Health Forum

Having another debate with bosses wife - I had a yellow banana with a few small brown spots. she turned up her nose and said they were rotten - that bananas were ripe when they are green. I disagree - green bananas have a funny texture and taste bitter. Can anyone tell me what a banana looks like when it is considered ripe?

Green is an unripe banana. They are a little hard and the peel is very thick.

A yellow banana with a little green at one end is the first stage of ripeness. The banana is not yet fully sweet, but it has begun to sweeten more fully.

A fully yellow banana is ripe, the peel has thinned a little and the banana is softer and sweeter.

A yellow banana with a couple brown spots is a full-ripe banana... this is its height of sweetness. These bananas also have the strongest banana flavor.

A banana that is more brown than yellow is over-ripe. Great for baking, but the banana inside is usually beginning to turn and is no longer very pretty to eat,... over-ripe bananas are super sweet and very soft, which is why they are perfect for making banana bread or cookies.

I think of bananas being ripe when it’s yellow.  A few brown spots are okay, but too much and it’s way too ripe.  I don’t like bananas that are too mushy or give off a strong ripening gas odor.

You might want to ask the bosses wife how she peels green bananas.  I’ve never been able to peel a green banana without the outer part of the peel coming off in strings and the inner part still attached.  IMHO, that is a strong indicator that it isn’t ripe yet.  The earliest indicator a banana is ripe should be when a peel can be pulled off intact.  A better question might be from what end does she peel bananas? 

That is the color that is considered to be ripe for eating. Ripe for baking is when the banana has a lot of brown spots on the peel and is soft to the touch.Really it depends on the flavor and texture you want when you eat a banana, when they are green they are harder and bitter, the more yellow the sweeter and less firm they become, when they are brown they are soft and the sweetest.