handling, rapid transport, cooling, and refrigerated shipping.

To obtain a maximum shelf life we harvest before the fruit is mature. The goal is to prevent the bananas from producing their natural ripening agent, ethylene. This allows us to store and transport the banana for up to 4 weeks at 13 °C (55 °F).

The carbon dioxide that bananas produce and ethylene absorbents extend the fruit life even at high temperatures, so this is exploited when packing bananas in a polyethylene ban and putting an ethylene absorbent, potassium permanganate, on an inert carrier. The bag is then sealed with a band or string.

However, when bananas arrived at their final destination are stored at about 17 °C (63 °F) and treated with a low concentration of ethylene for the fruit to begin to ripen to be distributed to retailers, and be sold to the final consumer.

Ripe bananas can be held for a few days at home, however, If the bananas that you bought in the market are too green, they can be put in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed up the ripening process