Bananas won't go brown and mushy if you keep them away from other fruits, and it's one that many people don't realise can have damaging effects. Bananas can be a difficult fruit to keep fresh, and sometimes, we open our fridges or cupboards to find that they have turned brown and mushy. But, there are some tips and tricks you should know to keep your bananas fresher for longer, keeping them ripe enough to enjoy on their own or to eat with things like yoghurt or porridge. 

If you want to keep bananas as fresh as they can be for as long as possible, then you will want to keep them away from avocados. Keeping bananas beside these fruits can make them ripen faster, and there is a simple scientific reason for this. Avocados, like many other fruits, release ethylene gas as they ripen. This means that when they are kept beside bananas, the gas will make the bananas ripen faster, meaning your fruit will turn brown sooner than you want it to. 

Ethylene gas is a plant hormone that speeds up the ripening process. Sometimes, this can prove to be useful. 

If you have green bananas that you want to soften, then placing them beside an avocado for a short time will help you to achieve that. However, you should be aware that bananas themselves produce a high level of this gas, so your avocado will also soften during the process. 

Other ways that bananas and other fruits ripen faster is when they are placed in a brown paper bag. Such a tight space leads to a concentration of ethylene gas, speeding up the ripening process. 

If you want your bananas to ripen slower, then keep them away from other fruits. However, bananas that have ripened quite a bit are known to be useful in a number of recipes. 

Most notably, overly ripened bananas are ideal for making banana bread.  They can also be used to make things such as banana pancakes, chocolate banana cake and banana milkshakes. 

Additionally, bananas that are going past their 'best before' date can be copped up and frozen and used in desserts at a later date.