Develop (by means of cross-breeding, not GM, obv.) a banana such that a typical bunch will sequentially ripen thus, one a day/every other day will be ideal to eat. thanks to DaveF for this one.-- neilp, Oct 17 2003 "Bananas will be extinct within ten years." http://www.snopes.c...arnings/bananas.aspSnopes sez nope. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] About fruit ripening http://koning.ecsu..../fruitgrowripe.htmlEthelene trigger. Cold 57F and CO2 to retard. [Ling, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Why thats ingenious! I think thats the one problem banannas have - solved.-- DaGreengo, Oct 17 2003 excellent if I knew how it were going to be achieved. is it light that ripens them? I read that another fruit will bring on ripening if I could only remember which it was..if it is to do with light then perhaps a glove for the hand with removeable fingers..-- po, Oct 17 2003 I believe fruit ripening is due to ethylene - which is given off by bananas hence the 'banana tree' thingys you get to keep them out of the fruit bowl. Presumably bananas also ripen through the action of ethylene - in which case your problem is keeping one nana from ripening the others. Perhaps enclose them in some kind of non-permeable plastic?-- hazel, Oct 17 2003 [neilp] where's the pun? I've looked and I just can't see it? Could it be an idea?
ok... joking aside, +, although I note that you don't express how this could work?-- jonthegeologist, Oct 17 2003 Enclosing them will make them ripen faster, for they won't be able to outgas. What's needed is fresh air and a fan; or some sort of preservative that destroys ethylene...-- RayfordSteele, Oct 17 2003 What you need is a semi-enclosed container with a slow blowing fan. The fan will blow the ethylene down the bunch. The upstream banannas get less, the downstream ones get more. Presto... they ripen sooner.-- barfsky, Oct 17 2003 Wishful thinking. But if you bake it let me know.-- k_sra, Oct 17 2003 It's a bunch of bananaloney, but there's a seedless of truth to it. Bananas of a given variety are sterile clones. That mean that for this to be baked, it HAS to be GMed, not bred. Banana bred. Mmm.-- darksasami, Oct 17 2003 surely if it's ethylene based, you can just induce an ethylene gradient (mechanically) across each banana from picking to the shop. Or seal each finger in a sequentially semi-ehtylene-permeable membrane.-- neilp, Oct 20 2003 Let me know when you've managed to produce a sequential semi-ethylene permeable membrane [neilp].
You could try putting the next nana to be eaten into a sealed container so that it alone will ripen without ripening the others.-- madradish, Oct 20 2003 Alternatively, make friends with seven banana-fans and agree that each one buys a fresh, seven-strong bunch of bananas each day to share. You could start a 'banana club' with badges, membership cards and suspicious initiation rights....
Personally I hate bananas, banana-flavoured milkshakes or 'candy', the word "banana", and the endless debate about the inaccuracy or otherwise of the phrase "a potential banana skin" (when used figuratively to describe an imminent risk). I therefore suggest that all bananaphiles should eat dangerously unripe or rotten bananas until their genes have been eliminated from the human gene-pool and banana production becomes uneconomic.-- dobtabulous, Oct 21 2003 touched a banananerve there it seems....-- jonthegeologist, Oct 21 2003 He was likely once victim to the ol' banana-in-the-tailpipe gag.-- lintkeeper2, Oct 21 2003 WIBNI?-- ato_de, Oct 22 2003 [ato_de], not at all, not at all.-- neilp, Oct 22 2003 [ad] Don't think it's a WIBNI. I've definately had bunches with some of the bananas ripening a bit before the others. Wouldn't be a huge stretch to imagine they can be selectively bred to do this.-- Worldgineer, Oct 22 2003 neil, you've presented the problem, now give us a halfbaked solution. I love the idea of Sequentially Ripening Bananas, unfortunately there is no mechanism. How will you accomplish this? PLEASE come up with something, so I can give you a Sequentially Ripening Banana shaped criossant.-- ato_de, Oct 22 2003 I'm either suggesting selective breeding (as opposed to GM) - reckon you could get somewhere with this. Otherwise (wish I had a pen with me), a series of plastic semi-ethylene-permeable pockets, sequentially semi-permeable across the hand, as discussed above.-- neilp, Oct 22 2003 gosh guys, listen to [darksalami], he speaks the truth. you have to GM them because all strains of bananas that are worthwhile are stile.-- synergy~, Oct 22 2003 from Snopes sez Nope> "Bananas, by the way, grow on plants, not trees."-- synergy~, Oct 22 2003 Sitting out at room temperature will cause bananas to continue to ripen. However, if you chill them in the fridge, the ripening process is stopped. The peel will continue to darken and get quite dark, yet the banana inside will remain great for a lot longer period. But once refrigerated, you cannot let bananas sit out again to continue ripening, so be sure not to chill until ripe...-- dreamweaver, Oct 22 2003 What about a breeding a strain of banana's that ripen quickly (say 12 hours) unless they are wrapped in the ethylen absorbing cover and then when you "eat" one banana you can unwrap the next? So it is user controllable depending on demand and consumption? I think there is an ethylene absobing plastic available "long life vegetable storage bags" developed for Antartic bases that absorb ethylene (I think) and thus prolong the storage life of the vegetable matter within....-- Peticelli, Oct 22 2003 It should be perfectly possible to GM asymmetrical bunches, in which the rate at which the ripening process occurs is different in each banana, in a gradient from one end to the other. Different brands could even ripen their bunches at different rates.-- beland, Oct 22 2003 [bellend] we're not supposed to use GM.. I reckon this can be achieved just by using selectively permeable mesh, moveing the ethylene about as [hazel] suggested.-- neilp, Aug 18 2004 [neilp], that 'misread' places you firmly in the UK?Link.-- Ling, Aug 18 2004 [ling] he's a Brit, living in Sydney just now. My brother as it happens.-- jonthegeologist, Aug 18 2004 It's not possible to selectively breed them because they're sterile, for the same reason GM isn't possible as you need to be able to create seeds.
Why not just buy a few bananas from several bunchs of varying ripeness? Saves having to develop semi-ethylene-permeable banana gloves with detachable fingers
[beland] GM is generally fround upon in the HB as it's considered (or often used as) a magic instrument to make organic matter do whatever you want (however if you happen to be a bio-chemist and decide that it's a suitable technology then I'm sure you'll be able to argue your case, it's just that few others will be able to understand it) it might be an idea to read the help file.-- scubadooper, Aug 18 2004 I prefer my bananas green and crunchy.-- Aq_Bi, Sep 15 2005 random, halfbakery